7 jar cake

Baking has switched to an evening activity lately. I like it. I have less energy but that works to my advantage. I don't have "simple life"/"easy living". Life is full of stress and nonsense. I do get nicer though when the sun goes down, when I have exhausted most of my batteries. Everybody is home, the oven is on and I'm doing something nice.

Nice is this Italian cake. My daughter asked for some cookies last evening. It's just the last cookies I made...well, I ate, and the guilt is still with me. I suspect my recent aggravations are due to too much sugar...or is it because of my...cat? Anyway, I found this cake, it looked good, Hania approved. And I had some yogurt too close to the expiration date in my fridge.

A yogurt jar, it's what's used to measure all the ingredients. 7 jars. 1 jar of yogurt, 3 jars of flour, 2 jars of sugar, 1 jar of oil. The jar measures 125 ml, about 1/2 cup. Different and fun. No scale needed.

The cake taste...Italian. Pleasant and delicate, without any particular taste. I can't detect yogurt, some vanilla and lemon...a bit. Very simple cake, just what kids like. Hania thought from looking at the picture that it was the paradise cake. They are similar, the 7 jar cake has more texture and it's little more substantial, because of the yogurt. It's not heavy but not as light and delicate as the paradise cake. I like cakes with less air and more substance, especially in the cold months.

Torta 7 vasetti" in Italian. Cool name, cool recipe, cool cake.

Recipe adapted from Giallo Zafferano

time: 15 min preparation + 50 min baking = 1h 05min

1 jar = 125 ml (a bit more 1/2 cup)
1 small jar = 120 ml (1/2 cup)

ingredients
2 jars flour
1 jar potato flour (starch)
1 jar yogurt
2 small jars sugar
1 small jar oil, anything but olive oil
3 eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons (8 g) baking powder
1 pinch salt
lemon zest from 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

directions
Preheat the oven to 180 C/355 F. Butter and flour (extra butter and flour) a 22-24 cm/ 9-10 inch round baking form.

In a medium bowl, sift together 2 jars of flour, 1 jar of potato flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder.

In a bowl of a standing mixer, beat the egg whites (separated from the yolks) till stiff but smooth and glossy, about 2-3 minutes. Add a pinch of salt toward the end. Don't overbeat them till grainy and dull. 
It's better to do this at the end if you have two mixers. I work fast, so my beaten egg whites don't stand around for more then 3 minutes. Don't use plastic or glass bowl to beat the eggs. Copper or steel works the best. Use room temperature eggs. If you don't have them handy, put them in tepid water for 15 - 20 minutes. 
Transfer the beaten egg whites to another bowl.

Using the electric mixer, beat the yolks with 2 small jars of sugar and vanilla sugar till light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add lemon zest. Add 1 jar of yogurt. Add 1 small jar of oil, slowly.

Change the mixer attachment to paddle/pastry. Add the flour mix, combine it well, about 2 minutes.

Turn the mixer off. With a spatula, fold in the beaten egg whites. Keep folding for about a minutes and not any longer or all the air from the egg whites will be gone. It's better to leave some specks of eggs then overmix it.

Pour the batter into the prepared form. Place it in the hot oven for about 45-50 minutes. Check the oven toward the end if it's not getting too dark, and make sure your toothpick comes out clean from the middle.