Take a deep breath. We made it through 2020. The new year has begun and it doesn’t mean that we can forget about all the difficulties we faced. It does mean that we can breathe and move forward into a new year. I never aspired to live in interesting times as I would much rather read about them in history books or snuggle up to watch a documentary about them. Twenty-five years from now, the PBS twelve part documentary on 2020 is going to be one helluva watch.
There are lots of ways that people will weather this shiny new lockdown as Covid numbers rise. Some may do puzzles, play board games, or video games. My personal old standby will be watching television and baking. Some shows that I watched this past year that I recommend are: Cobra Kai, Bridgerton, Warrior Nun, I’ll Be Gone In the Dark, The Vow, Hannah Gadsby’s standup special – Douglas, Derry Girls, Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (safe to watch with kids), The Undoing, and Lovecraft Country. I’m sure I have missed some great ones that I loved but it has been a really long year, I just can’t remember them all.
I will continue to bake as we trudge our way towards spring. Of course I enjoy eating the treats that I make, but my favourite thing about home baking is how my house smells. This clementine yogurt cake smells divine as it bakes. The clementine zest and vanilla that are in the batter combine into a fresh and comforting aroma. If you are in need of some sunny comfort, whip this cake up. Clementines will likely be leaving our grocery stores soon, but it works wonderfully with mandarins which tend to always be around in the stores.
Just a note about the recipe itself, it calls for Greek yogurt but you can use just plain yogurt if that is all you have on hand. Just try to use a yogurt that has at least 2% fat content.
This cake keeps very well for a few days in a cake tin or other container. Have some for dessert and then don’t be shy about having a slice with your morning coffee and first Zoom meeting of the day.
Let me know what your lockdown activities have been and please send on some show recommendations. I’m running out of things to watch.
Clementine Yogurt Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 clementines washed
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt 2% fat or higher
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp honey for glazing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Leave some parchment hanging over two sides of the pan to make it easy to lift the cake out when it is done.
- In a large bowl add sugar. Using a fine grater, zest the 3 clementines into the sugar. Set the clementines aside for juicing for the glaze later.
- Whisk the zest with the sugar until it has the texture of slightly damp sand and is fragrant.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the yogurt to the sugar and clementine zest mixture and whisk it together well. Add the eggs and whisk vigorously for about a 30 seconds. Stir in the vanilla.
- Using a large spoon or spatula, stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until it is combined. Pour in the olive oil and fold it in until it is fully incorporated and the batter is shiny and smooth.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 350F for 50-55 minutes or a toothpick comes out clean with the cake is tested.
- While it bakes, prepare the glaze. In a small saucepan add the honey and juice the three clementines into the pot. Bring the juice and honey to a boil for about 30 seconds. Turn off the heat and set it aside until the cake is done.
- When the cake is fully baked, and just out of the oven, brush all the glaze on the hot cake with a pastry brush while it is still in the pan. Try to brush glaze over the whole top and particularly in the crack on top
- Removed the freshly glazed cake from the pan and let it cool on a rack.
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