RICE COOKER YOGURT STRAWBERRY CAKE

Today, we’re gonna’ cook our cake in a rice cooker. It’s for people, who like me, don’t have the chance to have an oven at home. Let me explain it to you.

While spending my first Korean winter, I’m enjoying cooking this easy recipe to spend this cold season smoothly.

My two motivations for making this cake was the rice cooker and the strawberries.

In Korea, it is not common to own an oven at home. I have hardly seen one since I live there. Why bother yourself cooking cakes at home if you can eat them outside for cheaper ? Because yes, in Korea the raw materials for making a cake are expensive (butter, flour, milk, eggs …) well more expensive than in France, because often imported products.

I have a funny anecdote about this. During my stay at my Gyeongju host family this summer, at dinner, we discuss what we miss and I, for joking, I say cakes, pies, quiches.. everything that is baked in an oven. And there to explain that in France I used, with my sisters, when I was little, to make a cake or a dessert every Wednesday (yogurt cake, chocolate cake, pancakes, waffles …). Back then you weren’t going to the bakery every day to eat expensive pâtisseries. No, it’s more fun to make it homemade between sisters and then fight for who will have the right to lick the bottom of the bowl still full of raw cake dough, yummy! But here, for a Korean, it gives the impression that my family is rich. And it didn’t miss. My host asked me if I was from the French Royal family and then give me a surname : Kim Camille. Due to the fact that in Korea the family name Kim is related to the Korean Royal family (and also to the fact that it is one of the most common names, like our good old Dupont or Martin in France).

Only my friend, Pauline, who runs a blog Blog Étoile Verte and my host family in Gochang owns this “revolutionary machine”!

I can tell you I miss quiches, pies, gratins and baked vegetables in the oven. My limited cooking boost my creativity and I came up with the idea of using the rice cooker to bake my cake. After confirming on the web it’s possible, I tried it on my grandmother’s recipe, her famous yogurt cake. It was a success !!! Some time to time I cook a double dose in the rice cooker. My friend Pré, from Les Pieds en Corée, even made us a chocolate/speculoos version for Christmas Eve.

Unfortunately, you can’t cook everything in the rice cooker but it works very well for sponge cake.

Second reason for this winter cake: Strawberries!

Winter, in Korea, is strawberry season. I must confess, last year, when I arrived in winter, I was surprised. Strawberries, in winter? And everyone to answer you that’s normal ! Ok, fair enough. Truth must be told, strawberries do not grow in a field, but in a greenhouse. Good point, they are local, pesticide-free and non-GMO for a reasonable price. After a year of Korean life where the price of vegetables and fruits are expensive, we take it !

Today, when I opened my fridge, I decided to treat myself with my grandmother’s yogurt cake recipe, personalized for the occasion with strawberries !

Conclusion : it’s delicious !!! It reminds me of my grandmother’s Easter strawberry cake !!! “Vive le” rice cooker and Bon Appétit !

For baking in the oven, nothing is more simple. Prepare the thermostat at 180° and cook for 30min minimum. The best thing is to stick a knife in the dough. If it comes out clean the cake is baked. Do not forget to butter and flour your mold before adding the cake dough !