I love loaf cakes. There is something so enjoyable about
their humble appearance, only to slice into them and reveal hidden chocolate
chips, fruits, nuts, spices or speckles of banana.
These days I’ve noticed I often enjoy them more than
cupcakes piled high with sweet icings. They are the kind of cake that fulfills
that morning or afternoon treat-time craving without the guilt or immediate
sugar rush/crash. Plus you get to cut as little or much as you like – there is
no set amount as what equates to ‘a slice’
I often have a pot of yogurt in the fridge, but it’s usually
the plain and unsweetened variety. However, there are exceptions to the rule.
Last week when I was shopping I spied a large pot of sweetened vanilla yoghurt
reduced to only 20p – that was too big a bargain to pass up and I snaffled it
quickly. I ate a little with fruit, but as I’m used to natural unsweetened
yogurt and it was just a little too sweet for me. Rather than let it go to
waste I decided to bake with it and it made the perfect addition to this yogurt
cake!
To compensate for the sugar already in the yogurt I simply
reduced the sugar in the recipe. The sugar in question is granulated sugar
rather than my usual caster sugar. I find this gives a lovely slightly crisp
golden top to loaf cakes, more so than the finer caster sugar, but either would
work. The yoghurt was also already flavoured with speckles of natural vanilla
seeds and this lent a wonderfully sweet perfumed vanilla fragrance to the cake.
The yoghurt and oil base kept it soft and tender too, while adding a bit of
natural yoghurty tang. Delicious.
I had a squishy bag of dried figs to use up and I love
adding dark chocolate chips to anything and so into the cake they went. This turned
out to be a great combination, adding melty spots of bitter dark chocolate and
chewy sweet figs against the backdrop of perfumed vanilla cake. The seeds in
the fig added a slight crunch too, which was a nice addition every few bites.
I love cake with add-ins, it makes each bite that little bit
different. It’s a super easy and quick cake to make too, all you need is a bowl
and a spatula. No electric whisks, no creaming butter and sugar, you simply add
wet to dry, stir and bake. You can use any additions you have on hand too –
spices, nuts, fruits, chuck them all in and I’m sure you’ll still end up with a
delicious cake.
This is the kind of cake to enjoy with a cup of tea, sat on
the sofa and eaten with your fingers. No forks allowed!
Chocolate Chip, Fig & Vanilla Yoghurt Loaf Cake
Ingredients
90g buckwheat flour
50g brown rice flour
1½ tsp baking powder
70g dark chocolate chips
5 large soft dried figs
100g granulated sugar*
170g vanilla yoghurt*
80g sunflower oil
2 eggs
½ tsp vanilla
* if you want to use plain, unsweetened yoghurt, add 140g
sugar
Method
Line the base of a cake loaf tin (approx 10x20cm) with a
strip of greaseproof paper. Heat oven to 180C.
Cut the figs into small chunks with a pair of scissors.
Combine the flours, baking powder, sugar, choc chips and figs together in a
bowl.
In a separate bowl, lightly mix together the yoghurt, oil,
eggs and vanilla.
Pour the wet mix over the dry mix and fold together by hand
using a spatula. A few small lumps are ok and it may look slightly split, this
is fine.
Spread into the loaf tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until
golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes before turning out
and leaving to cool completely.
Eat within 2 days or slice and freeze for later. Then allow
slices to defrost for 30 minutes at room temperature before enjoying.
Makes 1 x loaf cake
I love the humble loaf cake too - that is what I love when I want something sweet rather than swirls of icing! This looks really lovely.
ReplyDeleteYummo - love the fig roll element added to a loaf cake!
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