One of my favourite parts about the dog days of summer is the all-too-brief appearance of red currants. I love their unashamed tartness, their shimmering jewel-like quality, the surprising crunch of the little seeds hiding within.
They're a little overwhelmingly sour on their own, but when added to a sweet baked treat or slowly simmered down into a brilliant red jam, they're utterly fantastic.
The only downside is that there are surprisingly few red currant recipes out there, which means I only have a handful of trusty options in my arsenal.
The most obvious route is to make a batch of red currant jam, which is what I often do. Or sometimes, if I'm feeling particularly ambitious, I bake them up into a spectacular meringue-topped red currant torte.
I've been meaning to to make red currant danishes, after having seen them pop up at the pastry counter at the O&B Canteen downtown, but I have yet to muster up the energy to spend the better part of a hot summer day pounding butter with a rolling pin and endlessly folding and rolling out dough to make homemade danishes.
(Yes, it's true... I have mile-wide streaks of laziness and impatience, which sometimes counterbalance my equally-wide streak of gluttony.)
Yogurt Cake: a simple and Elegant Red Currant Recipe
Rather than try my usual time-consuming recipes, I decided to use this particular batch of currants in a classic French-style yogurt cake, which is honestly the simplest thing I could think of to make.
The cake itself is pure simplicity. It's a pillowy-soft pale yellow cake flavoured with lemon zest and just the right amount of sweetness for my not-so-sweet tooth.
Traditionally, this cake would be baked in a round cake tin or as a loaf, but I opted to turn it into little mini-loaves instead. They're the perfect size for grabbing on my way out of the house in the morning, whether it's for breakfast or for a treat to go with my afternoon coffee. (If you don't happen to have a mini-loaf pan kicking around, a jumbo muffin tin will also do the trick.)
My initial plan for these loaves was to fold the currants into the batter, as I would normally do with a blueberry cake, but I worried the delicate currants might get crushed in the process.
So instead, I borrowed some inspiration from La Tartine Gourmandine's lovely red currant mini cakes, and sprinkled them onto the batter once it had been poured into the pans to create a bright scattering of scarlet polka-dots across the top of each loaf.
It's worth turning on the oven in the middle of a heat wave sometimes. :)
How to Prepare Red Currants for Baking
The hardest part about this recipe is the somewhat tedious process of picking the fragile thread-like stems from the currants while leaving the lovely red berries intact.
That said, there is a quick and easy hack to quickly red currants off the stem with minimal fuss using a simple implement that can be found in any kitchen - an ordinary table fork.
Once you've rinsed the berries clear, all you have to do is grab a single stem of currants from the top, and pull it through the tines of your fork. The berries should easily pop off the stem and drop into the bowl below, though you may need to do a little bit of cleanup to remove a few stray bits of stem. So much easier than pulling off each berry one by one!
Once you've separated the red currants from the stems, you can either proceed with the recipe, or freeze the berries to enjoy later in the season.
More Red Currant Recipes You Should Try
As I mentioned above, one of my favourite things to make with red currants is homemade jam.
I'm especially partial to David Lebovitz's recipe, which can be easily adjusted to match whatever amount of berries you've got kicking around. It's the easiest one I've found, since he starts by cooking the berries right on the stem, and then runs them though a food mill to strain out the stems and seeds, leaving behind a lovely smooth crimson-coloured jam.
If you're not partial to jam (or just have so many berries that you can't possibly make that much jam), here are a five more recipes to take advantage of your bounty:
- Red Currant and Lime Sorbet from Healthy Green Kitchen
- Fresh Currant and Oat Scones from Apt 2B Baking Co
- Red Currant Muffins from Kitchen Heals Soul
- Red Currant Grilled Chicken and Vegetables from The Food Blog
- Currant Gin and Tonic from Diversivore
Other Variations on This Recipe
Missed currant season? Fresh blueberries, raspberries or blackberries also work well, or even roughly chopped cranberries.
(Or heck, just skip the fruit altogether... these little cakes are perfectly lovely on their own, though definitely nowhere near as pretty.)
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Fresh Red Currant Yogurt Cakes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
A scattering of fresh red currants adds a pop of bright colour and tartness to classic French yogurt cake.
Ingredients
- ½ cup plain whole-milk yogurt
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup canola oil
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp grated lemon zest
- 1 cup fresh red currants
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease and flour the cups of a mini-loaf pan (or a jumbo muffin tin, if you prefer).
- In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt, sugar, eggs and canola oil until smooth and well blended.
- Add flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest, and stir until the batter is smooth and silky. Pour into the prepared mini-loaf tin, dividing evenly between the cups. Scatter berries on top of the batter, using around 2 tbsp per loaf.
- Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the edges are pale gold and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the centre of one loaf. (If using a muffin tin, you may need to add another 5 minutes of cooking time.)
- Let cool on a rack for 20 minutes in the pan, then turn out and let cool completely before serving.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
weliveinaflat says
Made this in a muffin tin with my little boy today and it was yummy! But not sure why the berries sank to the bottom rather than look nice on top like in your photo. But definitely delicious and easy to make with toddler. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
★★★★★
Elise says
Delicious! I used honeyberries from the garden in place of currants and served it with a sweetened sour cream and lemon topping on the side. I used a round cake pan since I didn’t have mini pans and it also worked well. Thanks for the great recipe!
★★★★★
Lily says
So delicious! Will definitely make these again.
★★★★★
Cari Frye says
Want to try.Do you think lemon flavored yogurt would work and only use 1/2 the sugar.Should I still add lemon zest?I don’t bake often but purchased currant yogurt cakes from a bake sale and loved them.
Isabelle Boucher says
You can absolutely use lemon flavoured yogurt instead of plain. It's hard to say if you should tweak the sugar in the recipe, because the amount of added sugar will vary from one brand to another, so personally I would play it safe and keep the amount of sugar unchanged.
And yes, definitely add the lemon zest. You can't have enough lemon in these!
Tracy says
So delicious! I had about a cupful of red currants from my CSA that I needed to use - great recipe! I made muffins and the 12-year-old son and husband liked them - and me, too. I used plain Greek yogurt in the same amount called for in the recipe before reading through the comments (where the recommendation to decrease by a bit) and they came out fine.
Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
Cass says
I followed the recipe exactly as it is and they were delicious.
★★★★★
Debbie says
Thank you for posting such a lovely, simple recipe! I could not find my mini loaf pan so I used my mini Bundt pan instead. I put the currants into the bottom of the pan and poured the batter over them. I baked them for 30 minutes and they came out great!
★★★★★
Tracy says
I may have to try to mini- bundt pans next, I didn't think of that when I made mine!
Lakshmi says
Just made these in a real 'seat of my pants' iteration, using Kefir instead of yogurt and a large cake pan instead of mini loaf pans. I also added half a cup of stoned cherries I had on hand, and somehow it turned out great! I found it a bit sweet so will halve the sugar next time but super pleased with the result. Thanks for this great recipe!
★★★★
Isabelle Boucher says
Love the sounds of this "seat of the pants" version! Cherries and redcurrants are such a lovely combination.
Jill says
These are really delicious! I used fat free Greek yoghurt and they still came out great! The cake was moist and the lemon zest adds just the right amount of lemon flavour. Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Nicole says
What can I substitute for canola oil?
Isabelle Boucher says
Hi Nicole! You can use any kind of neutral oil in this recipe - canola is what I usually have on hand in my kitchen, but sunflower oil, corn oil or even a mild olive oil are all great options.
shirleen says
hi im planning on making these today, though i dont have mini loave pans, though i have a normal muffin tin could i use that instead? if so should i ajust the baking time
Isabelle Boucher says
Great question, Shirleen! I have not made these in a regular muffin tin yet, but based on other recipes I've adapted in the past, I would suggest checking at around 12-15 minutes. If a toothpick comes out clean, they're done. If they're still goopy in the middle, give them another 5 mins.
Marina says
Hi! This recipe looks great. Would it work with Greek yogurt?
Isabelle Boucher says
You can substitute Greek yogurt for the regular yogurt, but I would use only 1/3 cup Greek yogurt and then make up the difference with milk or water. Otherwise your batter will be very thick, because Greek yogurt has a much lower moisture content.
Melanie B. says
I'd like to try this recipe. We have some red currants coming in. They're too sour for me (except in jam -- love red currant jams!), but my hubby loves them. We're not getting many on our bush this year, but I think we should have a cup full!
One question -- I would love to add some pecans to the cake. Thoughts? Recommendations on how I might do that?
Thanks!
Isabelle Boucher says
Bummer about the small harvest this year, Melanie. Hopefully you manage to find a few extra berries tucked away.
I've never tried this recipe with pecans, but it's an intriguing idea. I'd sprinkle some finely chopped nuts on top of the cakes at the same time as the currants, because stirring them into the cake batter will change the texture (which is so lovely and soft and fluffy).
Shannon says
Look forward to make this recipe every summer. I make many mini-loaves and pass them out to friends, neighbors, and family. So easy to make!
★★★★★
Isabelle Boucher says
I love that this recipe is an annual tradition for you, Shannon. Sadly, I may not have any luck this year... my usual source for red currants seems to have vanished. :(
Monica says
Isabelle,
Could I use vanilla whole milk yogurt? If I did would I need to cut the sugar in half?
