“Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears – it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear.” -Oliver Sacks, British neurologist, author, and all-around fascinating human

Yep, more baking.  Seriously, it’s becoming a problem.  But this one is healthy, I promise!  I learned to bake with yogurt about a year ago, and I swear by it now for cakes and muffins as a way to get super dense, moist cake every time.  Plus, yogurt is good for you , and there’s not a trace of butter in this recipe.  (Ok, ok, except to coat the loaf pan…..but that’s it!  Cross my heart.)  Most of the sweetness in this recipe comes from the natural sweetness of the orange, so even though there is additional sugar content here, it’s not much, you know, cake-wise.

I’m in a phase of experimentation right now, which is great fun.  Using ingredients that I’m not very familiar with to add new twists and depth of flavor to various recipes, going through recipes I like with a red pen and making them my own…..that sort of thing.  Cardamom is an ingredient I’ve been wanting to play with for quite some time.  A relative of ginger but with a distinct flavor all its own, it’s commonly used alongside fruit or with sweeter vegetables like carrots to add an exotic flair.  Cardamom is actually not part of the cake itself in this recipe.  What I’ve done here is to create a simple syrup of cardamom and orange juice that is drizzled over the warm cake when it comes out of the oven, which imparts additional moisture and flavor.  I thought the results here were quite delicious and lovely, and this is a perfect light dessert for the early autumn weeks.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 cup plain yogurt (we used Stoneyfield Farms Low-Fat Plain Yogurt)

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

Zest of 1 orange

1/2 tsp. good vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Juice of 1 orange

8-10 cardamom pods, crushed

3 tbsp. water

3 tbsp. sugar

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350ºF.

2.  Prepare a non-stick loaf pan by rubbing the interior with a thin layer of butter, and lining the bottom with a piece of parchment paper cut to the appropriate size.  Place prepared pan in the refrigerator while you work on the batter.

3.  As always with baking, you’ll need one bowl for dry ingredients and one bowl for the wet.  In the dry bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  In the wet bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, orange zest, and vanilla extract.

4.  While whisking the wet ingredients, slowly incorporate the dry ingredients a little bit at a time until everything is just combined.  With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the oil until everything is evenly incorporated and smooth.  Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for approximately 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean with no crumbles attached.

5.  When cake is done, place the loaf pan on a cooling rack and let cool for about 5-10 minutes before turning it out of the pan onto the rack.  While cake begins to cool, prepare the simple syrup.

6.  In a small saucepan, add the orange juice, crushed cardamom pods, water, and sugar.  Bring to a boil and then immediately turn off the fire and strain the mixture into a clean bowl.  Pour it over the warm cake and continue allowing to cool, about 20 more minutes.  Cut into 1/4-1/2″ slices and serve with coffee or tea.

Yield: 1 8 1/2″ long loaf full of pretty orange speckles