One Bowl Semolina Yogurt Cake

I had semolina in the freezer for about a year and decided I needed to figure out what to do with it. This cake is easy, delicious, with just a little bit of bite. I think the kids will like it - it's so moist and satisfying. Really easy to bake. Semolina is flour made from hard durham wheat. 

Heat oven to 340. (Odd, I know!)

1 egg
1/3 c. sugar
pinch of salt
1/3 c olive oil
1/2 c yogurt
1 c. semolina
1 t. baking powder
1 t. vanilla
1/3 c shredded coconut (plus more for the top of the cake)

Syrup:
3/4 c. water
3/4 c. sugar
1 t lemon juice

Grease/spray a 9 x 9 pan.

In a bowl (it's a one bowl cake), mix the egg, salt, and sugar until light.

Add oil and yogurt, mixing until smooth.

Add in semolina, baking powder, vanilla, and coconut.

Spread into your pan and bake until browned, about 25 minutes in the convection oven.

Meanwhile bring the water, sugar, and lemon juice to a boil, stirring for a few minutes until it's a transparent liquid. 

When the cake is finished, pour the syrup straight over it. No need to poke holes in the cake - it absorbs.

Sprinkle with coconut. 

I cut it into 16 squares. 

Red, White & Blue Ricotta Cake

I found this on a YouTube video, in metric measures. It incorporates much of what I like in baked goods: not too sweet, fruit added -- in this case, cranberry and blueberry, an uncommon combo -- and lemon zest. I suspected the large amount of ricotta plus the yogurt or sour cream would give it the taste of a Danish, and yum. I was right!

Bake one larger, flatter cake in a spring form, and one smaller. A bundt pan would be fine, too. The picture is the mini-cake I baked for Eyal and Nadav. When I come to take care of Noa, I make sure there's a treat for the boys when they get home from school. You can't see the blueberries, which are the lower layer.

2 eggs

1/2 c sugar

Lemon zest to taste

1/2 c natural yogurt or sour cream

1/3 c neutral oil

1 1/2 c flour (can be half whole wheat)

1/2 t. salt

Scant T baking powder - seems like a lot, but it came out fine

1//4 c. cranberries, currants, or raspberries

 

Topping: 

1 c. ricotta - 8 oz

1 t. vanilla 

1/4 c sugar 

1 egg

1 T coconut

1/2 c blueberries, dusted with flour or cornstarch

Optional- Powdered sugar when you serve it.

 

350 / 35 min.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, and lemon zest. 

Add and whisk the yogurt, oil, flour(s) and baking powder.

Pour it in the greased baking pans, and drop the red berries on top. No need to mix, as they sink.

Mix the topping ingredients, except the blueberries. Place dollops of the ricotta mixture on the surface. Add the blueberries across the top.

Bake about 30-40 minutes until golden brown and the ricotta topping is solid. Dust with powdered sugar when you serve it.

This is a nice breakfast cake. Not very desserty.

 

Eyal particularly loves this cake. He inhales it!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l8IiRxkr8Y

Blueberry Sour Ceam Lemon Cake

This is similar to the cake I baked for Sender's bris. It is richer, and easier - no weird ingredients. I bake this in two cake pans, and it's a showstopper. So delicious. It's straight from the internet, by Nellie Bellie. You will need lots of lemons!

2 3/4 c flour (part whole wheat flour is fine) + 2 T for mixing in with the fresh blueberries

1 1/2 t baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 c butter (2 sticks)
2 c sugar
4 large eggs
3  T lemon juice (about 2 large lemons)
2 T lemon zest (about 2 large lemons)
1 t vanilla
1 c sour cream (8 oz)
3 c blueberries (1 1/2 pints)

Icing

1 T butter, melted
1 1/2 C powdered sugar

Zest of one lemon

Juice of one lemon
pinch salt

Thin sliced almonds (thin, oval shape, not matchsticks)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour two cake pans, bundt and/or tube pans. I use Bakers Joy spray.

In sufficient size bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. (You will add this to the bigger bowl.)

In a large bowl, or stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high for about 3 minutes.

Add eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition.

Continue beating, adding a bit of the flour mixture to the egg mixture in intervals, a little at a time.

Add the lemon juice, zest, vanilla, and sour cream. Gently stir these into the batter with a spatula or wooden spoon.

Gently fold in the floured blueberries.

Spread the batter into the prepared bundt/tube pans.

 
Bake for 55 minutes, check for doneness. If a toothpick in the center doesn't come back clean, put the cake back in for another 10-15 minutes. You can cover it with an oven-proof vented glass lid or tin foil.

Icing

Beat the powdered sugar, lemon juice, salt, and zest together.
Slowly beat in the melted butter into the sugar and lemon combo. Beat until combined well. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar.
Let cool a bit until the desired consistency for pouring.
Pour over your cake, sprinkle the almond slices, and let cool.

Claudia Roden's Yogurt Cake

A 7" cake. It puffs and settles.

