IT'S ALL IN HOW YOU SAY IT

The Petit Bateau set 

Just as American kids learning to mangle French like to say "Mercy buckets" for "Merci beaucoup" or " Bone's yours, mon sewer" for "Bonjour, monsieur," French school children like to get their licks in, too:  "See you next time,"  "See you next week" or maybe even "See you soon,"  can come out, "See you 'Nesquick!'"  French kids can be sly and naughty, too,  deforming "tiger" so that it sounds ever so much like "ta gueule" (shut up) when doing animal flash cards with the English nounou (nanny). That happens when les enfants are feeling "Pepsi."

Easy and Quick Goûter (Snack)

There probably isn't a child in France who hasn't come home from school with this fun to make yogurt cake recipe. It makes a one-layer cake for those who can't yet do the math to double the quantities.



The measurements are made from an individual-sized yogurt container or "pot":

1 pot of fruit yogurt of any flavor
3 pots of flour 
2 pots of sugar
1  pot of cooking oil
4 large eggs

2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla




Preheat oven to 390°F (200°C). Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Pour in buttered and lightly floured cake pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in its center comes out clean. Let cool then remove from pan.



For an easy glaze,  dilute a favorite jam with a little bit of water and spread on the cake.



N.B: If making this recipe here in France, then use one sachet of baking powder (levure chimique or as it's often called, levure alsacienne--which amounts to two teaspoons) and one sachet of vanilla-flavored sugar (sucre vanillé). These small, pre-measured packages are standard and convenient French supermarket items which make the recipe even simpler.




Text & photo ©2009 P.B. Lecron


Fast forward
How time passes! That little girl pictured above is now a mother herself and is teaching her own children the same yogurt cake recipe. And, she also has recently revealed a new talent--she's a children's story writer! I'm pleased to share with you a link to her new book,  Le lapin et la lune, as well as it's English version, The Rabbit and the Moon.