Lemon yoghurt cake

You know something’s a winner, don’t you, when you’ve adapted from our national treasure, Dame Alison Holst.  As you’ll all know, I have a bit of a thing for old-school cook books and recipes.  So you can imagine I could not leave Alison Holst’s Simply Delicious cookbook, circa 1975, behind when I found it for three dollars at a Star Boating Club book sale.

I don’t mean to imply, of course, that you need or want to be adapting Alison’s recipes.  It’s just that the original of this one, Lemon Cream Cake, calls for a cup of cream.  I like my cholesterol as much as anyone, but these days you’re just much more likely to have yoghurt in the fridge.

It’s a great cake for this time of year, when although the dark of winter is lifting a bit, you still want something moreish and warming.  And, just to be helpful, lemons happen to be in season, so the rest is common sense.  I whipped this up recently to go with a cup of tea following a family roast lunch; it’s so easy that you can get it in and out of the oven before you need to worry about getting any mains cooked.

I generously slathered this one with lemon icing and passionfruit pulp, but it also works very pleasingly with a little stewed fruit.  It’s another of my lazy all-in-one bowl baking jobs, and perhaps this is what I like about it most of all.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup plain yoghurt
• Grated rind of one lemon
• 2 cups self-raising flour, sifted

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.  Grease a 23cm round cake tin and line the bottom.

Put the eggs, sugar and yoghurt into a medium-sized bowl.  Beat them together until thick and creamy.

Sprinkle the lemon rind over the top and fold in the self-raising flour.

Bake for 45 minutes or until the centre springs back when pressed.

When it is cold, ice it if you fancy.