Yoghurt and raspberry cake with elderflower syrup

This recipe from Matthew Evans is a variation on a Greek-inspired yoghurt cake. The raspberries tend to sink into the batter a bit as the cake rises, leaving a beautifully coloured and textured result. You can buy elderflower cordial or concentrate from supermarkets.

• serves

  8

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  45 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 125 g unsalted butter, softened 
• 220 g (1 cup) caster sugar 
• 3 eggs 
• ½ lemon, zested, juiced 
• 200 g (1⅓ cups) self-raising flour 
• 200 g (¾ cup) natural yoghurt 
• 120 g (1 punnet) raspberries 
• 165 g (¾ cup) white sugar 
• 1 tbsp elderflower cordial or concentrate (see Note)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line base and sides of a 20 cm round cake pan.

Beat butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy, then beat in eggs, one at a time; it may look a bit curdled, but don’t worry. Gently fold in lemon zest and flour, alternating with the yoghurt. Using a spatula, scrape mixture into the prepared pan, making the centre a little lower than the edge. Scatter over raspberries, then bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Meanwhile, to make syrup, stir 80 ml water, white sugar and lemon juice in a small pan over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Remove cake from oven, but leave in the pan. Using a fine skewer, pierce cake all over 30 times. Remove syrup from heat, then add elderflower. Spoon syrup over the cake so it soaks evenly. Cool, then serve.

Note

• Elderflower cordial or concentrate is available from supermarkets.

As seen in Feast magazine, Feb 2012, Issue 6. For more recipes and articles, pick up a copy of this month's Feast magazine or check out our great subscriptions offers here.

Photography by Alan Benson.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.