Very excited to try this recipe. Currants grew in my backyard as a little girl and we just delighted in munching on them.
Monica
Isabelle Boucher says
Sorry for missing this comment, Monica. You can absolutely use vanilla yogurt instead, but I'd suggest dropping the sugar to 3/4 cup rather than cutting in half.
Monica says
Isabella,
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for this amazing recipe!!!
I made them this evening and they came out so yummy. I can't wait to share them with my family. The vanilla yogurt with just a bit less sugar worked great! So moist and tart but sweet. LOVE THEM!
★★★★★
Miriam says
How long would this keep though?
Isabelle Boucher says
These types of cakes don't keep for very long. If you're not eating them on the day of, I would recommend wrapping tightly with plastic wrap and consuming within 2 days.
Monica Stoesser says
This recipe looks so good - I cannot wait to try! I just picked a bunch of fresh currants yesterday, but am hoping to use them in a dish for a dinner that is still a couple weeks out. Which leaves me with two questions: 1) will these loaves keep if I make them now and then freeze them? If not, can I freeze the currants and then use them in this recipe later? If yes, would I thaw them first or put them in the oven still frozen?
Isabelle Boucher says
Hi Monica... in my experience, fresh currants don't freeze very well, so I wouldn't recommend going that route. However, the finished baked cakes will keep for a month or two in the freezer if they're tightly wrapped.
Liza says
can I make this in a regular loaf pan? Would I need one or two? or what about a regular sized muffin tin for 12 muffins? THANKS!!!!
Isabelle Boucher says
I've never tested with a loaf pan, so I can't say for sure how long it would need to bake, but I've used the same cake base in a 9x9" square cake pan (baked approx 35 minutes), or a regular muffin tin (bake for 15-20 mins).
Mirijam says
I love those berries!!! :) I'm german and I was shocked when I found out that my boyfriend who's from california never heard of them!
I'll definitely try that cake once the season starts :)
Priya says
Hello Isabelle
Came to ur blog from 10 Canadian food bloggers we love. New in Canada, and fell in love with ur blog. The pictures are too tempting, will surely try this one. Just wanted to know whether i can replace part of the all- purpose flour with whole wheat(got a hubby who's obsessed with whole wheat:).
Isabelle says
Welcome, Priya! I hope Canada is treating you well so far. I haven't tested this recipe with whole wheat flour, but I suspect you'd be able to substitute it for at least part of the flour (though definitely not for all of it). The cakes won't be as tender and fluffy as the original version, but they'll certainly be healthier.
I'd suggest trying it with 1/2 cup whole wheat and 1 cup all-purpose to start, and then adjust from there if your hubby wants even more whole wheat. :) Do let me know how it goes!
Priya says
thanks Isabelle
will surely let u know how it goes. need to lay my hands on red currants(hope i'll find it in the farmer's market). We are in Guelph and itz almost home now:)wonderful people around!!!
Priya says
Hi isabelle
Followed ur advice and used 1/2 cup whole wheat and it was wonderful!!!
thankyou
Russell van Kraayenburg says
At first I was like, my gosh this cake looks incredible! Then I saw they were mini so I thought, ERMAHGERDDDD they're mini and cute and delicious! So yeah. I will probably be making these if I can ever get my hands on some currants.
CamMi Pham says
those cakes look so good I have never had red currants before now i want to know how it tastes
cammi
@ https://www.cammilicious.com/
Carole says
Lovely berry dish. Berries and currants are this week's subject for Food on Friday. Would you be happy to link this in? We are looking to create a fantastic collection of berry dishes. This is the link .
Javelin Warrior says
On Fridays, I share my favorite food finds in a series called Food Fetish Friday - and I love this post so I'm featuring it as part of today's roundup (with a link-back and attribution). I hope you have no objections and I'm happy to be following along with your creations...
Kim Bee says
Love this way too much. I adore red currants and always struggle to know what to do with them. I'm all for you making them into danishes. I think the last weekend of September would be the ideal time. And that has nothing to do with the fact that I'll be visiting or anything.
Asiya says
I dont' think I've ever had red currants before...but since they are tart I don't think I would be a fan. These mini loaves are super cute...definitely have to give them a try with some blueberries or strawberries!
Olga @ MangoTomato says
ADORABLE beyond belief. Currants always remind me of my childhood in Russia. Wish they were more available in the US. Of course I can get them at farmers markets, but that would mean getting out of bed too early....
Love that you made the cakes mini ;)
PolaM says
It looks like you choose the perfect end for this red currants! They look delicious in their new home-cake!