Here is Claudia Roden's Yogurt Cake. It's the same idea except adding yogurt gives it more heft. Eyal and Nadav love it! They call it yogurt muffins, for mysterious reasons. Note it has flour. Probably you could sub almond flour if you wanted to do this on Pesach, or make it gluten free. It's much lighter than cheese cake, but similar.

4 large eggs, separated, at room temperature - put the yolks in the larger bowl

½ cup granulated sugar
3 T [try doubling this for a denser cake] all-purpose flour (can be whole wheat)
1 ⅔ cups whole-milk Greek yogurt, or strain regular yogurt in a coffee filter for an hour or two.
1 lemon, zested and juiced

Optional: 1/2 c blueberries
Pinch of salt (optional), cinnamon to taste

Heat oven to 350 degrees and butter an 8- or 9-inch springform pan, or two smaller (A 7" and 5" works well).

• Using an electric hand mixer, beat egg whites until they're stiff peaks
• Using the same mixer, combine yolks and sugar (no need to wash beaters after the egg white). Beat on medium-high until the mixture is very pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. 
• Mix in flour, yogurt, lemon zest and juice, and salt until fully incorporated.
• Gently fold half of the egg whites into the yolk-yogurt mixture until only a few streaks remain. 
• Fold in the remaining whites, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl, until the batter is evenly mixed, light and smooth.
• If you add blueberries, add a little flower to coat them. Take about 2/3 of the blueberries and mix in the batter. Save the rest for the top.
• Scrape the batter into prepared pan(s) and smooth into an even layer. Set the balance of the berries on top of the cake/s. These will not sink.
• Bake until the top is speckled with golden brown and puffed, 35 to 55 minutes. ( This burns if you don't watch it! You can cover with tin foil if it's browning too fast.
• Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cake cool before cutting. Serve warm or cold.

CakeDoodle Birthday Tiered Cake

Today was Eyal and Nadav's 4th Birthday. They were so excited.

I baked a cake from King Arthur, a classic Depression era recipe with cocoa, flour, vinegar, baking soda - and no oil or butter, and brought it over to the Henry School Garden where their pizza party was. 

Made up for the missing butter with the frosting!

Divide the batter into two small spring forms. I did 5" and 7", but I suggest 8" for the bigger layer. A one inch edge isn't much surface to work on. Nomi called it a showstopper. It was fun. The cake and frosting are quite yummy, but the presentation seals the deal. 

The Cake:

1 1/2 c flour
1 c sugar
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa, Dutch-process or natural*
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t vanilla
1 T cider vinegar or white vinegar
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 c  water or milk

Heat oven to 350. Spray two springforms well, 8" and 5" recommended.

In large bowl, mix dry ingredients, using a strainer for the cocoa and baking soda. Whisk well.

In a small bowl, mix the liquid ingredients. Add to the dry, and stir until fully mixed.

Split the batter between the two pans, and bake for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. The smaller may finish first.

Turning 7! With milk cocktails!

The frosting is classic birthday cake! And great for sprinkles. If there’s extra frosting, lucky you! It’s a dip.

1 stick softened butter

3 c. confectioners sugar

1 t. vanilla

2-3 T milk

Use a giant bowl- the powdered sugar is likely to go all over. Beat the butter until creamy. Add the ingredients and beat until spreading consistency. With confectioners sugar it's best to not add all the liquid at once. Start with 2 T and add the third as needed.

When cake is cool, put the larger layer on a serving plate. Frost the top and center the smaller tier on top. Frost away, and go heavy on the sprinkles!

This served a lot of people, cut into small pieces. Nadav told one of the moms that the special ingredient in this birthday cake was LOVE. Sure was! Eyal was thrilled. He kept saying "It's SO good!"

Reena Spicehandler's Apple Dapple Cake

This super rich cake is from the 60s. 

They were devoured! Even by Shula - who doesn't especially like cake but LOVED the frosting.

1 1/2 c. oil
2 c.white sugar
3 eggs
3 c. peeled, chopped apple (doesn't need to be too fine - some visible apple chunks are nice)
3 c. flour
l t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2 t. vanilla
1 c. chopped nuts (also doesn't need to be too fine)

Cream oil, sugar, and eggs
Add flour, salt, and baking soda
Beat well and add remaining ingredients - this is a very heavy batter.

Bake at 350 for one hour [in greased pan like a bundt or tube] - I used Convection with a large pan and small pan for Thanksgiving cakes. 30 minutes for a small cake, more like 45 for a bigger.

Glaze

3/4 stick butter or margarine
1 c light or dark brown sugar firmly packed
1/3 c milk

Boil 10-15 minutes (until thick). This takes patience! Let it cool for a minute or two before pouring over the cake. Let the icing sit on the top of the cake(s) and dribble down. When it's really thick it hardens into caramel on the cake. 

In the original version, you pour the glaze into the cake while still in the pan. I prefer to drizzle the icing on cooled cakes.

