Ina versus Dorie, head to head, cake to cake


Lemon yogurt cake.

Two recipes, almost identical.

Not surprising when you read that Ina's recipe is based on Dorie's recipe.

Put the recipes side by side and see very few differences: Dorie gives the option of ground nuts, Ina doubles the yogurt and has a touch more lemon. A few minor things between the instructions, but really, on paper they are essentially the same cake (minus the glaze and/or syrup, both of which I ignored.)

I wanted to see how similar, exactly, they were, so I made them both, one after the other, and conducted a "blind taste test" amongst my boys.

Can you see a difference?

Ina barely nudged out Dorie in moistness, being a bit moister, which isn't surprising based on the amount of yogurt in her version. And while I agreed that Ina's was the more moist of the two, I preferred Dorie's for texture.

Taste wise, essentially identical. Both mildly lemon, both soft crumbed, both very good.

And isn't it good timing that this week's TWD pick is Dorie's Lemon Yogurt Cake? Which, since I conducted this little experiment of mine, I've made again and again. The last time I added some chopped fresh cranberries, and switched out the vanilla for a touch of lemon juice. Divine!

Anyone have any suggestions for another head to head challenge for me? I'm open to ideas!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, I didn't know that Ina had adapted a Dorie recipe! Dorie's didn't work out for me this week so I think I'll give Ina's a try soon.

They both look delicious though!

breadchick said...

Oh this is fun! I have to admit that I've grown more fond of Ina's recipes than Dorie's. Course, I'm not going to refuse either ;-)

Megan said...

I didn't know that Ina's cake was based on Dorie's - but I can tell you that we really enjoyed the cake. Now I'll have to make Ina's, just to compare!

natalia said...

I love your test ! Cranberries sound great .Ciao !

NKP said...

Love the head to head challenge!
I am going to try Ina's next, we love lemon loaf, mmmmm.

Anonymous said...

Cool comparison! I'll take both please.

Mary said...

That is a great side by side comparison...cool idea. I think I would take Ina or Dorie anything!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

What a great head to head Jenny!
Really appreciate that you showed us the difference. Makes me think we should do more of this.