LEMONY TURMERIC TEA CAKE

This tart dessert from Roman’s ”Nothing Fancy” cookbook gets its bright yellow color from turmeric and is topped with attractive, thinly sliced lemons. “The flavor combination seemed odd but intriguing. After seeing it in two posts on my feed, I decided to give it a try,” says Post photo editor Andronika Zimmerman. “I was pleasantly surprised. The cake is light and sweet with a lovely but not overpowering lemony taste. It’s just as simple as a banana bread, but has a much more impressive table presentation, which in quarantine times is code for ‘will be beautiful on Instagram.’ ”

Nonstick cooking spray or butter 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon kosher salt ¾ teaspoon ground turmeric 1 whole lemon, plus ½ lemon sliced into rounds and seeded

1 cup granulated sugar, plus 2 tablespoons ¾ cup sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt 2 large eggs ½ cup unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and turmeric. In a medium bowl, grate the zest from 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons), then use your hands to combine with 1 cup sugar. Then, stir in sour cream, eggs and the juice from the zested lemon (about 2 tablespoons). Mix well. Stir the wet mixture into the flour mixture, and gently fold in the melted butter. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan, and top with lemon slices and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden brown.