autonomie

I recently read Bringing Up Bébé, which discusses a style of parenting, found by the author to be innate among French parents, that is quite the opposite of the current trend in America toward attachment parenting. One of the main themes, if you will, of this French way of parenting is autonomie -- giving children firm limits, but plenty of independence within them. In many ways, this idea is a direct contradiction to the American style of "helicopter" parenting.

Though I know that any parenting book needs to be read keeping the bias in mind, I found myself really enjoying this one, perhaps because I already naturally practice many aspects of autonomie as I raise my children. I've realized, though, that there is plenty of room for improvement in how much autonomie I currently give my boys. It might mean sacrificing a little more of my time and energy to cleaning up messes, but I really should be giving those knuckleheads more independence, both for their sake and my own.

And what better place to start than with baking lessons. Using the recipe for gâteau au yaourt (yogurt cake) that was included in the book, I set to work teaching Garrett. This recipe is supposedly a hard one to mess up, and French children are apparently known for their ability to whip one up sans adults. So on a rainy day earlier this week, while Caleb and Matthew were napping, we gave it a whirl.

It was remarkably simple, which made it easier for me to give Garrett more control during the project. And the end result was surprisingly delicious. The outside of the cake comes out firm, almost crispy, while the inside is springy and moist. We added chocolate chips to ours, which turned out great, though I think next time it might be tasty to try using a berry-flavored yogurt and mix in a couple containers of berries.

Garrett, as you can see by the photos, had a great time. So here's to autonomie! And here's to eating cake!

gâteau au yaourt (Yogurt Cake)
from Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman

2 six-ounce containers plain whole-milk yogurt (use the empty containers to measure the other ingredients) (I used vanilla yogurt; try experimenting with different flavors)
2 eggs
2 containers sugar (or just one, depending on how sweet you like it)
1 tsp vanilla
Just under 1 container vegetable oil
4 containers flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Crème fraîche (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Use vegetable oil to grease a 9-inch round cake pan or loaf pan.

Gently combine the yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and oil. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients; mix gently until ingredients are just combined (don't overmix). You can add 2 containers frozen berries, a container of chocolate chips, or any flavoring you like. Bake for 35 minutes, then five minutes more if the cake doesn't pass the knife test. It should be almost crispy on the outside, but springy on the inside. Let cool. Serve with a dollop of crème fraîche.