Just part of a wonderful lunch with friends, Caroline baked this cake from Turquoise: A Chef’s Travels in Turkey by Greg and Lucy Malouf. Dotted with plump sultanas, the texture was somewhere between custard and cheesecake with a subtle not-too-sweet yoghurt flavour.
Preheat your oven to 180ºC (350ºF) and grease and line a 20cm (8″) springform cake tin. Roughly chop ¼ of a cup of sultanas and place them in a small bowl. Cover with muscat or sherry and allow to steep for 10 minutes then drain and set aside. Beat 5 egg yolks with 80g (2¾ oz) of caster sugar and 2 tablespoons of honey until thick and creamy. Mix in 80g (2¾ oz) of sifted plain flour followed by the drained sultanas, 500g (1.65 lbs) of natural yoghurt, the zest and juice of 1 lemon and 1 tablespoon of olive oil and mix to combine well. In a clean dry bowl whisk 5 eggs whites until stiff. Add a spoonful of the egg whites into the yoghurt mixture to loosen it then gently fold in the rest. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes until the cake puffs up like a soufflé. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin until the cake begins to shrink away from the sides. Make sure to loosen the cake from the sides of the tin before opening the cake tin. Allow to cool before serving.
michelle picker cooks 