Notre Gâteau au Yaourt

Late yesterday afternoon I decided we needed a cake in the house. I did not grow up in a family that typically had cake on occasions other than birthdays, which meant we had layered frosted birthday cake, about five times a year. In contrast, in this part of France, it is common for families to keep a homemade cake on the kitchen counter. Furthermore, the norm here includes eating cake for breakfast, as we did last week with the Gâteau Chocolat that I made for Mardi Gras. We have adjusted to these local customs...I guess Marie Antoinette knew what she was talking about when (if) she said, “Let them eat cake!”

Anyway, since I’ve given up chocolate for Lent, the Espinasse family recette for Gâteau au Yaourt seemed to be just the thing. We happened to have on hand the necessary Alsa Levure Chimique “Alsacienne” and the tiny container of plain yogurt necessary to properly prepare the cake. I love this cake recette because, besides being delicious, it has only six ingredients, three of which require no measuring: the eggs, the sachet Alsa and the 125g container of yogurt. The yogurt container is key, because the measured ingredients, the flour (x3), sugar (x2) and vegetable oil (x1) are calculé with this container! What could be simpler?

I got halfway into the preparation and realized I was one egg short; while the recipe says you can use only 2, in my opinion, 3 eggs are the way to go to get the best texture and taste. So I called my favorite voisine, Julie and walked over to borrow the egg. Forty-five minute, a cup of tea and delightful conversation later, I returned to finish the cake.

While Kristin’s recipe posted at “Au Pif” says you can use 2 teaspoons of baking soda, her beau-frère introduced me to the Alsa product, used by French families since 1897, shown in this photo. Alsace is a region in the north of France, next to Germany. I am convinced that Alsa Levure Chimique “Alsacienne” is the secret ingredient that gives the cake its spongy texture. The 11 gram packet includes pyrophosphate of sodium, bicarbonate of soda, bread wheat and wheat gluten. I suppose, with a bit of experimentation, you could get the same result combining baking powder and baking soda. Opening and dumping the little pink sachet is much easier!

Emily assisted with the mixing; it is very important to do this with a whisk to remove all the lumps. Don’t forget to grease and flour the moule before you pour in the batter.

The cake went into the oven just as our dinner came out. When the baking was completed about 45 minutes later, it went to rest on the windowsill between the shutters and the glass, so that it would cool by the night air. We ate several slices last night and took two to Julie, in thanks for the egg that make the cake possible.

We had half a cake remaining when we went to bed. Emily’s copine Mia, from Buchet, arrived at 10am this morning for a day of play. Now, an hour later, the gâteau is just a memory. Note to self: Pick up more eggs and yaourt at the marché this afternoon!

A Beautiful Day for Notre Promenade

Sunday morning, close to noon, my portable rings. OK, I admit, I was still upstairs in my jammies and all the shutters were closed. Anyone passing by our house would know I had not yet started my day. A familiar cheerful voice speaks to me in French, with a delightful Italian cadence. It's my friend and property manager, Armando. "Suzanne, have you had a nice sleep?" he asks, "Odile and I would like for you to join us for a little promenade this afternoon. Stop by our house around 14h and we'll have a little coffee before we go.”














How could I resist? I ran downstairs to eat breakfast, lunch, whatever might be available in the fridge and to make sure Emily knew she would have to be dressed for a hike within the next two hours. We would be walking au fond du sac. Just after the church bells anounced the 2 o'clock hour, we arrived at the Perrone door.

"Au fond du sac" I repeated as Armando explained that we would have a short drive to our starting point and that we would take along Emily's bike. Of course, I thought, we are going to walk through "the deep part of the sack." Instantly my brain made the connection to our American use of the French "cul de sac" (bottom/butt of the sack, or dead-end loop in a subdivision) and I contemplated its phonetic relation to the French expression "cul sec," meaning "bottoms up" or "down the hatch!”

















Maybe now you get a hint of how exhausting it is for an adult brain to function immersed in a language not ones own...I see in my Word Reference online dictionary there are many interesting combinations using the word cul; I make a mental note to go back and study some of the ones that may come in handy next time I need to sling a few words...


















Ok, hit the rewind button; back to the story about our promenade. After a pleasant visit over coffee and a slice of Gâteau Moelleux aux Marrons that Odile had prepared the day before, we joined up with another voisine and her two children. We now had four adults, three children, a bike, a trike and a kid-porting backpack loaded into Armando's car.




The weather could not have been more cooperative; plenty of sunshine, blue sky, and mid-fifties temperatures. We stayed out until close to 18h, strolling on a delightful loop through a deep area of vineyards, stopping for a brief rest, past an occasional old stone farmhouse and a few barking dogs. A great time was had by all. I hope you will enjoy a few of the photos I shot along the way. I'd love to read your comments!