A while ago I found this recipe of a cake made with olive oil, yogurt and lemon.  The combination was really interesting and since olive oil, yogurt and lemon were staples in our cooking, I had to give it try. 

I doubled the quantity just because I could not see myself turn on the oven for such a small cake.  Of course I knew that I could take a loaf to work and share it with my colleagues. This first attempt produced a moist cake but I found it too oily; however the cake was delicious.  The marriage of olive oil with yogurt and lemon zest produced a flavourful cake.

My colleagues loved it, so, on the weekend I decided to repeat it with a slight change in the ingredients.  Again, I wanted to make two loaves, so I doubled all the ingredients except the olive oil and sugar.  I decreased the quantity to 1 cup of olive oil instead of 1 1/2 cups, and 1 1/2 cups of sugar instead of 2 cups.  Also, the lemon zest was a mixture of lemon and lime zest.  Yummmmm.

This is the original recipe from: http://www.houseandhome.com/food/recipes/lemon-olive-oil-cake-recipe

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

3 large eggs

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup plain whole-milk yogurt

Finely grated zest of 3 lemons

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

 Directions:

Put oven rack in center position and heat oven to 325°F. Lightly oil a 9-inch springform pan.

 Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

 With an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar in a large bowl on high speed for 5 minutes, or until pale and thick. Add yogurt and zest; beat to combine. With mixer on medium speed, add oil in a quick, steady stream. Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour mixture just until blended. Whisk batter by hand to make sure that all ingredients are incorporated.

Pour batter into pan. Bake, rotating pan once, until cake is golden, center springs back to the touch, and edges pull away from pan, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan for a minute or two on rack, then release from pan and let cool completely on rack before slicing.   Makes 10 servings.

Enjoy!