Traditionally this type of cake was called a coffee cake, not that it’s coffee flavoured but because it’s a deliciously moist cake ideal for eating with your morning coffee. Whatever your mid-morning tipple, a slice of this beauty will go down a treat!
Makes one 20cm (8in) square cake
Prep: 25 minutes plus cooling
Bake: 55 minutes
Oven: 160°c (fan)/180°c/350°F/Gas Mark 4
100g (31⁄2oz) butter
2tsp ground cinnamon
60g (21⁄4oz) soft light brown sugar
100g (31⁄2oz) pecans, chopped
100g (31⁄2oz) butter
200g (7oz) caster (superfine) sugar
2 eggs, large
230ml (8fl oz) Greek-style yoghurt
185g (61⁄2oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
1⁄2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
20cm (8in) square cake tin (pan), at least 7.5cm (3in) deep
Electric handmixer
1 Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan)/180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Prepare the filling: place the butter, cinnamon and light brown sugar in a small bowl and mash together with a fork. Roughly chop the pecans, add to the mixture and mix it up well. Set it to one side and get to work on the cake.
2 Line the tin with baking paper. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. It’s harder to do when the ratio of butter and sugar isn’t even – keep going, it just takes a bit longer.
3 Add the egg a little at a time and beat well until the mixture is fluffy and aerated again, repeating until all the egg is incorporated. Getting the aeration back in after adding the egg is super important otherwise you’ll just have a liquidy mixture that turns very dense when baked.
4 Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and the Greek-style yoghurt. Fold the mixture together with a spatula until evenly combined. Place half of the cake mixture into the base of the tin and spread evenly with the back of a spoon. It will seem like a small amount – don’t worry.
Greek-style yoghurt is lower in fat than soured cream which is why I’m using it here – go for the full fat soured cream if you have it or use plain natural yoghurt instead. Measure these by volume and not by weight.
5 Now it’s messy fingers time! Using half of the filling pinch off small clumps and dot over the cake mixture.
6 On top dot spoonfuls of the remaining cake mixture to cover the filling. Use up all the remaining cake mixture and then using the back of a spoon smooth the cake mixture together to cover up the filling completely.
7 Dot the remaining filling onto the top of the cake and bake in the oven for 55 minutes until dark golden brown.
Because bicarbonate of soda is the raising agent in the cake here it needs to go in the oven pretty sharpish.
8 Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight tin and serve with your mid-morning cuppa!