Yogurt cake (gâteau au yaourt)

I recently started reading the book: "Bringing up Bébé" by Pamela Druckerman. In Portuguese it is called "Crianças Francesas Não Fazem Manha".   Aaron heard about it on an NPR radio show and my mom heard it discussed all over the Brazilian news (it is very popular in Brazil right now).   I decided to buy it and it is sooo good.    The author is trying to figure it out the secrets of French child rearing since the French kids are so well behaved, sleep through the night, and eat gourmet food :).  What a dream!    Aaron has been taking french classes in the community college and also he has been cooking a lot of French food lately, we are definitely embracing French culture a lot.

In the book, the author describes how French children have a tradition of baking cakes with their mommies on Saturdays.  The first cake they learn is called "Yogurt cake" or "gâteau au yaourt". It is a fun cake for children because they get to use the empty yogurt containers as measuring cups.  French parents appreciate it because it teaches children to be independently follow a set of instructions.  We decided to try it out this past Saturday and have our son Sam bake his first cake at 3 years old!  He was even excited to clean up after himself.



The igredients



"Mão na Massa"

Sam is so proud

Voilà

The kids loved the cake

Recipe from the book:

 

 Igredients:

  2 (6oz) containers of plain yogurt (keep containers for measuring the other ingredients)

  2 eggs

  2 containers sugar

  1 tsp vanilla

  Just under 1 container of vegetable oil

  4 containers flour

  1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat oven to 375F

Use vegetable oil grease a 9-inch round cake cake pan or loaf pan

Gently combine the yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and oil.  In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking powder.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients; mix gently until igredients are just combine (dont' overmix).  Bake for 35 minutes, then five minutes more if cake doesn't pass the knife test.

Enjoy!