Lemon Cake with Yogurt
A dense, moist lemon cake with yogurt and a bold citrus intensity. Rich, buttery, and unapologetically lemony, it's the ultimate cake for lemon lovers!
Ingredients
- 100 ml lemon juice
- 4 lemons zest
- 200 gr caster sugar
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 150 gr yogurt greek
- 220 gr unsalted butter
- 330 gr plain flour
- ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 pinch salt
For the butter line
- 20 gr butter very soft
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven and line the loaf pan
- Preheat the oven to 160°C fan (180°C conventional) and line the loaf pan.
2. Zest and infuse
- Zest the lemons and rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingertips until damp and fragrant, which pushes the citrus oils into the sugar.
3. Whisk the wet ingredients
- Whisk the eggs into the lemon sugar until pale and slightly thickened, then whisk in the yoghurt and the lemon juice.
4. Add the melted butter
- Whisk in the cooled melted butter until smooth and glossy.
5. Fold in the dry ingredients
- Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt, and fold into the batter until just combined. Don't overmix. Work quickly once the bicarb meets the acid.
6. Fill the pan and pipe the butter line
- Pour the batter into the pan and level it. Pipe or spoon a thin line of very soft butter straight down the centre, end to end, which makes the cake split cleanly along the middle.
7. Bake
- Bake for 55–60 minutes, until deep golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. It should have risen and split down the middle. Cover loosely with foil if it browns too fast.
8. Cool
- Leave in the pan 15 minutes, then lift onto a rack to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- The butter line down the centre is what gives the clean professional split. It's optional but easy.
- Less sugar than the classic French versions, so it tastes of lemon rather than syrup. Don't cut it further, as sugar is what keeps it moist.
- Bicarbonate of soda browns the crust faster than baking powder, so the outside will be a deeper gold.