Apple yogurt cake

I made a cake on Tuesday night, and stayed up till midnight waiting for it to bake. It was absolutely rewarding. There was the warm scent of cinnamon mingling with the smell of tart green apples giving way to sweetness in the oven. Outside, the cars and buses went rumbling by on wet roads.

I've been baking a lot recently. Probably I am running away from something, but I haven't put my finger on what yet. There was the blueberry-lemon cake made 3 times over the past 2 months, with its moist crumb and bright lemon flavour, and blistered blueberries bursting sweet and sour and on the tongue. It was really good. The batch of brownies last month. Cardamom loaves in July.

There's something meditative in the act of baking. You are so mindful of the hush of flour being measured into cups, the raw sugar grains shining translucent and honey-coloured, oil poured smoothly and silently into a waiting bowl. And the promise of transmutation.

As it is, this apple yogurt cake recipe from Kitchn is the perfect antidote to an overactive imagination. The ingredients are simple, and the best part is that you literally measure everything into a single bowl and stir.

I want to tell you how it tastes, because it was a revelation. The crumb is tender and springy; falling somewhere between pudding and sponge cake, lightly scented with cinnamon and vanilla. I left out the nutmeg because I didn't have any on hand, but the flavour doesn't suffer for it. Every bite gives you tart bits of apple that have miraculously retained their crunch.

Did not make the cinnamon-brown sugar crumble because I'm not a fan of cinnamon, but you will eat the cake with tangy greek yogurt or chocolate ice cream every time you feel like having breakfast or a snack because that's what I've been doing.