Lemony Yoghurt Cake - Eggless

Lemon and Yoghurt - What a Combo!

Have you ever tasted something that was so good that you never forgot its flavour. Ages ago, I had the privilege of tasting a Lemon Cake that did just that to me. I still vividly remember the "party in my mouth" feeling I got. I remember it tasted like pop rocks without the actual pop.

For a while now, I've been thinking of trying out a yoghurt cake. I love yoghurt, it’s one of my favourite things in this world. And it’s so good for you. If you don’t believe me, check this out.

So, when I came across Ina Garten's Lemon Yoghurt Cake recipe, how could I not try it? True to my style, I made a few changes to the recipe because I wanted to make it Eggless. So, I left out the eggs and increased the amount of baking powder. I also slightly increased the amount of yoghurt used. I left out the glaze as well. But I have promised myself that I will try the original recipe soon.

Round bottom pans result in this funky semi-circle of a cake

This is what you'll need:

• 220g flour
• 200g granulated sugar
• 3 tsp baking powder
• Juice and zest of 1 large lemon
• 250 ml whole milk yoghurt
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 tsp salt

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree C and grease and flour a loaf pan. I used a round bottom pan (just for fun).
2. In a medium-size bowl sift the flour, baking powder and salt. These are the dry ingredients.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the yoghurt and sugar well, till sugar dissolves completely. Then add the zest and juice of 1 lemon and the vanilla essence, whisk till mixed well. This forms the wet ingredients.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, in three additions. You can do this quite easily by hand with a rubber spatula.
5. Finally, fold in the oil till it is completely incorporated.
6. Bake at 180 degrees for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. I suggest covering the pan with foil or you might end up with a burnt top.

This cake tastes amazing when warm. It's great when served with tea or coffee. I heard Nigella Lawson say on her show that the zest of the lemon imparts more flavour than the juice. I totally believe her now because this cake is so citrusy and lemony and just a total "party in your mouth." The lemon and yoghurt combine to give this cake an absolutely fantastic flavour. Trust me, one slice and you'll definitely come back for more.

On a totally unrelated topic, look what I got.

Love the contrast of the bright lollipop and the Buddha statue

Yes, one of my aunt's friends sent me a lollipop as a gift. She said she remembered me as a little baby, I guess it's been about 20-25 yrs since she's seen me. But, hey, I'm not complaining.. When I was a kid we never had lollipops that looked like that. We had those boring tiny ones in cherry and chocolate flavours. But I have a question, how am I supposed to fit this in my mouth!!!!!