We are having the most beautiful spring season in years here in the UK. I am really enjoying the nice weather (from my own garden…) and my desire for fruity and lemony cakes is stronger than ever!
With this recipe, I’ll show you how I prepare some simple lemon and yogurt cakes (or muffins). I’ve learned that if you mix well sugar and lemon zest before starting combining the batter, the fragrance of lemons is so much more enhanced. And it will turn these simple cakes into an explosion of citrus aroma.
You can glaze the muffins with a lemon icing or enjoy them plain.
Lemon and Yogurt Cakes
Ingredients
For the icing (optional)
Instructions
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Preheat oven at 180C. Prepare your muffin tray and place paper muffin cases in each mould or grease them and dust some flour, if you do not have muffin cases.
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Place the sugar and zest of two lemons into a large bowl. Using your fingerprints, rub the zest into the sugar until it'll look like a light, wet sand. N.B.: Preferably, use unwaxed lemons. When zesting the lemons, don't go too deep, as the white pith underneath the zest is very bitter.
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Stir in the yogurt, oil and eggs and whisk well (you can use a regular or an electric whisk). Add a pinch of salt and then gently stir in the flour and baking powder. Finally, stir in the poppy seeds (optional). The batter will be a bit runny. Pour the batter in the prepared muffin tray and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. In order to check if the muffins are well cooked, insert a skewer in the centre of a cake: if it comes out clean and dry, it means your muffins are ready.
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Leave the cakes to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin tray, before removing them and leave them to cool down completely.
Prepare the icing
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Sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Pour in the lemon juice and whisk thoroughly until you obtain a white thick glaze. I suggest adding the lemon juice slowly. If your glaze is too runny, mix in more sugar. Add more lemon juice, if it is too thick instead. Using a spoon, glaze the cakes.
