This lemon almond yogurt cake requires no special occasion, and minimal work. It's perfect to celebrate the weekend, especially if topped with strawberries.
The kitchen table stands in a corner, with the Saturday newspapers lazily strewn all over it, waiting to be read. While the water is coming to a boil, my friend Dor is preparing cups with tea bags and a generous amount of sugar. And just off to the side, sits a simple, unadorned yogurt cake.
"Would you like some yogurt cake?" My host's mom asks, her countenance completely nonchalant. Children's toys are strewn at her feet, a dog runs around in circles.
And my mouth is already beginning to drool.
Weekend cakes
The simple act of making a cake for the weekend has always seemed like the ultimate luxury to me. Who would have so much time, I thought, as to not just worry about making Friday night dinner and cleaning the table and spending time with their family, but also make a cake?
Who would have so many ingredients in their home, so much egg and flour and sugar, that they could afford the expense of a cake for no other reason than the weekend?
To my Russian child's mind, cakes were associated with special occasions only.
They were grand affairs, layers of sponge alternating with buckets of heavy cream, oftentimes crowned with a generous dusting of cocoa powder.
Cakes were my grandmother Berta's domain, and usually took days to make, and cost a fortune.
They tasted like a holiday: decadent, overly sweet, a true splurge.
No one in my house would have dreamקג about serving a simple sponge cake. No one would have made a pie for the weekend. No one would have mixed almond meal and eggs and yogurt and lemon juice in one bowl, poured it into a loaf pan, and called it a yogurt cake.
It wasn't until I entered my Israel friends' homes that I saw there was a different way to celebrate the weekend: unhurried, unfussy, quiet. It wasn't until then that I saw there was a different kind of cake - yogurt cake.
That became everything I dreamed of: the simple, clean, light yogurt cakes that my friends' moms would bake for the weekend. The unadorned, humdrum affairs that needed nothing more than a dusting of confectioners' sugar, or a light glaze of yogurt frosting.
All I wanted was a simple weekend yogurt cake. And this lemon almond yogurt cake is exactly that.
The yogurt cake of your dreams
It requires no special occasion, and a very minimal amount of work. This almond yogurt cake is full of the bright taste of lemons, and its crumb is just right - not too dense, not too brittle.
This yogurt cake is gluten-free in the simplest of ways, and gets all of its body from some eggs and yogurt.
If you have more yogurt left behind, you can dress it with an easy yogurt glaze and some ripe, local strawberries, or you can leave it as it is, naked and bare.
This almond yogurt cake may not command much attention, just sitting there alongside big, heavy cream affairs. But if you bake it for the weekend, anyone who takes a bite is going to marvel at the simple, clean flavours.
And then, they too will want to just make a cake for the weekend. Just because.
Recipe
Tried and loved this recipe? Please leave a 5-star review below! Your reviews mean a lot to me, so if you've got any questions, please let me know in a comment.
Lemon almond yogurt cake with strawberries (GF)
Ingredients
Lemon almond yogurt cake:
- 1.5 cups almond meal
- ½ cup brown rice flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cups yogurt
- ½ cup oil
- 2 eggs
- ½ lemon, juice and zest of
Glaze (optional):
- ½ cup yogurt
- 2 TBs heavy cream
- 3 TBs icing sugar
- Sliced strawberries for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix dry ingredients separately.
- In a large bowl, whisk eggs until light and airy, with bubbles on top. Gently fold in yogurt, oil, lemon zest and juice.
- Add dry ingredients to wet in batches, ½ a cup at a time, folding with a wooden spoon or spatula to incorporate.
- Oil and flour a removable 9" baking pan, a loaf pan, or muffin tins. Pour batter into pan.
- Bake at a 325F oven for 45-60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out dry (if baking in muffin tins, start checking after 25-30 minutes).
- If serving with glaze, whip yogurt, heavy cream and icing sugar. The glaze should be runny. Pour it onto the cake as you're serving, or ladle each piece with some sauce. Top each piece with strawberry slices.
Katie @ Whole Nourishment says
A different kind of cake for a different kind of way to celebrate the weekend. Really love how you described this idea. Cakes conjure images of messy complication, but a good old yogurt cake is nothing of the sorts. I like the nut and brown rice flour base here. Thanks for weekend inspiration!
kseniaprints says
Hope your weekend was full of simple, delicious goodies as well!
Emma {Emma's Little Kitchen} says
So simple and elegant- I love almond meal cakes with summer berries, such a great pairing!
kseniaprints says
Me too - I find their lightness just goes together so well. Hope life is treating you well with the little one!
Kellie MacMillan says
A simple cake for no reason but the weekend. I like how you think.
I almost never bake but these kind of cakes I really love, not too sweet but I love that you make it look so easy.
kseniaprints says
Because it IS easy! Trust me, I don't do complicated.
Vaya of Valya's Taste of Home says
I love strawberries, this cake would be perfect with cup of coffee 🙂
kseniaprints says
And that's exactly how we were having it this weekend. It was a real joy!
Lori says
I think it is helpful if you list wet ingredients together, and then dry, or vice versa. Is the sugar added to the wet (as in many recipes) or considered dry? I just mixed it up and realized I had left out the sugar until I put it in the pan and then licked the spoon!)
kseniaprints says
Oh no!! It's considered dry... I am going to update the recipe as per your suggestion to avoid confusion.
Lee says
Delicious cake. Perfect for strawberries and whipped cream. Will be making this again and again. I do hope you list dry and wet ingredients separately.
kseniaprints says
Hi Lee! I'm so glad you gave this cake a try and enjoyed it - it's one of our favourites in the spring. Thanks for pointing out the problem with the dry and wet recipes, fixing it as we speak. Glad to make your acquaintance!