Wonderful soft and aromatic cake that’s so easy to throw together!
Ingredients
Cake
- 200g (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 240g (1 cup) plain whole-milk yogurt
- 210g (1 cup) granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs (or 3 extra large)
- freshly grated zest of 1 lime
- freshly grated zest of 1 lemon
- grated zest of 1 small orange
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 120ml (1/2 cup) sunflower oil (or vegetable oil)
Citrus syrup
- 80ml (1/3 cup) freshly squeezed citrus juice (from about 1/2 lime, 1/2 lemon, 1/2 orange)
- 70g (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
- Lemon sugar glaze
- 30ml (2 TBSPs) fresh lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)
- 160g (1 cup) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease a loaf pan with oil, line bottom and sides with parchment paper, then grease again and dust with flour. Set aside.
Make the cake:
- Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl, set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together yogurt and sugar until smooth. Add eggs one by one, whisking the batter lightly after each addition. Stir in all the citrus zest and vanilla paste. Slowly whisk in the dry ingredients, just until incorporated. The batter will be quite thick.
- Fold the oil in the batter using a silicone spatula and gently stir until it’s all incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 40-50 minutes, until the top is golden and cake tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
As the cake bakes, make the syrup:
- Combine citrus juice and sugar in a small non-reactive (I use enamel) saucepan. Cook on medium-high heat just until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. If you run your spatula through the mixture, the syrup that sticks to it should be smooth without any visible sugar granules. Set aside.
- When the cake is done, let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Place a baking rack on a large plate or baking pan, then transfer cake onto the rack while it’s still warm. Pour the citrus syrup all over the cake, especially down the center where the crack is (if there is one). Let the syrup soak in while the cake completely cools.
- Once completely cool, make the glaze by stirring together lemon juice and powdered sugar. Pour it over the cake and let dry completely before cutting the cake.
- Store cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. It might last more, but we always finish it in a few days tops.
Notes
- About the pan size: I used a more narrow, 12 x 4 1/2 x 3 inch (30 x 11.5 x 7.5 cm) loaf pan this time, but I also make this cake in a smaller and wider loaf pan. My recipe is adapted from Ina’s recipe, who uses a 8 1/2 x 41/2 x 2 1/2 inch pan.
- My point is that you don’t need the exact same pan as I use. You can use a smaller/bigger one, just know that different sizes give you different heights and widths of cake. You might also have to adjust the baking time, so watch your loaf cake after the 30 minute mark.
- You can also make this in mini loaf pans. If you do that watch them carefully after 15-20 minutes, because they’ll bake faster than a regular loaf.
