The food at our resort in the Dominican Republic was…
…well, it was there.
To be fair, it was plentiful. And there were some nice mangoes. And I had some lovely crêpe Suzette (the chef let me flambé them myself). But by day 2, and every day thereafter, I found myself stuffing a zip lock bag full of the corn bread served at breakfast to sustain me on the beach until dinner. Because we skipped lunch. Because there just wasn’t anything worth leaving that hammock and sunshine for.
So, let’s talk about that cornbread. Cornbread? Not really. It was more like a buttery pound cake with some corn meal thrown in for good measure. There were chocolate and strawberry versions as well, but I stuck with the original. I could fit 4, sometimes 5 slices into a zip lock bag. Bubbie would be proud!
So, imagine this. I’m wearing a little bikini, lying on a hammock on a tropical island, warmed by the sun … and eating pound cake. Actually, better to not imagine me. But you get the picture.
Cornmeal pound cake
I tried a few poundcake recipe and landed on Chocolate and Zucchini’s yogurt cake (“gateau au yaourt”). It takes longer to pre-heat the oven than it does to mix together the ingredients. I replace some of the flour with cornmeal to approximate the breakfast cake I had in the DR. The key here, like with pancakes, is not to overmix the batter. The cake is not nearly as rich and butter-laden as the original — and I like it even better. It’s especially great toasted and buttered.
– 1/3 C melted buter
– 2 eggs
– 1 C nonfat plain yogurt – don’t use Greek yogurt….it’s too thick
– 1 C sugar
– 1 t vanilla
– 1 1/2 C flour
– 1/2 C fine ground corn meal
– 1 1/2 t baking powder
– 1/2 t baking soda
– good pinch of salt
Prep. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease loaf pan (I used a 9X5) with spray oil (or whatever you like). Melt butter (to minimize dishes, I microwaved it right in my large mixing bowl).
Mix. Gently combine butter, eggs, yogurt, sugar and vanilla until well incorporated.
Fold. Sift into the mixing bowl flour, corn meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Fold the ingredients together until just mixed. The batter should be somewhat thick and bubbly.
Bake. Bake cake 30-35 minutes until top is golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.
Cool. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to rack. Don’t cut until fully cool.
I love cornbread and pound cake so it sounds like a perfect combination to me.
Irene
Yum, this looks absolutely delicious! I love yogurt cake, and I love cornmeal in baked goods, so I definitely need to try this!! 🙂
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