Blueberry and Cardamom Yogurt Cake

I'm turning into my mom!!!!

Wait, does this mean that one day <if> I have a daughter, she'll gasp and think the same thing too?!  Okay, I will quickly remind myself it's not a bad thing at all.  In fact, it's great, because my mom's cooking and her teaching are always an inspiration to me. 

Anyways, I'm turning into my mom because I'm adding all things "Persian" to any recipe I come across these days--especially desserts.

As noted in one of my previous blogs about strawberry cake, I noted how I practically despised anything that involved cardamom, rosewater, whatever "Persian" that my mom added to desserts when I was a kid.

Well I'm all grown up now. And here I am, adding those pesky ingredients to a recipe I recently came across in the June 2009 issue of Gourmet magazine. It's called Raspberry Buttermilk Cake. 

I took out the buttermilk, sub'ed Strauss Organic Yogurt and added 1/4 a teaspoon of ground cardamom. Oh and I used blueberries instead of raspberries. Raspberries freak me out sometimes...they're fuzzy and the little seeds get stuck in my teeth.

It's best to use Strauss Organic Yogurt for this recipe because that tangy taste that I love about that yogurt really comes out in this cake.  Also, when you add a couple of dashes of ground cardamom to this recipe, it really pairs well with a hot cup of Persian tea (Earl Grey or Darjeeling is just fine).

Recipe for (1) 9'' round cake (I made two in the photos):

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cardamom

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 stick of unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar, divided

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 large egg (preferably free-range)

1/2 cup of Strauss Organic Yogurt (or buttermilk)

1 cup fresh blueberries

Pre-heat oven to 400 with rack in the middle. Butter and flour a 9" round cake pan.

Whisk together first 5 ingredients and set aside.

Cream butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with yogurt, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until well combined.

Floured pan--I like to use cornmeal on the bottom of my pans.

Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter the blueberries evenly on top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tbsp. sugar. (remember this recipe is for one cake pan, I doubled it to fill 2 pans)

*my added "touch": lick the bowl and spatula while you're waiting for the cake to bake

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm 10-15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.

This is the best afternoon dessert! Thanks to my old issue of Gourmet magazine and my mom's wisdom of adding and sub'ing random Persian ingredients!