Olive Oil-Yogurt Cake

Sunday was a great day; I spent most of the day outside gardening with my husband. Mini and Mona had to stay inside the house because it was a bit warm for them to be outside and Mona's allergies were acting up so we wanted to keep her away from pollen as much as possible. I don't think they minded staying indoors though; they stayed cool and napped most of the time. Once and a while they would come to they window to check on us, but they would go back to their beds.

After working in the garden I decided to bake a cake. I had my eye on a French yogurt cake a saw in Bon Appétit weeks ago. As I started gathering the ingredients I realized I had run out of vegetable oil... I didn't want to go to the store (again) to get it since I had already gone in the morning. What to do? I know, improvise! I switched the vegetable oil for olive oil and embellished the cake with raspberries I had bought in my morning trip to the market. The results were beautiful and delicious. I had a piece for breakfast this morning and it tasted amazing!

Olive Oil-Yogurt Cake

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Serves 8

* I just arranged the raspberries on top as decoration, but if you wish you could mix the raspberries in the batter for a more intense raspberry flavor.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon zest

3/4 cup Greek yogurt

1/2 cup olive oil

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup raspberries

Method:

1. Preheat oven 350° F (180° C). Line a 9X5 loaf pan with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl pour sugar and lemon zest and using you finger rub sugar and lemon zest together until sugar is moist. Add yogurt, olive oil, eggs and vanilla extract and whisk to blend well. Incorporate flour mixture and mix until well combined.

4. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Arrange raspberries on top and bake for about 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for  a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Martha.