Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Cake

Dan is a picky eater.  Do you know how hard it is to cook for a picky eater? Really hard!  So when I find something that he likes, I tend to latch onto it and go nuts.  For example, he really likes lemon and blueberry flavored sweets -- so far I've made him lemon tarts, lemon bars, blueberry pie, blueberry muffins, and blueberry cake.  This recipe, however, is by far his favorite, as it combines his two favorite flavors.  I like it too because yogurt + minimal vegetable oil are used in place of butter, so I can eat almost as much as I want without feeling too guilty.

The recipe calls for lemon zest, but I don't have a zester. I do, however, have a teeny weeny grater that I use in place of a zester. Isn't it adorable?  Takes forever to grate enough lemon peel to flavor the cake, but it's so much fun to use!

Mmm, blueberries.  Delicious and nutritious.  I usually like to use fresh berries for this cake, but I didn't have any on hand. I did, however, have two packs of frozen blueberries in the freezer from the blueberry pie I never got around to making for my friend Nick's birthday (oops!).  Frozen berries aren't as pretty as the fresh ones, but they look and taste the same once baked.

After baking, the cake is drenched in a lemon juice/sugar concoction that immediately soaks into every inch of the cake, and then drizzled with lemon glaze (optional!).  The end product is moist, sweet, tangy, and delicious -- you won't be able to resist going back for thirds and forths!

Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Cake

Ingredients:
1-1/2 flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1-1/3 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup vegetable oil (or canola oil)
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cups blueberries

(For the glaze)
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice

Steps:
(1) Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour loaf pan or bundt cake pan.

(2) Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into medium sized bowl. Set aside.

(3) In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt, 1 cup sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla.

(4) Slowly add dry ingredients to wet mixture.

(5) Fold vegetable oil gently into batter.

(6) Mix in blueberries

(7) Bake for about 50 minutes, or until knife in center of cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and set aside for cooling.

(8) While cake cools, cook 1/3 cup lemon juice + remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. When cake has cooled for about 10 minutes, pour lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in.  Turn cake over onto plate.

(9) For the glaze, mix powdered sugar and 2 tbsp lemon juice until thick. Pour over the cake.**

** The lemon glaze is totally optional. When I make it for Dan, I pour it on cuz he likes sugary stuff, but when I make it for my roommate, the glaze is too sweet for her so I leave it off. If you want to go the lower fat route, I'd suggest skipping this step -- but you'd be missing out!