I've been on an Ina Garten craze lately. I love her podcasts where she interviews celebrities and then they cook - very entertaining. The podcasts are really just the sound from her HGTV show, Be My Guest but lately there have been podcasts and interviews with her talking about her new book 'Be Ready When the Luck Happens' (we are selling it in the shop). It's always interesting to me when successful people talk about their history. Ina is so humble, she talks about how she found her way into cooking - I won't spoil it for you in case you're wanting to read it but it's a good read or just good interviews on all kinds of podcasts. Enough of that, let's get to her recipe. In her cookbook (yes, I have them all), she calls this a Lemon Yoghurt Cake. I feel that it's more of a loaf than a cake. Very good texture, excellent lemon taste and with the cake, syrup and glaze it's an impressive looking loaf (if you love to give baked gifts for the holidays - this would be one I would give to my lemon loving friends!), oh, and it freezes nicely. I did make 1 change - I used sour cream instead of yoghurt and it was delish, so use whichever you have, both will work.
Let's get to the recipe. . .
Lemon Loaf with Glaze
Mix together 1 1/2 c. flour (spooned into measure) 2 tsp. b. powder 1/2 tsp. salt
In a separate bowl, mix together 1 c. sour cream or whole milk yoghurt 1 c. sugar 3 large eggs 2 tsp. grated lemon zest (about 2 largish lemons) 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Gently add the dry ingredients to the wet.
Add in and mix together until all the oil has been mixed into the batter 1/2 c. vegetable oil.
Pour into a loaf pan that has been greased and floured or line you pan with parchment paper (my preferred choice - so much easier to take the loaf out of the pan)
Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes, more or less, depending on the size of your loaf pan.
While it's baking. . .
In small saucepan, add in 1/3 c. lemon juice 1/2 c. sugar Cook until clear and the sugar is dissolved. Set aside
When the loaf is out of the oven, let sit for about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and place on a baking rack, over parchment paper. Pour the lemon juice mixture over top, allowing it to soak in.
Glaze 1 c. icing sugar 2 tbsp. lemon juice Mix together until smooth and the consistency is pourable.
Gently spoon the glaze over your cooled loaf, letting it drip over the sides.
