Vegan Armenian Perok Cake

Step 1

Cream vegan butter and sugar together in a bowl using an electric mixer for about a minute or until smooth and pale in colour.

Step 2

Add yogurt and vanilla extract and beat for half a minute.

Step 3

Add flour, baking powder, and salt, and mix on low speed for another half minute or until just incorporated.

Step 4

Reserve roughly 1 cup (250 g) of the batter. Spoon the rest of the batter into one 9- or 10-inch cake pan, or three mini loaf pans.

Step 5

Gently smooth using the back of a spoon to create a fairly even surface, then spread the jam onto the batter.

Step 6

For the reserved cup of batter, you can either drop it by the spoonful onto the jam if you're lazy, or shape into strips and lay them at least an inch apart in a lattice pattern. The batter is very soft so you won't be able to form perfect pie-like lattice strips, which is fine. Just roll roughly rope-like strands.

Step 7

Bake at 350 °F for 45 minutes on the center rack (see Note 3).

Step 8

Optional: brush a thin layer of jam on top of the dough parts of the cake to create a shiny "egg wash" finish.