Crystallized Ginger - Yoghurt Pound Cake

Total Time: 1 hr 35 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 15 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups greek yogurt (sour cream can be used instead)
• 3/4 cup crystallized ginger, cut in tiny pieces

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 300f (a low temperature, but it works); butter and flour a bundt pan (mine is no-stick but i still butter and flour it).
• 2 with mixer beat butter for a couple of minutes until ; add sugar and extracts and beat a few minutes longer (about 8-9 minutes in all); add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition; with mixer on low (to avoid getting flour dust all over the kitchen) add flour, baking powder and salt alternately with yoghurt; beat in ginger; this makes a very thick batter; spoon into prepared bundt pan and bake for 75 minutes (but start checking with toothpick to see if it's done after an hour (temperatures vary from oven to oven).
• 3 variations: i often use the 'base' recipe (omitting the ginger) and 'marble some of the batter with cocoa (add a tablespoonful or so of milk and 2 heaping tablespoonfuls of cocoa to 1/3 of the batter); or make a nut cake by stirring in 1 1/2 cups of the flour-dusted, toasted nuts of your choice (a sprinkle of freshly-grated nutmeg is great in this version); our current favourite is chocolate, chocolate/chip where i add 3 tablespoonfuls of cocoa to the batter (along with a couple of tablespoonfuls of milk - or buttermilk if you have it) and then stir in 1 1/2 cups of flour-dusted chocolate chips at the end, before spooning into pan.