In the project of creating a recipe book from my mum's recipe box recipes, I came across a childhood favorite - my Gram's lemon cake. I remember making it once using lime jello instead of whatever the recipe called for creating a neon green cake. So as an adult reading the recipe, I have to say I was faintly appalled by the actual recipe - cake mix, jello mix, crisco, 4 eggs and water. I was reading Molly Wizenberg's book - A Homemade Life - and it has a french yogurt lemon cake recipe (along with a really sweet story) so the other day I made that cake. It has almost the same glaze as Gram's so it feels right.
1 1/2 c. flour
2 tsps baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tsps grated lemon zest
1/2 c. plain whole-milk yogurt (I used Balkan style as it was all I had in the fridge)
1 c. sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 c. vegetable oil
syrup:
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. lemon juice
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the lemon zest and mix well.
In a large bowl, mix the yogurt, sugar, and eggs together. Add the flour mixture and blend together. Add the oil and mix well. Keep mixing until you get a smooth, pale batter.
Pour into a greased 9" cake pan with a greased parchment circle on the bottom. Bake for 25-35 minutes until a tester in the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert the cake after loosening the sides and re-invert over a rack and a baking sheet. Whisk the syrup together until all combined and spoon over the cake.
My verdict - yummy and keeps for days well wrapped in plastic wrap.
