I tell no lies, this beastie has a decidedly peculiar texture. A hint rubbery or something, tastes pretty good all the same and it has yoghurt, lemon and blueberries in it so it’s almost a health food.

It was back to Ms. Berry for this one, mainly because the internet and I aren’t getting on at the moment, so I actually got this recipe from a real life book, with paper and pages and everything. I also couldn’t find the right tin as suggested by Mary, the tins have all been stolen by sister #4. That sentence is factual but it’ll also tell me if any of my sisters really read my blog.

Yoghurt cakes always seem like a good idea. When you’re out and about they often taste quite delicious but I still remain unconvinced that they are predominantly preservative free. This one is though and so I shall blame the odd texture on it’s naturalness. Having said that, I believe, left uneaten, this cake may outlive us all.

Oven temperature 180 Celsius

Cake;

Caster sugar               300g

Butter                          50g

Eggs (separated)        3

Natural yoghurt         225g

Blueberries                 120g

Lemon zest                 1

Self raising flour        200g

Yoghurt icing;

Icing sugar, yoghurt and lemon juice

Preheat the oven.

Mary says to use a 9inch round tin. I dare say I agree with her. I however used a square tin of about 9in. Go ahead and line it with baking parchment like I showed you how to.

Separate the 3 eggs, putting the egg yolks in a big mixing bowl and the whites can go in a medium bowl.

Add the butter – preferably softish- and the sugar to the egg yolks and beat till they become smooth. They’ll never be fluffy.

Add in the yoghurt and grate in the zest of one lemon. Beat to combine nicely.

Add in blueberries if you fancy but they’re not essential. Mine all fell to the bottom of the cake because I didn’t cut them up so I understand if you’d prefer to omit them.

Clean your beaters and use them to whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks.

Add the self raising flour to the egg yolky yoghurt bowl and fold till there’s no dry flour left.

Add in a third of the egg whites and fold again. No need to be overly precious with the folding yet. Then add in the rest of the egg whites and now be precious, making sure to not knock out any of the air.

Pour the batter into the lined tin and pop it into the oven. It takes a surprisingly lengthy cooking time, anything up to about 1hr 15mins. It should be nice and brown on top and a knife or other such pointy weapon should be relatively clean after poking the cake.

Remove it from the oven and leave to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make some lovely icing. Quantities depend on how much icing you want but start with a good 4 tablespoons of icing sugar and add in a scant tablespoon of yoghurt and a modest squeeze of lemon juice. Beat it all up together. Add more icing sugar if it’s too runny and more yoghurt or lemon if too dry. Dad likened this process to cement making if such an analogy is of any use to anyone.

When you have enough icing, of desirable runny-ness, and your cake is cool pour the icing all over the top of the cake. Smooth to cover the whole top if necessary. I went mad and scattered some arty blueberries and lemon zest on the icing but this is simply gilding the rubbery lily.

This cake is probably best served with a cup of tea, it definitely does not constitute a dessert.