Bite into sunshine with a yogurt lemon loaf
What makes this lemon loaf stand out is the addition of orange blossom water.
Distilled from orange flowers, it encapsulates the heady scent of blooming citrus trees. It’s that perfumed air you catch on some sunny Southern California mornings, that happy smell that transports you to bucolic groves and wide open spaces.
Here, the water is baked into the batter and soaked into the cake, and for extra credit you can reinforce it with an optional glossy citrus glaze. Orange blossom water, preferably the Mymoune brand, can be found online or in Middle Eastern or specialty stores.
To make the most of lemons, I blend the zest, which contains essential oils that hold the floral aroma of the fruit, with the sugar. I don’t love biting into wispy strands of zest in a finished cake, so I grind the zest into the sugar in a food processor, then use the machine to quickly mix the rest of the batter.
(If you don’t have a food processor or don’t want to wash yours, you can rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips and mix the batter by hand.)
All of the tangy juice from the fruit gets used, too. A splash is mixed into the batter, its tartness echoed by yogurt, and the rest simmers into simple syrup for soaking the baked cake. I like to brush it only on the bottom and sides to preserve the caramelized crispness of the top crust.
The juice delivers a sunshine brightness, making this loaf as great for breakfast as it is for dessert.