Makes 1 loaf cake
A riff on the famous French yogurt cake, this marbled version comes from ”Chocolat: Parisian Desserts and Other Delights,” by the talented writer Aleksandra Crapanzano. She grew up in New York and Paris, where she lived down the street from the famous Poilâne bread bakery, and became friends with Apollonia Poilâne, who now runs the bakery. The recipe for Gâteau au Yaourt Marbré was given to Crapanzano by Poilâne. The cake doesn’t need a mixer. In a bowl, mix a simple yogurt- and oil-based batter, add cocoa and chips to half of it, vanilla and orange to the other half. Layer them in a loaf pan and marble the batters by pulling a dinner fork lengthwise down the middle. It’s a really lovely cake to make, to admire, and to eat. Crapanzano, a James Beard winner, offers an array of chocolate confections from the French pastry kitchen. ”The French love of chocolate may be most visible in shop windows and on restaurant menus,” she writes in ”Chocolat,” ”but should you be invited to a Parisian home for dinner, it’s more than likely that dessert will be a flourless chocolate cake, a mousse of dark chocolate, a chocolate-hazelnut torte.” She includes recipes for all of these and more (seven for chocolate mousse). She is deeply familiar with Paris, its famous bakers, and its pastry shops.
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1½
cups flour
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2
teaspoons baking powder
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1
cup granulated sugar
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Pinch of fine sea salt
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½
cup plain whole-milk yogurt
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3
eggs, at room temperature
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½
cup vegetable oil
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¼
cup unsweetened cocoa powder
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2
tablespoons dark chocolate chips
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Grated rind of 1 orange
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1. Set the oven at 350 degrees. Line an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan with parchment paper cut to fit it and pressed into the corners of the pan.
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2. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt to blend them.
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3. Add the yogurt, eggs, and oil. Stir well until the mixture is thoroughly blended.
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4. Transfer half the batter to another bowl. Stir in the cocoa powder and chips.
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5. Stir the vanilla and orange rind into the remaining batter.
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6. Pour half the plain batter into the pan. Pour the entire chocolate batter on top. Finish with the remaining plain batter. Use a dinner fork to marble the cake by dipping it into the batter at one end of the pan, giving it a little drag, then lifting it out. Repeat again down the length of the pan in the opposite direction.
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7. Transfer the cake to the oven. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool until no longer hot.
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8. Lift the cake from the pan using the parchment paper as a sling. Let the cake cool completely. Discard the parchment. Cut the loaf into thick slices for serving.
Sheryl Julian. Adapted from ‘‘Chocolat: Parisian Desserts and Other Delights’’
Makes 1 loaf cake
A riff on the famous French yogurt cake, this marbled version comes from ”Chocolat: Parisian Desserts and Other Delights,” by the talented writer Aleksandra Crapanzano. She grew up in New York and Paris, where she lived down the street from the famous Poilâne bread bakery, and became friends with Apollonia Poilâne, who now runs the bakery. The recipe for Gâteau au Yaourt Marbré was given to Crapanzano by Poilâne. The cake doesn’t need a mixer. In a bowl, mix a simple yogurt- and oil-based batter, add cocoa and chips to half of it, vanilla and orange to the other half. Layer them in a loaf pan and marble the batters by pulling a dinner fork lengthwise down the middle. It’s a really lovely cake to make, to admire, and to eat. Crapanzano, a James Beard winner, offers an array of chocolate confections from the French pastry kitchen. ”The French love of chocolate may be most visible in shop windows and on restaurant menus,” she writes in ”Chocolat,” ”but should you be invited to a Parisian home for dinner, it’s more than likely that dessert will be a flourless chocolate cake, a mousse of dark chocolate, a chocolate-hazelnut torte.” She includes recipes for all of these and more (seven for chocolate mousse). She is deeply familiar with Paris, its famous bakers, and its pastry shops.
| 1½ | cups flour |
| 2 | teaspoons baking powder |
| 1 | cup granulated sugar |
| Pinch of fine sea salt | |
| ½ | cup plain whole-milk yogurt |
| 3 | eggs, at room temperature |
| ½ | cup vegetable oil |
| ¼ | cup unsweetened cocoa powder |
| 2 | tablespoons dark chocolate chips |
| Grated rind of 1 orange |
1. Set the oven at 350 degrees. Line an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan with parchment paper cut to fit it and pressed into the corners of the pan.
2. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt to blend them.
3. Add the yogurt, eggs, and oil. Stir well until the mixture is thoroughly blended.
4. Transfer half the batter to another bowl. Stir in the cocoa powder and chips.
5. Stir the vanilla and orange rind into the remaining batter.
6. Pour half the plain batter into the pan. Pour the entire chocolate batter on top. Finish with the remaining plain batter. Use a dinner fork to marble the cake by dipping it into the batter at one end of the pan, giving it a little drag, then lifting it out. Repeat again down the length of the pan in the opposite direction.
7. Transfer the cake to the oven. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool until no longer hot.
8. Lift the cake from the pan using the parchment paper as a sling. Let the cake cool completely. Discard the parchment. Cut the loaf into thick slices for serving.
