Lemon Cake

Michelle Phetlhe | Tuesday October 31, 2023 06:00

 

It had me wondering what happened to our tree, it doesn’t have any lemons. I can’t be sure when that happened because it must have been a month and a bit ago when I harvested some.

Let’s not talk about the ones the boys played baseball with in the yard. Waitse! What an absolute waste. I love our neighbourhood WhatsApp group for so many reasons.

It’s a lovely community were we get to share, engage and most of all, we keep each other safe and protected. I quickly found my neighbour’s number on the group and asked her for some lemons for an experimental cake I wanted to make with Nutriday Plain Yoghurt for October Month of Dessert content and my weekly column for right here in The Monitor. She obliged without any hesitation. I made sure to mention how I am always in need of taste testers if she didn’t mind.

After the school run, I popped over and picked up my lemons. They looked like a cross between lemons and oranges...more on the orange side. In fact, I made Shalom take a bite from a segment to confirm if we were leaning towards the lemon or orange side. His face told me everything I needed to know even before he screamed out loud, it’s a LEMON! I was super excited to make this cake, the ease of it and how inexpensive it was drew me to it. I enjoyed baking it so much that I made two cakes and gave my neighbour one for her and the family. I made hers first so by the time she knocked off she could pass by and collect it. Sheeem, was my husband not gutted when I called him over to see how lovely the cake looked and smelled. Only to find me boxing it and ours going in to the oven.

The wait was well worth it I believe, after brushing it over with an off the top of my head lemon syrup I made, I allowed it to cool. Time to taste test! I always get the boys to give me feedback before I do my own tasting, often times I trust them enough not to taste myself. I got amazing feedback from the neighbours as well, and just like that, ChellzKitchen now has another “go to recipe” Give this cake a try and serve it anytime of day. It is soft, moist, and fragrant. I hope you had a fabulous October; Month of Dessert.

INGREDIENTS

1 Cup (250gr) Nutriday plain yogurt

2 Cups (250gr) cake flour

1/2 Cup (100gr) white sugar

1/2 Cup (80gr) vegetable oil (I used canola oil)

2 eggs, at room temperature

2 Tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp vanilla essence 1-2 lemon, zest* 1 pinch salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven at 180C° and place the rack in the middle. Grease a loaf pan with butter or line with parchment paper. I like to rub the sugar and the lemon zest between my fingers before adding eggs, oil, vanilla essence. Mix again. Add Nutriday plain yoghurt and mix it into a smooth consistency. All in one bowl. Whisk flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt together and add to the wet batter until just combined. Bake for about 35-40 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.