After walking for several hours on Spain’s Camino de Santiago the sight of a cafe is a relief. You can get off your feet for a few minutes, use the restroom and grab a bite to eat. For coffee lovers, it’s a great time to recharge and usually you’ll be served a piece of a plain cake. Here it’s called bizcocho while in the US we’d call it a sponge cake or a coffee cake. There’s a lot of variety, but today I’m going to share a basic bizcocho recipe that is fantastic on its own and can easily be fancied up.
I found this recipe from Cocina dot es during a Pinterest search. It uses a container of yogurt and the flour and sugar are measured out using the empty container. Lots of fun and it saves having to weigh the sugar and flour as is common in European baking.
The recipe easily fills a standard loaf pan, but Rick’s cousin Montse doubles the recipe make a sheet cake that’s loaded with sliced apples. She bakes hers in the roasting pan that fits into the oven rack (about 13 x 17 inches). Other add ins include a couple tablespoons of jam, using a flavored yogurt or beating in a tablespoon (or more) of cocoa powder. You could also sprinkle with a streusel topping if desired. I decided to add a couple teaspoons of vanilla (find out how to make your own here) since I used a plain yogurt. The top is a dusting of powdered sugar.
What makes this basic bizcocho recipe different from the standard pound cake is it uses oil instead of butter and the egg whites are beaten separately and mixed into the batter. This results in a cake that is esponjoso, which means spongy but when it comes to baking is better translated as light and airy or fluffy. The writer at the Cocina dot es recommends the use of cake flour for an even lighter result, but we were not disappointed by our all purpose flour bizcocho.
Ingredients
- 1 Four ounce (125gm) container plain yogurt (I used Greek style). Use the empty container to measure the other ingredients as noted.
- 1 measure light flavored oil I used sunflower oil
- 2 measures sugar Add another half measure if you like a sweeter cake
- 3 measures flour I used all purpose flour
- 3 large eggs separated.
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
Instructions
- You'll need two bowls to mix the cake. Prepare a large loaf pan with cooking spray and flour. Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C.
- Put the yogurt into one bowl. Separate the eggs. Add the yolks to the yogurt and the whites to a new bowl.
- Beat the whites until soft peaks form.
- Use the empty yogurt container to measure the sugar and oil into the yogurt and yolks. Add the vanilla and beat together until the sugar has dissolved.
- Stir in the egg whites.
- Sift the flour and baking powder into the batter (I use a large mesh strainer) and continue to mix until the batter is uniform.
- Pour into the prepared loaf pan and transfer to the oven.
- Reduce the heat to 350°F/180°C and set the timer for 50 minutes.
- The bizcocho is finished when a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
- After baking is complete, allow the cake to rest for 10 minutes or so before removing from the loaf pan to finish cooling.
- Before serving dust with powdered sugar.
Notes
I’d like to make this coconut flavoured as my toddler loves, loves, loves coconut! I plan to use coconut yogurt and will add desiccated coconut as filling, but would also love to try to add coconut milk to it for that richness. How would that work, in terms of that extra cup of liquid? How would I have to change the recipe to allow me to add coconut milk to it so the batter isn’t too heavy/would still cook properly? I am not a natural baker and have no idea what would happen if I add that liquid!
Hello Nikki, Interesting question! First, I’d make the bizcocho as written, to get an idea of the steps and the way the batter should look. Then, instead of coconut MILK I think I’d substitute coconut OIL for the sunflower (neutral flavored) oil. Then, if the coconut flavor still wasn’t there, I’d add coconut flavoring for some or all of the vanilla. Neither of those steps would drastically change the ratio of dry to liquid ingredients.
After that, I’d consult with a coconut pound cake recipe for some idea of how much desiccated coconut to add. Good luck!
jesus dear I need this recipe in metric how hard can it be
Not sure what you’re going on about, dear.
The recipe has metric measurements in it, including the setting for the oven. You start with the container of yogurt — 4 ounces or 125 grams– as noted in the recipe card.
Then you use the container to measure the rest of the ingredients…as mentioned in the recipe card…Use the empty container to measure the other ingredients as noted.
If you need help with teaspoons or tablespoons, there’s always the internet. It’s not that hard, as you’ve pointed out.
Guys, Thanks For sharing this Great Recipe. My Family Loved it. I am definitely sharing this recipe and this website with my friend. Hope they also love it. Thank you again for sharing such a great recipe.
I made this into cupcakes with my daughter. We used 1 1/2 measures of sugar instead of the 2 measures as the reciepe said. It was a hit and we will be making them again😁
Thank you for letting me know!
Thank you for letting me know! I appreciate it. Have a great week 🙂
Do you think that someone could use lemon yogurt instead of plain yogurt and add some lemon zest to make it a little bit more flavorful?
I don’t see why not!
I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Sounds like it would be worth a try.
What is the measure??? Is it a cup or 2 cups??
You use a 4 ounce cup of yogurt and base the measurements of the other ingredients using the empty cup. 4 ounces is a half cup. So, one container of yogurt, one container of oil, 2 of sugar and 3 of flour.
The yogurt conversion in this recipe is wrong. 14oz. of yogurt is 396 plus grams, not 125gm, as stated in the recipe. We used a standard loaf pan but I believe a sheet cake pan would have been better. My daughter made this to take to her school but after baking 2 hours we pulled it out of oven and called it quits. She now has nothing to take for her Cinco de Mayo celebration.
If anyone has any feedback for me please comment.
It’s one four ounce container, or 125 gms. I’ll clarify in the recipe. Thanks!
PS If your yogurt comes in a 6 oz or larger container, measure out a half cup and use half cups as your measure for the sugar (2 half cups) and the flour (3 half cups).
I love pound cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, and I am going to guess this is just about the same. Maybe I could use a strawberry yogurt for extra flavor! Have you ever frozen this before? Right now I’m trying to fill my freezer with do-ahead meals and snacks because the next few months will be busy for me. Thanks for another great recipe, Lydia!
I haven’t frozen this cake, but I’ve frozen both whole and slices of pound cake. The whole cakes were actually mini loaves (I have a pan than makes 8). For both the loaves and the slices I wrapped them in waxed paper and put them in a plastic bag. Good luck!
That sounds like an idea, Robbie Lane. You could probably find a banana yogurt to go along with it. Let me know how it turns out!
This is a beautiful, easy cake. I love the texture. Might try whipped, well-mixed bananas just to see what happens. I like ve banana bread, but it’s too labor intensive anymore. Thank you for this recipe, Lydia.
Sounds like a good idea, Robbie Lane. You could probably add a banana yogurt, too. Let me know how it comes out.