CARDAMOM YOGURT CAKE

We are back in Minneapolis now,after an almost 3 month long vacation,second time in a year. It's very cold here. I really don't feel like stepping out of our house these days,except when we have to go buy our groceries.I just want to curl up on my favourite blue LazyBoy with our blue blanket and catch up on my favourite cookery shows on TV. Ian doesn't really seem to mind the cold,even though he returned from Kannur,where it was nice and warm,just the way I like it to be.

I had bookmarked this cardamom cake from Shyama's blog a few months ago. As much I love an iced cake, I love a plain cake too.Since there is no frosting,if the cake is not really good, it will show through. This cake was moist,buttery and delicious.When I read her post about this cake, it made me nostalgic.It could be one the reasons why I went back to it after all these months and baked one for us. It's a very basic cake batter with a touch of powdered cardamom,which gives a very,very mild Indian touch to it.

I've made a few modifications to the recipe. I've substituted yogurt for sour cream because that's what I had on hand and also,added some baking soda along with the dry ingredients. For me,whenever there is an acidic agent in the ingredient list,yogurt in this cake,the ingredient list should also have baking soda.The original recipe called for only baking powder,so please do as you please.
I was also not very sure about how I should present the cake here. Should I frost it? Should I dust confectioner's sugar over the top? Should I level the top off? I gave it some thought and then decided to present it the way it was. We are so used to seeing decorated cakes now. For a change lookwise and for a change calorie wise,I decided upon this look. Naked cakes are trendy now,right?

CARDAMOM YOGURT CAKE
Makes 2 X 6 inch cakes and 4 cupcakes OR 1 loaf cake

Ingredients:
200 grams all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
150 grams unsalted butter,softened
175 grams sugar
150 grams whole milk yogurt,room temperature
2 large eggs,3 if small
12 cardamom pods crushed and seeds powdered

Method:Preheat oven to 180C/350F and prepare your cake tins.
Sift together flour,baking powder,baking soda and salt.Keep aside.
In a medium bowl,beat together softened butter and sugar till pale and fluffy. Add the yogurt and beat till incorporated. Beat in the eggs one by one till they are well incorporated into the batter. If the batter looks curdled at this point,it is OK.
Fold the dry ingredients into the batter using a spatula.Finally,fold in the powdered cardamom seeds. Transfer the batter into a cake tin and bake till done.It will take about 55-60 minutes for the loaf cake.

Serve warm and enjoy it with a cup of tea!

Since most of my cooking and baking happens when Ian is sleeping,he had a little surprise when he woke up that evening. A little cupcake for him. It was still warm and I was not really sure how he would take to a cardamom flavoured cake. He just didn't seem to mind it and was happily munching on it saying 'Cupape! Cupape!'. We,the adults,enjoyed it equally.