MasterChef winner Irini says “I find that more and more I go for the less rich texture and substance of yogurt when accompanying desserts as opposed to cream.”
“Here the yogurt produces a more moist sponge for the cake and mixed with double cream makes for a fluffier, lighter filling and topping. I love the rich Vanilla flavour of the yogurt too, a great foil for the gorgeous summer berries we are lucky to enjoy in the UK!”
Serves 10-12
Ingredients.
For the sponge:
For the filling:
Method.
Grease a 20cm cake tin with a loose bottom. Dust with flour. Use a strip of foil long enough to make a collar for the cake tin to cover it all the way round. Cut an equal size piece of kitchen paper, fold it so that it is the same depth as the cake tin and put it on the foil. Dampen the kitchen paper with a spray bottle and cover it completely with the foil. Wrap around the cake tin and hold in place with a metal paper clip. This helps even baking of the cake.
Preheat the oven to 1800C.
In a large bowl beat the butter with the sugar with an electric whisk till pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, salt and the eggs one at a time beating to fully incorporate each time. Pass the flour and almond flour through a sieve and add to the butter mix . Using a spatula fold the flour till completely incorporated. Empty the batter into the cake tin and smooth its surface.
Bake for 55-60 minutes and before taking out of the oven, test that a wooden skewer inserted in the middle of it comes out cleanly.
Leave the cake to cool for 5 minutes and turn over onto a wire rack to cool completely. Cut into two equal size circles.
To make the filling, beat the double cream with the icing sugar till it has soft peaks. Add the Vanilla yogurt and beat again for a minute to incorporate fully. Place one half of the cake onto a cake stand. Use 1/3 of the cream, spread over the bottom half of the cake. Arrange a mixture of the berries on top of the cream and finish again with the remaining 2/3rds. Place the other half of the cake on top and press down slightly. Using a spatula, spread the remaining cream and yogurt over the top of the cake. Place the remaining berries in the middle of the cake and dust with some icing sugar. Finish with some edible flowers.
Gorgeous.
