Recipe: Italian Lemon Yoghurt Cake
Adding limoncello to the syrup makes this cake ultra-decadent.
Recipe: Jenny Garing
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Serves: 8
INGREDIENTS
For the cake:
¾ cup sugar
250g butter
zest of 2 lemons
5 eggs, separated
1 ¼ cups thick natural yoghurt
½ tsp salt
2 ½ cups self-raising flour
For the syrup:
½ cup water
1 ¼ cups caster sugar
2 lemons, rind cut into strips (use a potato peeler), then juiced
½ cup limoncello, divided
1 ½ cup of whipped cream to serve
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 175˚C. Using a stand mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest until thick and fluffy. Reduce the mixing speed to low and add the egg yolks, one at a time. Finally, add the yoghurt and mix well. Add the flour and salt to the batter and mix.
Beat the egg whites until stiff, then fold into the batter gently. Pour the batter into a greased cake tin (you could use a bundt tin or a normal tin), and bake for 50-60 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the syrup. Mix together the sugar, water, lemon juice, ¼ cup of limoncello and the rind strips, and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes then cool. Strain syrup through a sieve, reserving the strips of lemon.
When the cake has cooked, poke holes all over the top using a fine skewer. Pour the syrup over the cake slowly, allowing it to absorb into the interior. When all the syrup has been absorbed and the cake is cool, turn out onto a platter to serve. Decorate with the reserved lemon strips and top with thick whipped cream combined with the rest of the limoncello.