• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
  • Shop
  • Contact
OMG! Yummy
  • Recipes
  • Cookbook!
  • Sumac & Sunshine
  • Classes and Events
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Cookbook!
  • Classes and Events
  • Sumac & Sunshine
  • Shop
  • Contact
×
Home » Food Stories

French Fridays with Dorie: quatre-quarts Cake and Coffee with a Purpose

by Beth Lee · Published: Jan 21, 2012 · Modified: Oct 24, 2019

As you've come to expect, here is OMG! Yummy's Saturday edition of French Fridays with Dorie. My motivation for this post is because my daughter loves sweets and has a long weekend of work ahead - I thought this would get her day started off in a happy way.

Another recipe from the French Friday's with Dorie you might enjoy is spice poached apples and pears.

Quatre-quarts pound cake with a slice missing.

Quatre-quarts from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook Around My French Table is a simple pound-cake-type recipe that Dorie has tweaked to work with our American measurements. As she explains, the direct translation of the name is four-fourths - equal parts eggs, flour, sugar, and butter. What really sold me was her description: "... a look so sweet and plain that you'd think the cake had the word home etched into its slightly domed top." How can you not want to make a cake described that way?

egg yolks being beaten with a wire whisk.
French Fridays with Dorie

So out came the ingredients and tools with a determination to quickly prepare the cake and start writing the post while it baked. It comes together easily with the four ingredients mentioned above plus some baking powder, a pinch of salt and your choice of vanilla extract or dark rum or cognac. I opted for a little cognac and a little vanilla. Dorie also adds some brown sugar on top for color and a surprise punch of sweetness. In addition, she has us separate the eggs and whip the whites, which for a little Saturday morning exercise, I did by hand.

Email this recipe to me!

We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!

A bag of Harbour Coffee from shop in Williamsburg, VA.

While I prepared the cake, @dormantchef appeared and started making a fresh pot of coffee - the perfect accompaniment to the cake. But like most things in my kitchen, this coffee has a story attached to it - the beans were purchased from a struggling coffee shop in Williamsburg, Virginia - Harbour Coffee - that he visited while attending our nephew's graduation in December. My brother, who described the shop this way - "a beautiful mom and pop coffee store, roasting their own coffee, talking to all the customers, making great homemade pastries and other food" - took it upon himself to help this hard-working shop stay open by imploring his friends and family to buy their coffee. We jumped on the bandwagon and have two pounds of their Harbour Blend beans to enjoy. If you are a lover of coffee and supporter of small businesses, you might want to check out their story and support their business.

Baked cake on cooling rack.

Now back to the regularly scheduled post - I just took my first bite and this cake is a winner - a cross between a coffee cake and a sponge cake with a little crunch to the bite from the brown sugar. I like the combination of the cognac and vanilla, though I suspect kids would prefer just the vanilla. And as I devoured it, I could imagine using orange or lemon zest to flavor it as well.

To read more experiences with this recipe, check out the French Fridays with Dorie web site and buy Dorie Greenspan’s award-winning cookbook Around My French Table. You will cherish the purchase and learn from each recipe and story that she shares.

P.S. If you are a French Fridays follower or Dorie-lover, don't miss this darling interview with her on NPR's Talk of the Nation this past Tuesday about her long-standing Tuesdays with Dorie baking group, based on her legendary baking cookbook - Baking from My Home to Yours.

Buy my cookbook now!

More Food Stories

  • nutella tartine surrounded with other mini nutella toasts
    Nutella Toasts: When Just a Spoonful isn’t Enough!
  • The Best Cheese Blintz Recipe
  • Gregory's jam in a blue cup with a small spoon and a glass of rose in the background and another jar of jam.
    Strawberry Raspberry Jam with Rosé Wine aka Gregory's Jam
  • A visit to a Watsonville Strawberry Farm with the California Strawberry Commission
    Out Standing in the Field

Reader Interactions

Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. dulceshome

    January 24, 2012 at 8:16 am

    Loved this cake too. Yours looks terrific. I was thinking about an orange version just yesterday... I can almost smell the coffee... what a nice post!!!

    Reply
    • omgyummy

      February 02, 2012 at 11:31 am

      Thanks - stop back and let me know if you make the orange version - I think it would be terrific. Sorry for the late reply - for some reason your comment got stuck in my spam folder - aaahhh!

      Reply
  2. Cher

    January 22, 2012 at 4:53 pm

    Great story about the coffee & beautiful cake.

    Reply
  3. Confessions of a Culinary Diva

    January 22, 2012 at 1:29 pm

    Terrific looking cake - love how the sugar caramelized on yours! I think this is one of the best cake bases that can be customized to a whim and still turn out great.

    Have a great week!

    Reply
    • omgyummy

      January 22, 2012 at 1:41 pm

      Thanks Christy! Love your idea of the rosemary simple syrup and olive oil ice cream - terrific!

      Reply
  4. nana

    January 21, 2012 at 1:19 pm

    Tricia and i both enjoyed this one. Yours looks fantastic, and the texture looks so good.
    I liked the simplicity of the few ingredients and the time involved was minimal. Great
    shots.

    Reply
    • omgyummy

      January 22, 2012 at 8:37 am

      Thanks guys! Yes - I loved the simplicity as well and the fact that it would easily lend itself to variations. Want to make it again...

      Reply
  5. frugalfeeding

    January 21, 2012 at 1:06 pm

    What a great looking cake. I love that you top it with sugar. I've never seen it done quite like this before.

    Reply
    • omgyummy

      January 22, 2012 at 8:36 am

      The sugar is Dorie's idea and it's a good one - you get a bit of crunch along with the soft spongy cake - very gratifying to eat.

      Reply
  6. Carol Sacks

    January 21, 2012 at 1:00 pm

    Love this post -- beautiful cake from Miss Dorie and a plea to support a local coffee business. Terrific! Have a great weekend, Beth!

    Reply
    • omgyummy

      January 22, 2012 at 8:36 am

      Thanks Carol - I had fun writing it and drinking it and eating it 🙂

      Reply

Primary Sidebar

  • Amazon
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
Beth Lee holding red chopsticks and eating rice out of blue bowl.

Hi, I'm Beth!

I'm a cookbook author, cooking teacher and preserved lemon lover. My family is a mix of Jewish, Hawaiian and Korean heritage. My virtual multicultural kitchen is always open. Let's cook together! 

Read More!

Popular

  • Pomegranate charoset in a blue bowl with oranges surrounding it and pistachios on top.
    Pomegranate Charoset (Haroset) for Passover and Year-round
  • Chocolate-filled hamantaschen on a red plate with a yellow bowl in the background with powdered sugar suggesting the Mexican wedding cookie flavors as well.
    Chocolate-filled Hamantaschen: or was that a Mexican wedding cookie?
  • Mandu dipping sauce on a tan plate with mandu all around and brown bowl with sauce in the center and a slate colored liner in the background.
    Mandu Dipping Sauce (Cho Jung)
  • Pomegranate sauce in a gravy boat with a spoon and the sliced turkey breast in the background.
    Pomegranate Gravy with Port and Rosemary

Buy My Cookbook

Photo of the cover of the essential Jewish baking cookbook by Beth Lee.

Footer

↑ back to top
Horizontal image showing logos of various media outlets that OMG! Yummy has been featured in.

About

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Recipes

  • Recipe Index
  • Jewish Recipes

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2025 Beth Lee/OMG! Yummy · All Rights Reserved

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Threads
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
 

Loading Comments...