Berry and pistachio yoghurt cake

Some recipes are just so versatile – like this gorgeous yoghurt cake recipe from Bill Granger that a friend of mine recently modified. The original was a splendid sounding peach and almond yoghurt cake, but she replaced it with blueberries, raspberries and pistachio nuts. Three of my favourite things – naturally, I had to nick it and make it myself so I could spend my days stuffing it in my face.

The yoghurt in the cake is what makes it so lovely and moist – the crumb is quite dense, and yet it’s still quite light. I love the tartness of the blueberries and raspberries (uhh, not quite back in season yet), which offset the sweet sponge. The crushed pistachios also look great on top and add a nice crunch. This will definitely be something I’ll be whipping up at the next charity bake sale at work… ;-)

Many thanks to Fanny at Foodbeam for posting the recipe up – judging by how good the original looks, I’ll have to try it out with ripe peaches come summertime!

Berry and pistachio yoghurt cake
Adapted from Bill Granger’s peach and almond yoghurt cake

serves: 8

220g unsalted butter, softened
250g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 medium eggs
225g self-raising flour, sifted
50ml milk
250ml plain yoghurt
250-300g mixed blueberries and raspberries
50g shelled pistachios, roughly crushed

1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease and line the base of a 23cm springform cake pan. (I used a 23cm deep square cake tin and it fits perfectly).

2. Place the butter and sugar into a bowl mix until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla, then add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.

3. Fold in the flour, milk and yoghurt and mix until barely combined.

4. Gently fold in the berries.

5. I crush my pistachios by whizzing them quickly in a mini food processor until they’re nicely crushed but not blitzed to a powder. Then, I put them through a sieve so I can mix the finer powdery bits directly into the cake batter. Fold the pistachio ‘dust’ through the mixture.

6. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin, then sprinkle the remaining crushed pistachios over the top. Bake in the centre of the oven for 1 hour 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. If the cake is browning too quickly, cover with foil for the last 20 minutes of cooking.

7. Allow the cake to cool… and resist touching it in the meantime – I couldn’t help it, it’s just so nice and springy to the touch! Serve in thick wodges with a nice cuppa :-)

About these ads