French Yogurt cake is wonderful - ideas for variations?

[AnneInMpls]

After seeing numerous mentions of the classic French yogurt cake (aka Gâteau au Yaourt), I finally got the recipe from Chocolate and Zucchini and made it last night.

http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archi...

How lovely! It was moist and tasty, sweet enough but not too sweet, and easy to dress up or down. Best, it's not that terribly high in fat or cholesterol - there's only two eggs and 1/3 cup of oil. Oh, and the full-fat yogurt, of course (I wouldn't skimp on this - life's too short).

I plan to make this cake again - lots! Althought I doubt that I would get tired of it, are there any variations I could do to the basic recipe? Lemon? Fruit bits? Part whole-wheat flour? Chocolate? Glazes?

Thanks,
Anne

P.S. Last night, I served it with a Cranberry Grand Marnier sauce (made from leftover homemade cranberry relish, thinned with a bit of orange juice and a huge splash of Grand Marnier). It was definitely good enough to serve to company.

[LauraB]

I like lemon zest in the batter and apricot jam on top as a glaze. Cranberry Grand Marnier sauce sounds really good too...

[Nyleve]

How do you think this would work as cupcakes? Anyone?

[girlwonder88]

I love this cake, too. Orangette does one (google for her blog) that is a lemon variation with a lemon sauce poured over-good, but I like the c&z one better. I have often ended up subbing a fruit flavored yogurt for all or part of the plain because it's what I've had on hand and it's been great that way, too.

[BostonCookieMonster]

I love this cake too. There are several variations you can find on the blog itself, my favorite being one with a layer of raspberries that also uses ground almonds for part of the flour. I would make that one with any kind of berries (cranberries!) and I bet sliced pears would be great. Or use other nuts. I agree it seems open to a million improvisations.

[Carb Lover]

Thanks for linking this recipe. I've been wanting to make this type of cake for a while and now have no excuse! This seems to be one of those cakes that is open to all sorts of variations so I say do what you feel like.

I personally like the idea of adding orange zest and baking into a loaf form for an easy breakfast or snack w/ tea. A lemon-lavender combo sounds really good too, as long as the lavender is used sparingly.

[HillJ]

AnneInMpls, I'm a big fan of this cake too. I used Fage 2% greek yogurt and simmered down a few apricots with bourbon for a thick glaze. Worked well.

I'm thinking pomm molasses might make for a nice partner too :)

[brendastarlet]

I would try Meyer lemons and maybe a little lemon zest.