Rosemary Lemon Bundt Cake

    To be honest, making a lemon rosemary bundt cake was not something that I had been craving.   B is always sure to have each and every exact ingredient that he needs before attempting to cook, so it happened that last weekend, he attempted a small cooking extravaganza and left me with a number of ingredients that either I use up, or they expire, lonely in the back of the fridge.   

I thought that rosemary was rare here in the UAE, and so bought a small bunch for much too much at the supermarket.  Little did I know that I would find loads of it for cheap the next weekend at our local organic farmers market.  Since our expensive rosemary was really beautiful and fresh I decided that I had to use it.  I knew there were a million savory dishes that I could make with it...but I am a baker at heart, and cooking with it would be too ordinary.

    After sifting through recipes of shortbread cookies and simple syrups using rosemary, I decided on this super moist bundt cake.  In addition to the normal bundt cake ingredients, (flour, sugar, butter eggs,etc.) this cake bakes up extra luscious with the addition of plain yogurt, and extra lemony with the addition of both lemon zest and lemon juice.

   

Lemony buttery aromas filled the apartment as it baked, making me ignore the apartment's temperature creep towards 80 degrees F.  If there are any engineers out there, could you please build an oven that does not blow hot air back into the room?  

    The use of yogurt really helps to make a perfect crumb. Light and airy, but yet still a bundt cake... with superb tangy lemon and earthy rosemary flavors.  I have included the recipe below, so get digging into the back of your fridge.  

Rosemary Lemon Bundt

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar ( or vanilla sugar)

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Zest of one lemon

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup plain lowfat or full fat yogurt

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, just mix in briefly. Add lemon juice, zest, and vanilla.  Next add 1/3 of the flour, baking powder, salt, and rosemary and 1/2 of the yogurt....alternating until all ingredients are incorporated.  Scrape the bowl, until everything is smooth and combined. Pour batter into a bundt pan that has been buttered and floured.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then take the cake out of the pan to cool completely on a rack.   You can also make a simple lemon glaze (lemon juice and powdered sugar to taste) for drizzling over the top if you are looking to make this a sweet dessert.