One of the contestants in this year’s season of The Great British Baking Show is a left below-knee amputee named Marc Elliott. We’re tracking his progress through the season, while sharing favorite recipes from limb-different bakers in the Amplitude community.
If not for the disasters that befell one of the other bakers in Episode 5 (Pastries), Marc might have been in serious danger of expulsion. His Cornish pasties in the Signature Challenge were poorly received—a regrettable outcome, since Marc lives in Cornwall—and his éclairs placed next-to-last in the Technical Challenge. But a strong finish in the Showstopper offered just enough redemption to carry him through to Episode 6, which will feature (for the first time ever) Japanese baking.
This Week’s Recipe: Moroccan Yogurt Pound Cake (Meskouta)
Our amputee baker this week is Rony Kaufman, better known as RonyRon to her friends and social media followers. Since losing her right leg in a hit-and-run accident about 18 months ago, Kaufman has been documenting her adaptations to limb loss on YouTube. Subject matter includes everything from home workouts to shopping, traveling as an amputee, and baking. Her audience is growing; head on over there and check out the content.
We reached out to Kaufman after we got great results with her 3-ingredient bagel recipe. Today we’re featuring her recipe for Moroccan pound cake, which Kaufman originally found on the Cooking With Alia YouTube channel. She learned the dish to satisfy her Moroccan husband’s craving for a familiar childhood dessert. “I love to make this whenever we are craving something sweet and delicious with a good cup of coffee or tea,” she writes.
Kaufman recently demo’d the meskouta recipe on her vlog. You can also catch up with her on Instagram.
Ingredients
3 eggs (separated into yolks and whites)
1 cup (4 oz) vanilla yogurt
(or another flavor—lemon and strawberry both work well)
Use the yogurt cup to measure each of the following:
1½ cup sugar
2½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger or cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Directions
1) Add 1½ cups of sugar over 3 egg yolks. (Remember to use the yogurt cup for all the measurements in this recipe). Using an egg beater, beat the egg yolks and sugar until you get a creamy whitish mixture.
2) Add ½ cup of vegetable oil and mix in using a spatula until the oil is completely incorporated.
3) Add the yogurt and continue mixing gently using a rotational movement, moving the spatula from bottom to up.
4) Add 1 tsp of vanilla extract (you can also use almond extract or another flavor of your choice).
5) Add 1 tsp of baking powder and continue mixing.
6) Add 1 tsp of ground ginger or another spice like ground cinnamon. You can also skip this optional step.
7) Sift 2½ cups of flour and add to batter little by little. Mix in some of the flour and when it’s completely incorporated, add a little more until done.
8) In a separate bowl, beat 3 egg whites with pinch of salt using an egg beater. Make sure whites have no traces of yolks when you separate the eggs, and that the egg beater heads are clean and dry (the egg whites won’t fluff otherwise). Beat for about 5 minutes until whites get firm with white peaks.
9) Incorporate egg whites to the batter. Add little by little, mixing gently in a rotational movement with a spatula. Wait for each portion of egg white to completely incorporate before adding more until done. Final batter should be creamy and smooth.
10) Preheat oven to 360 degrees.
11) Cover 8″ baking pan with parchment paper and pour in batter.
12) Bake for around 50 minutes. Your cake is ready when it feels firm when you press gently on the surface. Let cool and serve at room temperature.
Previous Amputee Bake Off recipes:
Chocolate Eclair Cake by Angie Heuser
Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Syrup by Broken Breadhaus
Very Carroty Carrot Cake by @cy_eats
Lemon-meringue Pie by Stump Kitchen