As many of you may know, I recently wrote an article entitled "Are You Paying Attention To The Relationships That Matter The Most To You." Well, much to my surprise, I received several comments and emails regarding the article and how it touched people's hearts and made them reflect upon their own lives.  This thrilled me!  One of my favorite comments, however, which the reader felt was too long to include in the comments section of my blog, was sent to me via email.  With her permission, I have reprinted it for you below, exactly as she sent it to me (with the exception of a couple of name changes), because I felt that it had important significance and truly touched my heart.

Kim McDougal, the writer of the comments and creator of the food blog, Ordinary Recipes Made Gourmet, is a virtual friend that I met a few weeks ago on Twitter, the social/business networking site, where people can search for and locate individuals with like-minded interests in business and/or hobbies and share ideas together.  Kim and I quickly began communicating back and forth over the internet about our mutual passion for cooking and decided to take a look at each other's blogs to get to know each other better.  While Kim was reading and commenting on my relationship article, I was busy printing out her Raspberry Yogurt Cake recipe to try.

Later that evening, my children and I headed for the kitchen with Kim's recipe in hand.  We all pitched in, mixing up the cake in about 15 minutes and carefully placing it in the oven to bake.  45 minutes later, we removed the delicious cake you see pictured below.  Since it was so late that night, the kids and I left it covered under our glass cake stand for the night.  The next morning, Kim's Raspberry Yogurt Cake became the perfect compliment for my morning cup of hot coffee.

Once everyone tasted it, we unanimously decided that the flavor of the cake closely resembled Otis Spunkmeyer's Blueberry Muffins (which we all enjoy), except it tasted fresher and denser.   This led me to the thought of substituting blueberries, strawberries, or possibly even cranberries to this cake, as a variation.  Blueberries would be magnificent!

The cake, itself, is flavorful and dense, moist and sweet.  The slight tartness of the berries gently offsets the sweetness of the cake.  The top surface of the cake is a beautiful golden color, which really needs no decoration at all.  However, for a variation, we decided to top it off with the sprinkling of some powdered sugar.  Another serving suggestion would be to gather a few fresh raspberries, cluster them in the center and accent with one or two mint leaves before serving.

The original recipe for this delicious Raspberry Yogurt Cake can be found here, at Kim's link.  In addition, however, I've written the recipe out fully below, just as my family baked it, so you could see the brands that we used, as well as the methods and minor changes we made to achieve our final results.

Before you sit down with your cup of coffee and slice of Raspberry Yogurt Cake, though, I hope you will remember Kim's story below and the life-lesson her grandmother taught..."Give People Flowers WHEN They Can Smell Them."  Something she has obviously had to learn the hard way.  But, from her lessons and communication with us, we all benefit. 

Thanks, Kim, for sharing your sweet "bouquet of flowers" and Raspberry Yogurt Cake recipe with me! 




INGREDIENTS

2-eggs (I used 2 Extra-Large Eggland's Best brand)
1-cup plain unsweetened yogurt (I used Dannon brand)
1-cup granulated sugar
1/2-cup vegetable oil (I used Crisco brand)
2-cups all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur Flour, Unbleached All-Purpose brand)
1-Tbls. baking powder
1 or 2-tsp. vanilla extract, to taste (I used 2 tsps of Adam's Best [twice as strong] brand)
1-1/2 to 2-cups fresh raspberries, rinsed and patted dry
Optional: powdered sugar for decorating top of cake

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Combine the yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil.  In another bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.  Add the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture and blend together.

Pour half of the batter into a greased ten-inch cake pan (for 9-inch pan, add 10-15 mins to baking time)*, then pour half of the raspberries on the surface.  Cover the berries with the remaining batter and top with remaining half of the berries.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.  Let stand for ten minutes and transfer onto a rack to cool.

*Optional - Soak Magi-Cake Baking Strips in water and wrap around outer side of cake pan, to help cake bake more evenly.

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Kim McDougal's Story

Ok Rhonda, here it is...grab a cup of coffee, sit back and read my novel!!! LOL

Let me start off by telling you that I was brought up to believe I was black. Yet I looked differently than all my family, my classmates, my neighbors. I had long dark hair, light skinned, high cheek bones, etc. I got teased all through school for it. But somehow I didn't notice the color differences not till I moved to the south at age 25. I grew up in Chicago in the worse neighborhood - the south side - gangs, prostitution, drugs, killings outside our apartment, you name it. It was just me, my little brother, and my mother. I lived with them till I was 18 when I left to live with my grandmother and my step-grandfather in Indiana to go to college. That's when I learned the truth about my heritage.

My grandma, "Grammy" sat me down and told me I am actually 1/3 White, 1/3 Native American, and 1/3 Black. My true grandfather on my mother's side was Indian. I don't remember what tribe, I guess at that time I was just shocked but it answered a lot of questions for me. My father's side was white while my mother's side of course with the Indian but mixed with Black. So I tell people I am simply Neopolitan!!! LOL

My real father met my mother when he was already married to someone else. I was the result of their affair. He promised my mother he would marry her, but you know how these stories usually go...he never did. Worse, he left his first wife, my mother and me and went off and married another woman. He did not want me but he fought my mother in court to change my last name. That's all I have of him. It has hurt me all my life, but I thank God anyway. My step-grandfather was extremely angry that my father rejected me like this and so he became my father. Landon was his name. I still remember him telling me one day, after I had tried to visit my father and he turned me away, "I'll be your father, you don't need him." Well, partly no and partly yes. A man, a father defines his kids. He shows the boy what kind of man he should become while he is his daughter's first date. He buys her her first dress and he defines for her the kind of man she should marry. Without that, a girl falls for all the wrong men, which I did.

Landon could not take his place but he did love on me. Anything I needed for college or wanted, he got it for me. While I was living with them he loved to spend time with me. We'd watch sports on TV, I'd cook for him. He'd give me money even when I didn't need any. He was kind to me. He made me laugh. I loved him a lot Rhonda, but only one thing was wrong...I never told him so. Circumstances happened which forced me to leave and go back to Chicago to my mom and yet he still cared for me long distance.. We'd talk on the phone all the time. Still..I never told him I loved him. One terrible day I came home from a date, my mother told me we had to leave to go to Grammy. Landon had had a massive heart attack and died. He was DOA before the paramedics got there. I was in shock. It was a bad dream I thought. A bad dream! He couldn't be gone! But he was. I realized at that moment that I had never openly, audibly shown my love and appreciation for him. He had tried to do for me what my father failed to do. And now he was gone and I'd never get to tell him all that he meant to me. Immediately the guilt came and for years later, not only was I grieving, I was lost. 

I vowed I'd never let another soul in my life leave this world without me telling them and showing them how I feel about them. We take our relationships for granted too often. We're so busy coming and going that we pass each other without a single caring word. And we're not being mean but just in our own world... I took Landon for granted and I paid the price for that. All I could do was tell God I was sorry and ask for forgiveness from Him since Landon not here. Other people would tell me, "Oh honey, I'm sure he knew how you felt before he died..." He may have but nothing compares to hearing your child, adopted or born from your loins, telling you, "I love you Landon", "I love you Daddy". Nothing. I've lost my Mom and Grammy now but you can believe they not only knew I loved them, they heard me tell them several times a day everyday. I truly do believe in giving people flowers WHEN they can smell them!

I'm glad to share this story with you. Thank you for being my new found friend.

Love, Kim

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Kim McDougal, creator Ordinary Recipes Made Gourmet