MAKES ONE 9 × 5-INCH LOAF CAKE
When you’re making a recipe that uses the creaming method (wherein butter and sugar are beaten together at the beginning of the recipe), one of the functions of sugar is to punch lots of tiny holes in the butter to create little pockets that can then fill up and expand with hot air and create a nice rise during baking. Granulated white sugar works great for creaming because it’s so fine; when you’re baking with coarser natural sugars, getting fine-textured cakes with the creaming method can be a toughie.
One of the tricks to making coarse turbinado sugar work in place of granulated sugar is extra mixing time anywhere you can fit it in, before the flour is added. Additional beating helps the turbinado break down a bit and aerate the butter and eggs. So be sure to pay attention to the beating times here—3 to 4 minutes for creaming the butter and sugar, then 1 whole minute after each egg is added. It seems pushy of me to inflict all this extra beating time on you, but the airy, cloudlike batter makes it all worth it.
¾ cup (3¼ ounces/90 grams) whole wheat pastry flour, spooned and leveled
¾ cup (3⅜ ounces/96 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1¼ cups (8¾ ounces/250 grams) turbinado sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
½ cup (1 stick/4 ounces/113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste* or pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon pure almond extract
3 large eggs, at room temperature
¼ cup (2 ounces/57 grams) freshly squeezed orange juice
¼ cup (2⅛ ounces/60 grams) 2% Greek yogurt
*Vanilla bean paste is one of my favorite baking ingredients—it has huge vanilla flavor, plus the aesthetic beauty of all those flecks, without having to scrape a bean.
1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350˚F. Butter a 9 × 5-inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper.
2. Into a medium bowl, sift together the flours, salt, and baking soda.
3. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and orange zest. Using your fingertips, massage the zest into the sugar until it is fragrant and moist.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, orange-scented sugar, vanilla bean paste, and almond extract. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. With the mixer running, beat in the eggs one at a time, allowing 1 minute of mixing time after each addition.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice and yogurt until smooth.
6. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Slowly add the dry ingredients. When no dry pockets remain, stir in the orange juice and yogurt mixture. Give the batter a quick folding by hand to ensure everything is incorporated. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle the top generously with sugar.
7. Bake until a toothpick inserted deeply into the very center comes out clean, about 1 hour.
8. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before slicing.
TIP: Here’s a life tip. You know how whole wheat flour—even finely milled whole wheat pastry flour—can sometimes add a faintly bitter taste to baked goods? Adding a couple tablespoons of orange juice to the batter in place of some of the liquid in a recipe (like water or milk) neutralizes that tannic flavor. Really! Here the orange juice is a major flavor player because it’s paired with zest, but in other recipes you can’t really detect the citrus notes. Give it a shot!