The lemon and yoghurt cake is a soft cake that is quick to prepare and is perfect for breakfast filled with jam or dusted simply with a layer of sugar. You can serve it with fruits, whipped cream, a lemon glaze, chocolate syrup, whatever you can think of. While the cake is baking you can make the lemon glaze. Simply add the lemon juice and sugar to a saucepan and cook until the sugar dissolves. This lemon glaze is a must because it truly does make the loaf moist and adds that much extra lemony flavour. Start with sifting all-purpose flour in a large bowl, two teaspoons of baking flour and a teaspoon of salt.

Add one cup of yoghurt to another bowl and add one cup of butter, you can make this cake without butter but not without sugar. Add in three extra-large room temparature eggs which will make the eggs lighter add a half teaspoon of vanilla extract, and lemon zest and save the juice for later. Whisk it all together until they are well mixed then take the dry ingredients and add to the wet ingredients bit by bit. You will also need half a cup of vegetable oil, just a flavourless oil and stir it in until everything is well combined. Grease your baking tin with butter and dust with a little flour then pour the batter in and into the oven.

Once baked, remove it from the oven and let it cool. Meanwhile, make the lemon syrup and you will need a third cup of lemon juice and heat it with a third cup of sugar. Let that come to a boil until it becomes very clear then spoon the syrup over the cake and what it does is it just soaks into the cake keeping it moist.

Ingredients;

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
  • 3 extra-large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the glaze;

  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Instructions;

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan.
  2. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.
  3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yoghurt, 1 cup of sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla.
  4. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it’s all incorporated.
  5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the centre of the loaf comes out clean.
  6. Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and the remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
  7. When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
  8. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan.
  9. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.
  10. For the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.