Lemon Yogurt Cake

I really enjoy watching Ina Garten on the Food Network.  She has a lovely calm way about her and her food always looks so delicious. I own one of her cookbooks, The Barefoot Contessa at Home.  It has beautiful photos for every recipe, which is something I appreciate.

The other day I decided to try her Lemon Yogurt Cake, and  I was not disappointed.  It boasts a strong lemon flavor and a soft, moist texture with a sweet/tart icing on top.

Her recipe calls for plain whole-milk yogurt, which I didn't have, so I used lemon yogurt instead. She also calls for a sugar and lemon juice syrup that you pour over the top of the cake when it comes out of the oven. The idea is that it will soak into the cake, adding to the flavor and  texture.  Next time I make this, I will skip that step. The syrup didn't soak very far into the cake (I suppose I could have poked holes with a toothpick) and the extra work (and calories) hardly seem worth it.  The glaze is enough!


Lemon Yogurt Cake

1-1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (I used lemon yogurt)
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp. grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

Lemon Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 TB lemon juice 

Preheat oven to 350-F.  Grease and flour (or use PAM spray for baking) a 8-1/2 x 4-1/4 x 2-1/2" loaf pan. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest and vanilla.  Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold the oil into the batter until fully incorporated.  

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for ~50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  

Cool in pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto cooling rack.  Glaze when completely cool.

Recipe adapted from The Barefoot Contessa at Home.

Happy Baking!