Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake

I saw this recipe on Pinterest for a Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake. I thought it looked good, but I wasn't really determined to make it until two of my friends said thy really enjoyed it when they made it. I had all the ingredients on hand, so I made it. It was really wonderful, and got rave reviews at the fire station. It was even good the next morning for breakfast with a hot beverage. (Should I be admitting that? I figure if people can eat doughnuts for breakfast, I can eat cake, right? It's not like it's chocolate cake - although I have eaten that for breakfast on occasion also. Oh well. Get over it. I love my sweets, and this cake is no exception.) It has a distinct lemon flavor and tang with the sweetness of the fresh strawberry chunks. The crisp edges and the lemon glaze put it over the top. I only changed a couple things, but not enough to change the name and call it my own. I would definitely make this again.

Here's what you'll need:

Plain Greek Yogurt, flour, sugar, *butter, baking soda, *eggs, salt, vanilla, lemon zest and juice and strawberries

*not pictured

In a small mixing bowl, combine 2 1/4 cups flour, baking soda, salt and lemon zest. Make sure to only get the yellow of the lemon - not the white.

In a separate, larger mixing bowl, put the butter and the sugar.

Cream them together until light and fluffy.

Add 3 eggs, one at a time. (Every time I type this, I hear Paula Deen say "One at the time." - Just thought you'd like to know what's going on in my head.)

Now, I needed 1 Tbsp of lemon juice. I juiced a lemon over a strainer, to catch all the seeds. I let the lemon juice fall into a measuring cup with a spout so it would be easy to measure out 1 Tbsp.

It took the juice of one whole lemon to get a full Tbsp.

Then just alternate the flour and the yogurt. I started with a cup of the flour mixture, and stirred that in.

Then 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt, and stirred again.

About another cup of the flour mixture,

and the last of the yogurt (another 1/2 cup).

At this point I remembered that I wanted to add vanilla, so I put it in now.

Then the last of the flour mixture went in.

Now it's time for the strawberries. I washed a pint of strawberries and used all but 4 large ones. The recipe called for 12 oz, so I just guessed.

I chopped them up,

and put them in a bowl with 1/4 cup of flour. Tossed them to coat.

I greased (sprayed) and floured my bunt pan - isn't pretty?

I added the strawberries to the batter and folded them in with a spatula.

When it was all mixed, I poured the batter into the prepared bunt pan and smoothed out the top. It went into a 350F oven to cook for 60-70 minutes.

Next I made the Lemon Glaze. I cut open a lemon and was shocked to see that there were no seeds! I couldn't help but take a picture and share this barren lemon with all of you. Isn't it sad and wonderful all at the same time? I hate seeds, unless they are destined for my garden. This poor little lemon will never have any baby lemons. See? Happy and sad at the same time. OK, off of my lemon lacking seeds tangent.

(I still strained the lemon juice just in case there were any tiny lemon seeds. There weren't.) I put 2 Tbsp of lemon juice (I needed 2 lemons for this) and 1 cup of powdered sugar into a measuring cup with a spout for easy pouring.

I stirred it all together. It's a nice thick consistency, but still very pourable.

At 60 minutes I checked the cake and it needed more time. It took a total of 70 minutes until I could stick a wooden skewer in the center (between the tube and the edge) and it came out clean.

I let the cake cool in the pan for 30 minutes - until it was just warm to the touch and then I put it on my cake stand. (The recipe says to put in on a cooling rack, but I don't own any of those. It's cool enough I don't think it will get soggy. - It will get eaten before that happens.)

I drizzled the cake with the Lemon Glaze.

Isn't it beautiful? I love my bundt pan!

I still had a little bit of the glaze left over, so we just drizzled each of our pieces with it before we ate the cake.  Light, and refreshing. Really tasty. Only half of it made it to the hubby at the fire station. :)

Here's the recipe:

Recipe adapted from aspicyperspective.com

Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Zest of 1 lemon (about 1 1/2 tsp)

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

8 oz. plain Greek yogurt

12 oz. fresh strawberries, chopped

Lemon Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan (10-15 cup pan.) Sift together 2 ¼ cups of flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the lemon zest and set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 1 Tb. lemon juice. Alternate beating in the flour mixture and the yogurt, mixing just until incorporated.

Toss the strawberries with the remaining ¼ cup of flour. Gently fold them into the batter.

Pour the batter into the Bundt pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 -70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow to cool at least 20 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Once cooled, whisk together the Lemon Glaze. Drizzle over the top of the cake.