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Bon Appétit

Trust us: This simple berry-studded cake recipe is a real keeper.

Adapted from Bäco: Vivid Recipes From the Heart of Los Angeles by Josef Centeno and Betty Hallock, Chronicle Books (2017).

Ingredients

8 servings

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

½

teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon

4

tablespoons plus 1 cup sugar

2¼

cups all-purpose flour

2

teaspoons baking powder

½

teaspoon kosher salt, plus more

2

large eggs

1

cup plain whole-milk yogurt

½

cup vegetable oil

2

teaspoons finely grated lemon, lime, or orange zest

2

cups fresh (or frozen, thawed) blackberries

¼

cup tahini

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly coat a 9"-diameter cake pan with nonstick spray; line bottom with a parchment paper round. Lightly coat parchment with nonstick spray. Mix cardamom and 2 Tbsp. sugar in a small bowl; set aside.

    Step 2

    Whisk flour, baking powder, 1 cup sugar, and ½ tsp. salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center; add eggs, yogurt, oil, and citrus zest and whisk to combine. Switch to a wooden spoon or rubber spatula and gradually work in dry ingredients, mixing until smooth. Fold in berries; scrape batter into prepared pan.

    Step 3

    Mix tahini, a pinch of salt, and remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar in another small bowl. Drizzle evenly over batter; sprinkle reserved cardamom sugar over top.

    Step 4

    Bake cake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 50–60 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool in pan. Invert onto a plate, then turn right side up.

    Step 5

    Do Ahead: Cake can be baked 2 days ahead. Store tightly covered at room temperature.

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Reviews (5)

Back to TopTriangle

  • I wish I had read the recipe all the way through before starting, I feel like the use of the tahini doesn’t make sense with the rest of the cake as it’s only drizzled on top. I ended up feeling like I was eating two separate recipes that had been mashed together unsuccessfully.

    • Anonymous

    • Toronto

    • 8/13/2020

  • This cake sure has a lot of flavors going on! It's quite interesting and not too sweet. Definitely a treat for adults. I accidentally used baking soda instead of baking powder and it still turned out fine, if a little dense; my guess is that the baking soda reacted with the acid in the yogurt and had baking-powder-like effects. The cake kept incredibly moist thanks to the full fat yogurt and oil. I used canola oil instead of vegetable oil and it turned out fine too. I used microwaved frozen blackberries, and they got super incorporated into the batter. The cake is not super dessert-like, but would go great with coffee or tea. It sort of reminds me of a banana or zucchini bread. I think a sugar lemon icing on top would make it more dessert-like. I brought the cake into work and my coworkers loved it (even grabbing second slices to go with afternoon coffee), but my discerning foodie mind wasn't completely blown (which may be due to my own mistakes/ingredient substitution) so 4/5 for me.

    • Anonymous

    • DC

    • 12/10/2019

  • Delishious cake, easy to make with little clean up and a wonderful way to use fresh blackberries when they are in season. Great recipe!

    • Anonymous

    • Massachusetts

    • 7/28/2018

  • adapted to make vegan and what a success! love the cardamom, blackberry and tahini combo!

    • kylebeechey

    • Los Angeles

    • 10/20/2017

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