for the love of cake

I love cake. There's just something about it that turns the most ordinary meal into a celebration. A cake holds much more meaning than just a sweet dessert. A pie? Well, that's a labour of love and one should always be appreciative of a homemade pie. A cupcake? It's sweet, it's cute and fun and will most certainly put a smile on any face. But a cake is more than all of that. It's impressive in stature and tone. It holds memories of birthdays and weddings past. It is love and grace blended with silk ribbons and lace.

Cake might seem to be fussy but it doesn't have to be. This lemon yogurt cake comes from Orangette and is itself filled with its own memories and Kodak moments, but this cake is as simple as they come. I made this a couple of weekends ago for my buddy, Charlie's first birthday. Even though I overbaked it, it still managed to garner a few oohs and ahhs. I tried again the following weekend for my mother-in-law's birthday and it baked up to perfection. I soaked the cake with a lemon syrup rather than Orangette's lemon glaze and then topped the cake with freshly whipped cream and strawberries. It was light and fresh and celebratory. It was perfect.

lemon yogurt cake
1/2 c lemon yogurt
1 c granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
zest from 1 lemon
juice from 1/2 lemon
1/2 c canola oil

lemon syrup:
juice of 1 lemon
a few T of sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl combine the yogurt, sugar and eggs and mix well. In a seperate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and lemon zest. Add flour mixture in with the yogurt mixture and blend. Add in the lemon juice and oil and stir until everything is all mixed and blendy.

2. Pour batter into a greased & floured 9 inch round cake pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden and a cake tester comes out clean. Remember, don't over bake!!

3. Cool cake on a rack for 20 minutes and then turn out on a rack to cool completely. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and lemon juice until it tastes like the kind of syrup you make lemonade with. When cake is cool spoon over the lemon syrup and if you have any extra just pop it in a class of cold water and you'll have lemonade to boot!