Big City, Little Kitchen

I’ve all but given up American-style yogurt; I now favor the thick, tangy Greek variety that is finally available in most supermarkets. It’s largely, but not solely, a taste issue: plain Greek yogurt not only has a more assertive flavor that melds well with fruit, granola, honey, and any number of other accessories, but it lacks the high sugar content, gelatin, and other additives commonly found in typical grocery store brands. Its bewitching texture comes from straining excess water from the mass, leaving a more intense flavor and a consistency similar to cream cheese.

While lovely eaten on its own, what really excites me is using the yogurt in baking, substituting it for cream cheese, sour cream, milk, and buttermilk (it also makes a creamy sauce that is an amazing accompaniment to a variety of meats). For these cupcakes, I began with a basic yellow cake recipe from my old standby, the Gourmet cookbook. I substituted Greek yogurt, in this case, full-fat Fage, for the stipulated sour cream in the cake batter. Although Fage is quite heavy, the resulting cakes were insanely light and fluffy, as if i had folded in beaten egg whites, as in this white cake recipe. For the frosting, I used Fage as if it were cream cheese, and added a bit of lemon juice to heighten the tartness. Together, these produce compulsively edible little cakes, sweet with just a hint of tart.

Fluffy Yogurt Cake (adapted from Gourmet’s Golden Cake)

• 3 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 tb baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 sticks (16 tb) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups Greek yogurt, such as Fage

Yogurt Frosting

• 1 stick (8 tb) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 muffin tins.

Make cake: sift together first four ingredients into a medium-sized bowl; set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each, then vanilla. Reduce speed to low and mix in half of the flour mixture just until combined, then the yogurt, and end with the rest of the flour mixture. Do not overmix. Pour batter into cupcake tins and bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden and inserted cake tester comes out clean. Let cool in tins for 10 minutes, then remove to baking rack to cool completely.

Make frosting: in the bowl of a standing mixer, beat yogurt and butter on medium speed until well-combined, 1 to 2 minutes; add lemon juice. Mix in confectioner’s sugar, 1/2 cup or so at a time, beating between additions to ensure smoothness.

When cakes are completely cool, spread each with 2 to 3 tablespoons’ worth of frosting.

Makes about 30 cupcakes, or 2 9-inch layers.