Greek yoghurt cake with rum

I do love a yoghurt cake; it’s something to do with the lightness of texture and the rich tang to the finished sponge’s flavour. This is a simple cake (in method and in look) but it packs lots of flavour.

Total Yoghurt very kindly donated a selection of their yoghurts for me to bake with, well, I say “a selection” but in truth their generosity virtually filled a whole shelf in my fridge!

If you don’t like rum you can omit it from the cake or replace it with any spirit, or indeed other flavour, that you wish. I used extremely dark overproof rum as I love the syrupy kick it packs.

This isn’t a crumbly cake in the Victoria sponge genre; it’s a really moist, springy sponge – I reckon it would keep for days...I’m surmising here because, as usual, mine didn’t hang around that long!

A random thought that has occurred to me whilst writing this blog post: “Yoghurt” is one of those words that the more you type it or say it, the less it feels like a real word. I hope it is a real word – I’ve lost all sense of judgement on the matter!

A second random thought is that neither pronunciation of the word makes it sound any better. I’m definitely in the “yoggert” school and feel myself flinching every time I encounter a “yo-gert” eater! Whether you’re reading this as Yoggert cake or Yo-gert cake, I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients

For the cake:
250g Greek yoghurt – I used Total 2%
200g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
80ml vegetable oil
1 tablespoon dark rum – I used Gosling’s Black Seal 151 proof
240g plain flour flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

For the icing:
115g /4oz icing sugar – I used golden icing sugar
½ tablespoon dark rum
1 tablespoon water – add more if required

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/fan oven 160C/350F/Gas 4.

Line a 20cm springform round cake tin with baking paper.

Whisk together the yoghurt and the sugar.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Beat in the vanilla, oil and rum.

Weigh out the flour and add the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda to it.

Sift into the yoghurt batter and mix until just combined.

Pour into the prepared tin and level the surface.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Leave to cool on a wire rack until you can safely handle and turn out the cake.

Leave to cool completely on the wire rack.

Now make the icing: Beat together the icing sugar and orange juice until smooth and glossy.

Pour over the cool cake and smooth, before leaving to set.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.