There is one word in the English language that really irks me. I know I’m not alone in my hatred of this word because I heard on NPR’s “Wait, wait don’t tell me” that this word is consistently deemed the most hated word in America. I’m talking about the word “moist.” According to Peter Sagal, it is the pronunciation of the two vowels, “oi” that makes people cringe in disgust. I agree wholeheartedly that when one makes the sound “oi”, sandwiched between the beginning letter “m” and the ending letters “st” that one speaks the most shudder-inducing word. This word evokes for me a feeling of creepy clamminess. When I hear the word “moist” I see small sweat drops clinging to extremely pale skin. Ugh. I can feel myself making a face even as I write this.
So why is it then that everyone continues to use this word to describe food? There hasn’t been an occasion when someone has baked a cake or some sort of quick bread that someone hasn’t uttered the word “moist”. And then usually someone says, “Hey, doesn’t Ashley hate that word?” And then I usually say, “yes, that is the word that I detest”, which is followed by more people using the word and laughing at my face.
A friend told me the other day that I should just get over it, because there is no better word that describes the crumb of a really good cake. But I beg to differ. I love cake, and talk about it frequently without using the word-that-must-not–be-named. Cake is my favorite dessert and when I don’t have some sort of dessert that resembles cake around, I feel lost and sad. I don’t necessarily mean those elaborate birthday cakes that are available at bakeries, or the really sweet Costco kind that is more frosting (another thing that I hate- frosting) than anything else. No, usually I am referring more to the texture of say, something simple like banana bread, persimmon bread, pound cake, or sponge cake.
What’s wrong with the word “cakey”? That’s the word that I always use when I’m describing the texture that I crave. Or how about “spongey” or “soft”? I use all of these words and I don’t feel like anything is missing in its description. I propose that we all replace the word “moist” with the infinitely better sounding “cakey.” That’s the word I used today when I announced that I was going to make French yogurt cake. Yes, that’s right. I craved that “cakey” texture. And this recipe, from my host mom in France, definitely fits the bill. It’s the perfect simple teacake. The crumb is dotted with holes, and it bounces back when you poke at it. It has an eggy, vanilla flavor and is light while being slightly chewy. Make it, and then when you are thinking about what to say about it, remember that “moist” is probably the worst option.
Gâteau au Yaourt de Nathalie
- Usually you use one container of plain yogurt for the recipe, and then you just use the same container to measure all the rest of the ingredients. The recipe that follows is in number of “pots”, which is the number of times you fill up the container. A ½ cup measure works just as well.
Ingredients:
1 pot plain yogurt
½ pot oil, crème, or melted butter
1 ½ pot of sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 pots of flour
4 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
Mix all of the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Whisk together the wet ingredients in a large bowl, and add the dry mixture to the wet mixture. Mix together until there are no lumps, but don’t over-mix. You can also add chocolate, fruit, nuts, etc. to the mixture. Bake at 356 degrees for 35-45 minutes.
I love simple things.






