TwD: NAPOLEON'S CAKE

When Napoleon was in excile on the island of St. Helena, I'm sure he made this cake. It's a traditional French yogurt cake island-style - baked with banana mango yogurt, ground mixed nuts, fresh mango and strawberries, and topped with a sweet layer of caramel coconut.

I've been wanting to make a French yogurt cake for the better part of a year after seeing some of Clotilde's on Chocolate and Zucchini. So I was excited when Liliana of My Cookbook Addiction chose this week's recipe. It was easy to make, fail-proof as Dorie said in the recipe. It's like a pound cake, which surprised me because it's reportedly a favorite birthday cake for little Frenchies. You mean kids the world over don't go for the sugar + lard iced sheet cake with potato chips and coke?! Wait until they find out what they're missing. Napoleon incarnate just might rise up; an eight-year old would be about the right size.

Instead of butter, this cake has oil. Combined with the ground nuts (walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and cashews) and yogurt, this cake turned out incredibly moist, which translates to magically disappearing in my kitchen. After putting about a fourth of the batter in the pan, I layered fresh strawberry and mango slices, and then covered with the remaining batter. The coconut topping was inspired by one my Granny sometimes adds to banana bread.

COCONUT TOPPING

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut

• Mix over medium heat until melted.
• Let simmer 2-5 minutes until the coconut takes on a caramel color.
• Spread over cooled cake.
  

Three discoveries from this week:

1. Lemon zest rubbed into sugar produces a most enticing aroma! Why has no candle company fancied this one yet? There is every other imaginable scent, from obscure to downright choking-hand-me-the-coffee-beans-NOW gross.
2. A new fave yogurt!
3. There could be worse things than being in exile on an island.