Sometimes layer cakes can be heavy, overly sweet, and leave you feeling like you’ve overdone it. This cake was conceived as the solution to that. It is light and flavoursome without being overly saccharine but still feels like something special. This cake comes together incredibly easily, it is one of the first ones taught to children in France when introducing them to baking, so it is especially forgiving for a beginner. If you’re worried about making the custard (which you shouldn’t! It isn’t that difficult) then you can definitely serve this with a cloud of freshly whipped cream. No matter how you decide to serve it, it is a crowd-pleaser.

For the cake

250ml // 1 cup plain unsweetened yogurt, preferably French set style.
160g // 3/4 cup sugar
80ml // 1/3 cup vegetable oil
5ml // 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
15ml // 1 tbsp dark rum (optional but highly recommended)
2 large eggs, room temperature
250g // 2 cups all-purpose flour
10g // 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
5g // 1/2 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt

For the custard

2 large egg yolk
35g // 3 tbsp sugar
35g // 5 tbsp corn starch
10ml // 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
600ml // 2 1/2 cups whole milk
6g // 1 tbsp orange zest (optional)

Powdered sugar for decoration (optional)

Preheat oven to 350f (180c). Grease an 8” cake pan with butter and cut a circle of parchment paper to line the bottom.

In a large mixing bowl, mix yogurt, sugar, oil, vanilla, rum, and eggs until just combined. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Fold the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture very gently, until you can’t see any more streaks of flour. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake 30-35 minutes until the top of the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

While the bake is baking, prepare the custard. Put the egg yolk, sugar, corn starch, and vanilla into a bowl and whisk until blended, making sure there are no lumps of corn starch left. Heat the milk and cream together in a saucepan until hot but not yet boiling.

Slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mix while whisking to temper them, until all the milk has been added. Don’t worry if your mixture is foamy, this will go away once you cook the custard some more. Return the mixture into the saucepan. Stir constantly with a silicone spatula to avoid the custard sticking to the bottom of the pan, and heat until the mixture just comes to a boil. You will know it’s ready when the custard gets very thick.

Take it off the heat. If you are adding one of the optional flavourings, mix it in now. Pour it into a container, and cover with plastic wrap, making sure to make contact with the top of the custard to help prevent skin from forming on the top.

When the cake and the custard are cool, peel off the parchment paper, cut the cake in half, and fill it with the custard. Place the top half of the cake over the custard, and sprinkle with powdered sugar to finish.