- 1
Ingredients
- 200 g Sugar
- Zest of 2 Lemons
- 200 g Plain Flour
- 2 Tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 Tsp Salt
- 125 ml Greek Yoghurt (I used full-fat)
- 125 ml Mild/Fruity Olive Oil
- 3 Large eggs
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 Tsp of ground Turmeric (optional)
- 1-2 tsp Dark muscovado sugar
- Butter (for greasing the baking tin)
- 4 Tbsp Honey
Preparation
Step 1
“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want—oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”
I often feel like I’m put under pressure by my own life (i.e. putting myself under pressure). All the responsibility, the work, my own expectations as to what the results of my work should be and how well and effortless I should get there.
There are days where I can’t seem to get even the smallest amount of work done because the thought of the sheer amount of work just seems to be paralysing me in a way that completely shuts down all productivity, yet does not allow me to do something I enjoy instead, because I constantly worry about not putting in the work that I should. Procrastination is the key word here, I believe, but then it seems like the word “procrastination” quite simply doesn’t cover it all. It makes me question whether I’m doing what makes me happy. And while I can’t always give myself a straight answer to this particular question, it seems as though in the end the real question is about whether or not you put up a fight to get through the harder times or not. This gets especially bad during cold, dark, seemingly endless winters, where just a look through the window could make you depressed and most of the time, every tiny spark of motivation gets drowned in the endless sea of other things to do, even though I’ve always refused to give up.
Instead of clementines, I chose lemon – because it’s what I had on hand. I also decided to put whole lemon slices on top, because I had nothing else to use the lemons for. To cut through the tartness of the lemon slices, I sprinkled them with some dark brown muscovado sugar. If I’ve done one brilliant thing today, this must be it. The lemons almost melt into the cake, giving it a huge boost in lemon flavour, and the muscovado sugar gives the crust a delicious caramel-y touch, while balancing out the tartness of the lemon slices.
Oh, and in case you’re concerned about the turmeric: you won’t taste it, I added it for colour. It just intensifies the yellow a little bit, making the cake look vibrant and worthy of a beautiful day. This is entirely optional, of course.
And in case your cake gets a little stale after two or three days, do yourself a favour and put two slices of it into the toaster, then spread some butter on them. You are very welcome.
Pre-heat your oven to 175°C.
Combine lemon zest and sugar in a bowl and rub together using your hands until the sugar has a moist look to it and is very fragrant.
Combine flour, baking powder, turmeric and salt in a separate bowl.
Using a whisk, beat the greek yoghurt into the sugar.
Add in the eggs one at a time and whisk thoroughly after each addition.
Stir in the vanilla extract and lemon juice.
Add in the dry ingredients and gently whisk to combine.
Using a spatula, gradually stir in the olive oil.
Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Put the lemon slices on top, do not press them down.
Bake for 50-60 minutes. If the edges begin to brown too quickly, cover them with a little aluminium foil.