Citrus and Yogurt Cake

It’s the tail end of citrus season, but take heart: here’s a citrus cake that can be made year-round with lemon and orange. I’m sure you could experiment with it and use Meyer lemons and Cara-Cara oranges during citrus season, but really, it’s delicious with what is available in supermarkets all the time. This cake is gluten-free, but I’m pretty sure you could substitute an equal amount (in weight) of all-purpose flour and get good results, too. The glaze is optional, but I recommend it. This cake was wonderful! We give it three thumbs up. The recipe is from Cannelle et Vanille; the original post suggests adding rose water to the cake and dried rose petals on top of the glaze, and I might do that next time.

For the citrus and yogurt cake
1 cup (140 g.) superfine brown rice flour
½ cup (50 g.) almond flour
¼ cup (30 g.) tapioca starch or cornstarch
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. sea salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
1 ¼ cup (250 g.) natural cane sugar
2 tsp. finely grated orange zest
2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
12 Tbsp. or 1 ½ sticks (170 g.) lactose-free butter, room temperature
½ cup lactose-free Greek-style whole-milk yogurt
3 eggs, room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 °F. Prepare a 9”x5” loaf pan by greasing it with soft butter or non-stick cooking spray (I also lined it with paper). Set aside.

Whisk together the first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.

Mix the sugar, orange and lemon zest in the bowl of a stand mixer. Rub the sugar and zest between your fingers to release their natural oils, making it more fragrant. Add the soft butter to the bowl and with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar mixture together on medium high speed for 2 minutes until light and creamy. Make sure you scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as well as the paddle to make sure all the butter is well mixed.

Add the yogurt and mix until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time while mixing in between additions. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl again to get a very smooth mixture. Add the vanilla extract and the dry ingredients. Mix until combined and smooth.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 to 50 minutes or until the cake is done in the center. To see if the cake is done, insert a toothpick in the center of the cake and if it comes out dry and clean, the cake is done. Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes, then invert it onto the cooling rack and let it cool for another 15 minutes or so. We want to glaze the cake when it’s room temperature but not too cold.

For the citrus glaze
1 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
½ tsp. lemon zest
½ tsp. orange zest
2 to 4 Tbsp. lemon juice

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl until smooth (start with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and see if it needs more). The glaze should be thick yet pourable.

Pour the glaze over the cake while it is still on the cooling rack. Collect the glaze under the cooling rack and pour it over the sides of the cake. Let the glaze set for a few minutes before cutting into the cake.