To My People

To my people.  This is a true story.
It's a love story of sorts.  You'll understand why.
Especially if you make this cake.  And, taste it.  Dear me!

So, this is how it all came to be.
I flew out of this country and into the neighbouring one
for a quick trip with my girl to see my sister and her family.
We talk food when we are together.  We demo food.

This is where it gets good.

I hadn't long been inside the house (or the country), when I was told
that this cake would be on the menu at some point during our stay.
My sister reserved it for the day prior to our departure.
We had it for dessert that night and for breakfast the next morning.

(We are all grown up now, so...
dessert for breakfast is acceptable...right?)

Back to the cake.  It's a pound cake of sorts.  And, a bundt cake.
And, a berry cake.  And, a yogurt cake.  It truly is a-mazing!
Yesterday was a very hot day in our neck of the woods.
I turned the stove on to bake this.  But, it was worth it.  Absolutely.

Strawberry Yogurt Bundt Cake ~ with slight alterations.
Original recipe may be found by clicking here.

~ The Necessary Things ~

1 cup Butter ~ room temperature

2 cups granulated Sugar ~ I use evaporated cane juice

3 large Eggs ~ to be added one by one

3 to 4 Tbsp fresh squeezed Lemon Juice ~ I used Meyer lemons
(You will use 1 Tbsp for the cake and 2 to 3 Tbsp for the glaze)

Zest of one Lemon ~ use the small side of your grater for this

2 1/4 cup Flour plus another 1/4 cup Flour 
(The first portion goes into the cake batter and the 
second portion is used to coat the strawberries)

1/2 tsp Baking Soda and 1/2 tsp Sea Salt

1 cup plain Greek Yogurt ~ I used full fat, but 0% fat could be used

1 lb (500 g or 16 oz) fresh Strawberries ~ cleaned and diced

Icing Sugar (Powdered Sugar) to make the glaze

First things first.  Use a little butter and grease a ten inch bundt cake pan.
Then, dust a little flour inside.  Tap it on all sides to spread the flour.
Remove the excess by tipping upside-down over a garbage can and lightly tapping.
Preheat the oven to 375 F.  Once the cake gets placed into the oven,
the heat is reduced to 325 F.  Don't miss this!  :)

Zest your lemon and then squeeze it to get the juice you need.

You may need two lemons to get enough juice.

Clean and cut up your strawberries and set aside.

Sift together the first portion of flour (2 1/4 cups) with the
baking soda and sea salt.  Stir in the lemon zest and set aside.
Measure the greek yogurt into a small bowl and set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
(You will need some sort of mixer to help with this step.)
Add in the eggs one at a time and beat after each addition.
Stir in the 1 Tbsp of lemon juice.

Take the flour mixture and the greek yogurt and add
1/4 of the flour to the mixer and stir until just incorporated.
Then, add in 1/4 of the yogurt and stir.
Repeat these two steps until all the flour and yogurt are mixed in.

Now, stir the remaining 1/4 cup of flour into the strawberries 
and toss quickly to coat the berries.
Fold the berries and flour into the batter with a spatula.
Do not beat the batter at this point.  Treat it gently.

Scoop the batter into your prepared bundt pan and 
spread it evenly to the edges.
The oven has been preheated to 375 F ~ don't forget to reduce it for baking.
Bake at 325 F for 1 hour until a toothpick comes out from one
of the centre cracks of the cake.  I found this took 65 minutes.

Once cake is baked, set it in the pan on a wire rack to rest for 20 minutes.
Then, set your wire rack on top of the cake pan and turn it upside-down
to release the cake.  If it's stuck, use a knife to loosen it around the edges.
If your pan was greased and floured well, this should not be a problem.

Let cake cool completely before setting it on a cake plate and glazing it.
For the glaze, pour 2 to 3 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
into a bowl and whisk in enough icing sugar to make a pourable glaze.

If you want the glaze to soak into the cake, make it a little on the thin side.
If you want to make a drizzle pattern on the cake as you see in these
photos, make the glaze a little thicker.  Either way, it's fabulous!

Serve it up to some very fortunate people.
They will love you for it...promise.  :)

Happy Baking!
With Love, Camille