For two coworkers who are 12th-night babies, I made an un-king cake.  I imagine that anyone with a Jan. 6th birthday has eaten more than his fair share of king cakes over the years.  In lieu of Feast of the Epiphany tradition, here’s a french yogurt cake, made with ground almonds and homegrown meyer lemon zest, topped with meyer lemon curd and Louisiana strawberries.  The cake (Greenspan, “Baking from My Home to Yours“, page 224) is a snap to make:  simply whisk together zest, sugar, wholemilk yogurt, eggs, and vanilla, then fold in ground almonds, flour, baking powder, and a little oil at the end.   Texturally, the resulting cake is dense and moist from the yogurt and almonds, with a delicious, not-too-sweet tang.  It is sturdy enough to split and fill, but I usually just pour filling over the top–less fuss, still very decorative, and slightly less caloric than a filled and iced layer cake.

Now I’m down to two remaining meyer lemons on the tree; I’d better think up something special…..