One of my favourite aspects of Italian culture is their breakfast, la colazione. Whilst I have been exposed to Italian culture through my family, before I went on my first trip to Italy I researched every aspect so I didn’t come across as an annoying tourist. If you were to assume that I am not a spontaneous person you would be correct. For this trip I had an accompanying spreadsheet, fly by the seat of my pants I do not. As I knew this was a typical ritual for Italians and to save myself the embarrassment of ordering incorrectly, I was even practised on how to order my caffè and cornetto at the bar for when we were out for breakfast.
Although I was researched to the max, during our time in Tuscany where we were part of a small tour group, the breakfast options at the hotels took me by complete surprise. Being an eggs, bacon and avocado toast devotee, I will admit that being faced with a buffet of all things biscuits, cakes and sweet pastries I was shocked. It felt very wrong to consume that much sugar first thing in the morning and now knowing I am type 2 diabetic, this consumption is even more alarming. For Italians, who generally spend a large part of their day walking everywhere, calorie wise I guess this is not a problem because they’d burn it off before lunch, but surely they all have high blood glucose levels, no?
Whilst we were presented with some boiled eggs, cheeses and cured meats as an alternative, every buffet was a generous spread of cakes from the region, fruit tarts, delightfully light citrus flavoured donuts and biscotti. I guess the savoury items were an attempt to balance the intense sweet offerings that we tourists may not be used to consuming at 7AM.
Cake for breakfast you say? Sign me up! I was in heaven. My waistline at the end of the week however did show the true extent of this daily (over)indulgence. Some cakes were quite decadent, but for me it was the simple versions of ciambellone, or ciambella (depending on who you ask) that were my favourite. On the Amalfi Coast, ciambella was a fried donut, ciambellone was the cake, but if you follow Nigella Lawson’s recipe she calls it ciambella (pronounced cham-bella). I guess it’s a tomarto/tomayyyto, potayto/potarto situation (read those examples again but in an American accent and the spelling will make more sense - see, it’s written phonetically, I’m so smart). Speaking of Nigella Lawson, love her or hate her (I’m on the side of love her despite her pronunciation of microwave) her Pot Yoghurt Cake is the recipe I have found to be a consistent winner. I’ll pop it at the end for you should you wish to try it, you’re welcome (that’s me assuming you said thank you).
There is something absolutely wonderful about the perfume of cake baking first thing in the morning. A freshly brewed coffee also aids in making the army crawl out of bed easier. If you’re prepared and weigh all your ingredients out before you start to mix the batter it will take you 40-45 minutes from start to eating. In addition, I usually pop frozen raspberries in to the mix because I am a big fan of fruity cakes. I don’t measure them I just stop adding them when I’ve reached the desired batter to raspberry ratio. This time I tried dried blueberries, it was good but I prefer raspberries, it makes the cake more moist (cringe word).
The other great thing about this recipe is that you will most likely have all the ingredients in your pantry and fridge already so you can knock it out on the reg (regular). Although, if you do bake every weekend for breakfast your partner may think you’re morphing into a Stepford Wife and he will expect you to start wearing an apron and welcoming him home from work with a Martini and a perfectly blowdried bob. This may be his fantasy but I’m sure it’s not yours.
Personally, baking falls under the self care category so it’s therapy to restore the soul and reconnect with yourself (so too is the eating part afterwards). The reward for baking after the sun has not long ago risen, is the scent of batter, vanilla and citrus being warmed slowly so that the perfume fills your house. After it’s cooked and you can be patient enough to wait the 10 minutes for the cake to cool in the mould, your first slice will make you sigh with delight.
This Sunday morning before you even reach for your phone to check your social media, why not try something new. Get out of bed, put the kettle on to boil, crack out your whisk and get baking, you can thank me later. It is a truly wonderful feeling and the reward will be delicious. Who knows, it may even become your new weekend ritual.
Yoghurt Pot Cake by Nigella Lawson
150 grams plain yoghurt
150 millilitres vegetable oil (plus some for greasing)
3 eggs
250 grams caster sugar 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
zest of ½ unwaxed lemon
175 grams plain flour
75 grams cornflour
1 teaspoon icing sugar (to serve)
Use a 22cm savarin or ring mould. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/gas mark 4/350°F, and grease your ring mould (or springform tin); you can use vegetable oil for this or a special baking spray.
Separate the eggs and put the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another. Whisk the whites until you have firm peaks, then set aside while you get on with the rest of the cake.
Scrape the yogurt out of its pot and on to the egg yolks, then use the emptied yogurt pot to measure out your other ingredients – so, next, add 2 pots (just) of sugar and whisk with the egg yolks and yogurt until airy and light.
Now fill your yogurt pot up with vegetable oil and, beating all the while, slowly add this to the egg yolk mixture. Then beat in 2 capfuls/teaspoons of vanilla extract and the zest of half a lemon.
Still beating, add 2 yogurt potfuls of flour followed by 1 yogurt potful of cornflour or potato starch, then scrape down and fold in with a rubber or silicone spatula. Now, with a large metal spoon, dollop in the whisked egg whites, and fold them in with the spatula.
Fill the prepared ring mould with the smooth, soft batter – it will come right to the top – and bake in the oven for 30–35 minutes; when cooked, the sides will be coming away at the edges and a cake tester will come out clean.
Remove it from the oven to a wire rack, letting the cake sit in the tin for 10 minutes before turning it out.
Once cooled transfer it to a serving plate or stand and dust with icing sugar. Traditionally, this cake would be placed on the plate with the smooth side uppermost, but Nigella likes it turned back up the way it was baked, with its rustic cracks and uneven surface visible.
(PS. Ideally as per the recipe you'd dust with icing sugar, however I prefer it without)
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