I have been craving this cake for ages, it’s the simplicity of a pound cake with the freshness of zesty lemon and the moisture from the yoghurt that make this cake irresistable. I adapted this recipe found here to make my own version of this lemon yoghurt loaf. I used xylitol instead of sugar and Fair Cape Dairies Low Fat Yoghurt.

Lemon & Yoghurt Loaf Cake (adapted from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa)

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup Fair Cape Dairies Low Fat Yoghurt**
• 1 cup sugar*
• 3 extra large eggs
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

For the syrup:

• 1/3 cup sugar*
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the glaze:

• 1 cup icing sugar*
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

*Substitutes available, see Tips below.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Spray and cook a loaf pan and line the bottom with greaseproof paper. Dust flour inside the pan coating all sides.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl and set aside.  In another bowl whisk yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest.  Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.  Fold the vegetable oil into the batter until fully incorporated.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean.
3. While the cake is baking, stir 1/3 cup of sugar and 1/3 cup of lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook until sugar is dissolved and the liquid is clear, about 5 minutes.
4. When the cake is done cooking let it cool in the pan on a rack for about 10 minutes. Use a knife to loosen the sides of the cake and carefully remove the cake and set it on a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Pour the lemon syrup over the cake allowing it to soak in. Let the cake cool completely.
5. Make the glaze by mixing together the icing sugar and lemon juice.  Pour glaze over the fully cooled cake.  Allow the glaze to set for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

Tips:

I read the original recipe incorrectly and added the lemon juice into the cake! It was just super moist. I substituted xylitol instead of sugar for everything except the glaze.To make the glaze I used less than 1 cup of icing sugar, it was probably around 1/3 cup. Instead of 1/3 cup of sugar for the syrup I only used 2 Tb of xylitol.

** Low Fat Yoghurt sponsored by Fair Cape Dairies.