Prepare a 9-inch square metal pan by greasing and flouring. Set aside.
Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside for later.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the brown sugar.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition, and scraping the sides as necessary. The batter may look a little curdled if the eggs were a little too cool. That’s okay.
Add the maple syrup and mix again. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
To the bowl of the mixer, add one third the dry ingredients, mix until incorporated, then add half the yogurt, mix again and scrape the bowl as needed. Continue with another third of dry and the other half of the dairy, and end with the last third of the dry ingredients, mixing well and scraping down the bowl as necessary.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. The cake will also pull away slightly from the sides of the pan.
Remove the cake from the oven and cool completely in the pan before serving.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit’s recipe for a “gâteau de sirop” featured in the March 2011 issue. This cake is perfect as is, but would be great with a drizzling of maple syrup and some maple-sweetened whipped cream. This would also make a great layer cake with maple buttercream. Oh yes! P.S. If you want to remove the cake from the pan, you might want to line it with some parchment on the bottom, just to make it easier to get out in the end.