Chocolate Orange Cake

I found this on the net - there are multiple posters. It's a version of the clementine cake. Like that cake, it is gluten-free by chance, and without the baking powder it will be great for Pesach. I wouldn't even bother separating and beating the eggs. It is dense, moist, and EASY. 

It makes a big heavy cake in the springform; next time I might make two smaller springforms.

For Passover: one big one will move!

Chocolate Orange Cake

2 oranges
6 large eggs
1½ c granulated sugar (David says, use more!)

2 c almond meal/flour
1/2 c cocoa
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

Glaze
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon Cointreau or Grand Marnier

    (or a jar of ready-made!)

Or - 

1/2 c. powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 c. cocoa powder, sifted

A little brandy or whatever Kosher for Passover liqueur you have

Finely chopped pistachios are a nice extra on top.

Gradually add water, a few drops at a time, until you can spread it. This isn't stiff enough to frost the sides but makes a nice chocolately top.

• Place oranges in a pot, cover with water, bring to a boil and allow to simmer for 1-1½ hours, until fork tender. 
• Cool, cut open and remove pips/seeds if any. Cool.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Place oranges in a food processor and puree until pulpy. Add remaining ingredients, and blitz until completely incorporated. (if your food processor is too small, just do the eggs and orange and move it to a bowl to add the rest. Or use an immersion blender).
• Grease a 9" springform. Pour batter into pan, and place in oven for 50-60 minutes, or until middle of cake is firm to the touch.
• Allow to cool to room temperature before un-molding.
• Pour glaze over cake, and garnish with orange zest.

Glaze

Place ingredients for glaze in a a saucepan on low on the induction stove-top. Stir until completely melted.

Almond Flour (Parve) Brownies

Not vegan, but really good. And super easy. Pesadik! From the King Arthur flour website. These are Abba's favorites and I like them straight from the freezer for an after-dinner shot of fudgey deliciousness.

Heat oven (I use the Breville) to 350. Spray an 8" or 9" square pan. 

DO NOT DOUBLE THE RECIPE IN A LARGER PAN! I tried this in 2023 and it made a big mess - the brownies were not baked through, and impossible to get out of the pan.

5 T melted butter or parve margarine. (1/2 cup if you use vegetable oil, also fine)
1¾ c sugar
½ t salt
1 t vanilla extract
¾ c cocoa powder (Fairtrade!). Dutch-process or natural; sifted if particularly lumpy
3 large eggs
1½ c. almond flour
1 t. baking powder (It's optional and omitted for Pesach)

Melt margarine in large bowl. Add sugar to absorb heat (so it doesn't cook the eggs) and then add everything together with a spoon, whisk, or spatula. It's more like a paste than a batter.

Bake 33-36 minutes. Test with a toothpick.

Easily doubled, but DON'T BAKE IN ONE BIGGER PAN. These are hard to cut neatly. On Passover 2020, I made a double batch and froze a lot. When they were slightly defrosted it was easy to cut them into very small, neat squares. They are so rich, I recommend this strategy!

Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake

Sender's birthday, July 26th, is smack dab in blueberry season. I baked this cake for his brit/naming, instead of the spurned Kichel of yesteryear. Seems like I am the only one in the family who really likes kichel, but everyone loved this cake. I will try to bake him one every birthday!

It is from CookingLight, slightly modified.

Pre-Sender, holding Newspaper.
Note Aunt Vivi's toes!

It makes a nice big cake - very heimish presentation.

Abba and Grandpa David at the Brit

2 c granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter (4 oz, one stick)
1/2 lb (8-oz) low-fat cream cheese or neufchatel, softened
3 large eggs
1 large egg white
3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 pint blueberries
1 t baking powder
1/2 t  baking soda
1/2 t  salt
1 (8-ounce) carton lemon low-fat yogurt (hard to find - you can use plain yogurt and add 1 T. lemon zest)
2 t vanilla extract
Cooking spray

1/2 cup powdered sugar
4 t lemon juice

lemon zest (thank you, Microplane!)

1. Spray a 10" tube or bundt pan well

    In 2020, I am into little cakes. I baked 12 mini-muffins, a mini-bundt, and a small     bundt. This cake rises a lot - with 4 eggs + the baking soda and baking powder.

2. Preheat oven to 350

3. Beat butter, cream cheese, and sugar at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about five minutes). 

4. Add eggs and egg white, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Lightly spoon flour into medium bowl (not the mixer bowl!)
6. Take out 2 T flour and combine with the blueberries in a small bowl, and toss well.
7. Add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the remaining flour.
8. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with yogurt, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
9. Fold in blueberry mixture and vanilla.
10. Pour cake batter into a 10-inch tube pan (or a combination of smaller pans) . Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool cake in pan 15 minutes; remove from pan. This cake is heavy! Combine powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl; drizzle over warm cake. Sprinkle with as much zest as you like, the more the better!