raspberry, lemon and yoghurt cake

lemon and raspberry are flavours that work together to create a wonderfully fragrant summer deliciousness, which this cake exploits to the max. the lemon cake, with a hint of vanilla, is studded with soft red fruit and topped with a lemon icing, into which more raspberries have been stirred, so they streak it with their scarlet juices.

i ate this warm out of the oven, and again chilled by the fridge later in the day. either way it was perfect and so nice to share with new friends.

diana henry’s raspberry and yoghurt cake (serves 10 to 12)

300g plain flour

2 teaspoons baking-powder

125g butter

225g caster sugar

finely grated zest of 2 lemons

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten

115g plain yogurt

200g raspberries

for the icing:

150g icing sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

about 6 raspberries

preheat the oven to 180°c. base-line and grease a 22 x 11 x 7cm loaf tin. put 2 tablespoons of the flour in a bowl to toss with the raspberries later.

sift the rest of the flour with a pinch of salt and the baking-powder. beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then add the lemon zest and vanilla. gradually add the eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition. fold in the flour, alternating with the yogurt.

toss the raspberries with the reserved flour. put one third of the batter into the loaf tin and add half the raspberries. put another third of the batter on top, followed by the rest of the raspberries. finish with the remaining batter (it doesn't matter if some of the berries are peeking through). bake for 1¼ hours (mine was ready after an hour). a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean. if the top seems to be colouring too much during cooking, cover with foil ( i needed to do this after about 45 minutes).

leave the cake in the tin for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice until smooth. spread about two thirds of this on the cake. partly crush the remaining raspberries and add them to the remaining icing. don't completely mix them in – you just want the raspberries to stain bits of the icing. pour over the cake. this won't set hard, but do leave it to set a little before serving. store in the fridge, because of the raspberries in the icing.