Luscious Lemon Cake with Lemon Cream Sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).  Butter a 10-inch (3 L) Bundt pan.

2. In a small bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt and zest.

3. In a large bowl whisk sugar, yogurt, butter, lemon juice and eggs, until combined; whisk in baking soda. Using a large spoon, add flour mixture, one-third at time, stirring after each addition, just until batter is blended.  

4. Spread into prepared pan, smoothing top. Bake for 35 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Invert onto rack, remove pan and cool completely.

5.  Lemon Cream Sauce:  In a small bowl stir together yogurt, sugar and reserved 1 tsp (5 mL) lemon zest. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve or up to 2 days.

6. Cut eighteen ½ -inch (1 cm) slices of the lemon cake. Place 3 slices of cake on each serving plate. Drizzle with lemon cream sauce; spoon fruit on top.

Preparation time: 12 minutes
Baking time: 35 minutes
Yield: 6 servings of cake and sauce plus 9 extra slices of cake
 
Value Added:
Save money and buy yogurt in larger tubs and divvy portions into re-usable containers.  Yogurt can vary considerably in fat content. Those with 2% M.F. or less are lower in fat.

No Bundt cake pan, don’t worry!  Bake in 8-inch (20 cm) square baking pan for 40 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Save time and money and bake this Luscious Lemon Cake once and use twice. Pack leftover slices into lunch bags or use to make mini trifles.  Wrap and freeze leftover cake to use another time – a ready made dessert, how perfect is that?

Lemons: Scrub and dry the lemons and grate the zest before juicing them. To extract maximum amount of juice, bring lemons to room temperature and then roll them on the counter with pressure to break up the juice cells.  Leftover juice can be stored covered in the refrigerator for a few days or frozen for future use.

Canned and frozen fruit are an excellent alternative when fresh fruits are costly.  Look for canned fruit packed in unsweetened juice.  Drain canned fruit before using, saving the liquid to add to milk smoothies.  Try canned or frozen fruits in milk smoothies, added to baked goodies or mixed with yogurt or cottage cheese for a quick healthy dessert idea.  For a clever idea, extend your fresh fruit, by combining it with canned or frozen thawed fruit.  

Switch It Up:
For a restaurant- trendy yet easy dessert idea, layer cubed Luscious Lemon Cake with yogurt and fruit in individual glasses.

Try vanilla yogurt instead of the Lemon Cream Sauce.

Source: Dairy Farmers of Canada  www.dairygoodness.ca