Strawberry Lemon Yogurt Loaf

I wanted to make something for my dad for Father’s day.  A consideration for anything I bake for my dad is that it needs to be butter free.  Remember these angel food cupcakes I made for him? Butter free!  The great thing about cakes that use oil instead of butter is that it they stay moist since oil is liquid at room temperature.  (I guess on the flip side, butter brings that nice buttery flavour to baked goods.)  I decided on a lemon yogurt loaf – and why not throw in some strawberries and jam?

Check out the verdict on this Strawberry Lemon Yogurt Loaf!

Strawberry Lemon Yogurt Loaf

Adapted from here.

Ingredients

1 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup plain full fat yogurt
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
3 large eggs
2 teaspoon lemon zest
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup vegetable oil

1 cup diced strawberries

1/3 cup jam, any flavor
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice 

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and grease and flour the sides.

2.  Sift flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

3.  Beat yogurt, 1 cup sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla until smooth.

4.  Add flour mixture and mix slowly until almost incorporated.

5.  Pour in oil and fold in by hand with a spatula.

6.  Fold in diced strawberries.

7.  Spoon some batter into the loaf pan.  Dollop jam on the batter.  Spoon more batter on top, then dollop more jam.  Repeat a few more times.  Top with a few strawberries for a nice presentation.

8.  Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  If using a bigger loaf pan than mine, it might only take about 60 minutes.

9.  While baking, make syrup by heating lemon juice and 1/3 cup sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.

10. When done baking, cool for 10 minutes.  Drizzle with syrup and wait until it soaks in.  You can take the loaf out the pan and drizzle any remaining syrup on the sides and bottom.

 

Dollops of jam

Ready to bake

Verdict: This loaf turned out super moist and flavorful!  The bits of strawberry and jam inside the loaf gave it different bursts of berry flavor amongst a lemon cake.  My dad really like it, especially since it didn’t have any butter.

Strawberry Banana Ice Pops

The boyfriend loves “popsicles” (I guess I should refer to them as ice pops).  Apparently, 2 ice pops a day keeps the belly away (he says this about doughnuts too).  But he buys those plain ice pops that are basically sugar water with artificial flavoring and colour – you know the ones…they come in grape, orange, and cherry flavors.  So I made these fruit and yogurt ones that are way more nutritious (and tastier) than those sticks of frozen sugar.  You get your vitamin C from the strawberries, potassium from the bananas, and calcium from the yogurt! Seriously, those store bought ones can’t compete!

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Strawberry Banana Ice Pops

Makes 4.

Ingredients

1 heaping cup of strawberries

½ cup of yogurt

2 Tablespoons agave syrup (or honey, maple syrup, or nothing)

½  banana

Directions

1.       Blend strawberries and 1 Tablespoon of agave syrup (if using) in a blender or food processor.

2.       In a small bowl, stir the yogurt with 1 Tablespoon of the strawberry puree and 1 Tablespoon of agave syrup.

3.       Fill ice pop molds with strawberry puree and yogurt (alternating to make layers) and slices of bananas and strawberries.

4.       Insert sticks and freeze for 4 hours or until frozen.  Run under hot water to release.

Before freezing

Verdict:   These were very tasty!  So worth the 2 seconds it takes to make them!  We joked about how I can sell them at the local farmer’s market and make a killing – a vendor was selling natural fruit ice pops at the farmer’s market for $4 a pop!!!! Really?!!