Easy Peasy Yoghurt Cake

1 small carton of flavoured yoghurt
1.5 cartons of caster sugar
3 cartons of self raising flour
1 carton of sunflower oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method

Rather than weighing the ingredients for this cake on scales, you measure them in the empty yoghurt pot.

Place all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl.  Beat them together with an electric whisk until smooth (or use a fork or hand whisk). Line a large loaf tin, pour in and bake for 1 1/2 hours at 160 degrees centigrade or gas mark 3 for one and a half hours.

My two daughters, age three and six, needed very little help to make the cake.  You can use any flavour yoghurt, the end result doesn’t differ that much in taste.  We used a small low fat, Asda, branded yoghurt.  

You can make small muffins rather than a loaf but I have never tried this.

Irchester Country Park Summer Fun Day

Northamptonshire Childminding Association organise several summer fun days each year.  This year they've been at East Carlton Park and today, at Irchester Country Park.  The next event is at NCA's 20th Birthday party at Abington Park, Northampton on Monday 22nd August.  The activities are open to everyone, not just childminders.

Here are some pictures of our day at Irchester.  We were lucky with the weather and avoided getting too wet.

Rhubarb from the Garden

Each time the rhubarb starts to grow either the children stand on it or the slugs eat it.  I decided today that we'd pick the young stems and use them before they got wasted.  The cake we chose to make needed a pound of fruit.  Above is a picture of the children weighing the stems as they were taken from the plant.  It is now bare, I didn't realise a pound was quite so much.

Recipe for rhubarb cake

Ingredients

• 3oz butter
• 3oz caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3oz self raising flour
• 1lb rhubarb
• 1tbsp demerara sugar for the topping
• 2 1/2 oz butter
• 3oz plain flour
• 1oz caster sugar

Method

Preheat oven to 190 c.  Grease an 8in round cake tin (I used a slightly larger square tin). Cream the butter and sugar together.  Beat in the eggs then fold in the flour and a pinch of salt.

Slice the rhubarb into 1cm pieces and toss in the demerara sugar.  The children sliced the rhubarb using a Pampered Chef safety knife.  Even the toddlers helped.

To make the topping, rub the butter into the flour and stir in the sugar. This makes a crumble mixture.

Pour the cake mix into the tin and arrange the rhubarb on top.  Sprinkle the topping over and bake for 40-45 mins.

Our cake is in the oven, I have realised I have made a mistake.  I should have either used a loose bottom tin or left the greaseproof paper hanging out the sides to use to lift it out. I have no idea how I am going to get it out of the tin with the crumble topping.  I'm hoping to make it to the shops before dinner to buy some ice cream to serve it with.