This cake is my great standby, as not only is it very easy and convenient to make, but it is also very versatile.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1.5 cups sugar
  • 3 cups self raising flour (or: 3 cups flour, 1.5 tbsp. baking powder, 3/4 tsp. salt)
  • zest of 2 oranges

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C).
  2. Brush the cake tin with oil and line it with parchment paper.
  3. Mix yogurt, oil, eggs and vanilla until smooth.
  4. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar and flour.
  5. When the oven and baking tin are ready, gently add the flour/sugar mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing thoroughly. Stir in the orange zest.
  6. Gently pour the mixture into the tin and sprinkle with a little sugar.
  7. Bake until a skewer comes out clean, approximately 45-60 minutes.
  8. Allow the cake to cool slightly before turning it out onto a baking rack to finish cooling.

Variations:

  • Add 1 cup of copped cherries.
  • Add 1 cup of chopped dried apricots.
  • Add 1 cup of dried mixed fruit.
  • Juice the oranges, add sugar and cook into a syrup. Let the syrup cool, and when the cake comes out of the oven, prick it with a skewer and pour the syrup over the hot cake. Orange drizzle cake!
  • Do the same thing, but use lemons instead for lemon drizzle cake.

Another advantage to this recipe is that you can pause once the two mixing bowls are filled. Cover each one and put in the fridge for a little while, then you can answer the phone or sort out the children, then continue at the mixing stage whenever you're ready.