Cook My Mailbox Weekend II

You may think that all of my hard work on that juice cleanse has gone to waste.   That I have clearly relapsed into my old habits of putting cheese on everything and breaking out the butter at a moment's notice.

But you would be wrong.

I eat fresh fruit or oatmeal for breakfast every day.
I still haven't had a Diet Coke.
And when I went through this month's Bon Appétit magazine, I was immediately drawn to a vegetarian recipe made with yogurt.

So what if it was cake? I still think I should get partial credit*.


French Yogurt Cake
For this next go at the Cook My Mailbox experiment, I went right to the latest issue of Bon Appétit. The stunning photo of the tower of lemon cake pretty much took my breath away when I saw it.  This is close to being a pound cake, but the texture is a little lighter and much moister, and somehow seems more informal since there's no Bundt pan involved.  It's simple enough to whip up on a weekday, and makes a wonderful afternoon snack, breakfast treat, or dessert.  I added a lemon glaze and was very glad I did, as the cake itself is sweet and only slightly lemony, despite the yogurt and the lemon zest. With the extra zing from the tangy glaze, it's perfect. 

Or, as they say in France: La boîte aux lettres ne me laisse pas tomber**!

 

For the cake recipe, click here.

NOTE: The only change I made was to use sugar instead of flour to coat my loaf pan. This old trick of my mom's adds a flavorful, slightly crunchy crust to the outside of loaf cakes.

For the glaze:
Juice from 1or 2 lemons (you can use the same ones you used for the zest in the cake)
about 3/4 c. powdered sugar

Stir juice and sugar together in a small bowl until smooth and clear.  Glaze should be the consistency of a thin syrup, so add more sugar or juice as needed to get there.

When the cake comes out of the oven, brush glaze all over the top of the cake while still warm and in the loaf pan.  Do this several times, until cake stops absorbing the glaze.   Allow to cool completely, and serve.

* Particularly since I took most of the cake over to the gang at the office instead of leaving it on the counter and having "just a little bit" every time I walked through the kitchen on my way to get drink of water.   That said, I will admit that I'm not exactly the poster child for the lasting effects of cleansing.  I ate a lot of that bean dip and chips the other day. Sigh.
** "The mailbox did not let me down".