Lemon Yogurt Pound Cake

Why do we bake? Sometimes, for reasons of necessity: a birthday or a party. Other times we (or maybe just me) bake because of ennui, as something to do to pass the time in between grander adventures. And occasionally, I use the combination of butter and sugar to bake away the blues.

After a frustrating morning (hint: taxes and the post office were involved), I needed a pick-me-up. Since it was a wee bit early for a glass of wine, I went with sunny yellow lemons instead. Oddly enough, it was almost exactly a year ago that I baked lemon bars, in an attempt to introduce lemony things to my life. Somehow, whenever mid-April hits and sunshine and sundresses are en vogue, I crave lemon-y things. If it’s finally bright and cheery outside, it might as well be bright and cheery in my kitchen too, no?

My mom wanted pound cake, and while a pound of sugar + a pound of butter + a pound of flour + a pound of eggs has its appeal, it was getting me nowhere near my diet goal. So when I found a recipe for citrus yogurt pound cake from Food & Wine that looked promising, I jumped. An opportunity to let lemons shine, plus a lightened up pound cake? Done and done.

Naturally, I had to make a few changes. I swapped out the grapefruit juice for lemon juice, added some vanilla extract and omitted the glaze altogether. The result is a pound cake that is a cinch to make, has a springy, moist crumb and, shockingly enough, a crisp, almost crunchy exterior that I couldn’t get enough of. This might be the only time in life that I actually wanted the bread butt.

While the sting of dealing with the IRS has yet to fully subside, slicing into warm lemon yogurt pound cake certainly eases the blow (and those 80-degree forecasts don’t hurt either). Here’s to sunshine, both  indoors and out!

Lemon Yogurt Pound Cake
Adapted from Food & Wine

This was a wee bit on the sour side, especially for sour-sensitive people like myself. I kind of liked it, as I like a little tart with my sweet, but if you’re extremely sensitive, you may want to add another 1/4 cup of sugar. Also, my loaf sank in the middle, but I’m too busy eating to figure out why — it may have looked a little ugly, but I assure you, the taste was delicious!

– 2 cups cake flour

– 1 teaspoon baking powder

– 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

– 1/2 teaspoon salt

– 1/4 cup lemon juice

– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

– 1/2 cup full-fat plain yogurt (you could probably substitute a low- or non-fat Greek yogurt here)

– 1 stick unsalted butter, softened

– 1 cup granulated sugar

– 2 large eggs

– 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9-1/2-x-5-inch glass loaf pan. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

2) In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice and vanilla extract with the yogurt. In a medium bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugar at medium-high speed until fluffy. Beat in the eggs and lemon zest.

3) Beat in the dry and wet ingredients in 3 alternating additions, starting and ending with the flour. Scrape the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, turning halfway. The loaf is finished when the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.