Bizcocho

(We're going Spanish today. Enjoy!)

One of the things that shocks (and sometimes appalls) me on a lot of food blogs I read is the use of boxed cake mixes. Some of the most beautiful creations I have ever seen on the Internet - elaborate wedding cakes, the prettiest cupcakes, cake pops and all kinds of desserts - sanction the use of box mix. I am not going to link to the blogs I'm talking about, because I don't want to start any fights, but I really don't understand why people who like cooking and baking would do it. You can't call it home made if it came from a box!

I wanted the Techicolour Chicks to be in my macaron photos, but forgot about them.
So I gave them a starring role here.
(left to right: Suzie, Barbara and Twinkle)

So, today's post is for all the mix users out there. I'm going to tell you how to make delicious cake, or cupcakes, in the same time it would take you to make a cake using boxed mix. There's no creaming, no beating, and there's none of the artificial rubbish you get in the boxes (said the man who made Rocky Horror Cupcakes - well, none of us, are perfect).

The recipe is Spanish, and comes from a colleague of mine, Maria. When I worked in an office, I used to take cakes to work all the time (if I worked in your office, you'd probably hate me - we'd all be fat, and it would be my fault!). Now that I work on jet planes (the glamour!), it's rather tricky to bring a little slice of something to work. Just recently though, Maria managed to do exactly that, and shared with me a piece of the lightest, yellowest, most delicious lemon cake I think I've ever had. And when she told me the recipe, I nearly laughed: it's the simplest thing ever, as easy as counting to four. Even if you'd never made anything in your life except cups of tea, you could turn this out perfectly.

It makes a mean cupcake too.

Apparently, this bizcocho is well known all over Spain; people have it for breakfast. I had never heard of it. But then, I'm not Spanish. The first ingredient is a pot of yogurt, which once emptied, becomes a measuring vessel for the other ingredients. It's not dissimilar to Clotilde Dusoulier's yogurt cake, except that hers, though lovely (I used to make it quite often a few years ago), is not a spectacularly easy recipe to remember. Maria's bizcocho is, literally, 1-2-3-4. Done.

Told you it was a yellow cake.

You can use any type of yogurt you like, and flavour it however you want. It can be baked as a loaf, in two layers, or as cupcakes. While baking, it will make the house smell like a home, and, best of all, you won't need to get the scales out (I'm always mindful of my American readers!).

Stop using box mixes! I promise, once you try this, you'll be hooked.

Bizcocho

You will need:

1 yogurt (I use 'Activia', the natural one, in the size that comes in packs of four)
1 yogurt pot measure of oil
2 yogurt pot measures of sugar
3 yogurt pot measures of flour
4 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 lemon (optional - flavour it however you like)

1. Are you ready for this? It's complicated. OK, oil and line your cake tin (I make this in a medium loaf pan), or line a muffin tray with paper cases. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
2. Pour the yogurt into a bowl.
3. Fill the empty pot with oil (any kind - olive would be good, I used regular vegetable and no-one died), and add it to the yogurt.
4. Add two measures of sugar (you might want to rinse the pot first).
5. Next, add the eggs, and if using, the chopped zest of the lemon. Mix everything together, by hand. In ten seconds, you'll have a smooth yellow mixture.
6. Add the flour and baking powder, and stir through until combined.
7. Pour this mixture into your tins, and bake until a tooth pick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
8. You can mix the juice of the lemon with 2 measures of icing sugar to make a glaze for the cake if you like. I did, and recommend it highly.

NB: This makes one loaf cake, and four cupcakes in my tins. The loaf takes 45 minutes in the oven, and the cupcakes about 30.