Lemon Coconut Yoghurt Cake

I first made a Gateau au Yaourt (yoghurt cake) after seeing it on Clotilde's blog Chocolate and Zucchini. I was intrigued by its simplicity, and mesmerized by the tale that this is the first cake that French children learn to bake.

Before they become Jacques Pepin, Paul Bocuse, or more recently Eric Ripart (insert drool here).

Jokes aside, a yoghurt cake belongs in everyone's repertoire.It is a light, not too sweet, simple little cake which can be dressed up with fruit and elaborate sauces to snazz it up a little. However, due to my insane sweet tooth, I'm always left feeling like something was lacking, mainly because yoghurt is essentially bland and a little tart.

And so that is how flavoured yoghurt jumps in to the rescue, substituting this for plain yoghurt satisfied my sweet tooth and didn't rob the cake of its character. It's no pound cake, but at the same time, it has a richness of its own.

The inspiration for this recipe arrived in my inbox from my cousin who claimed it was her new favorite and a no-brainer to put together. Just what I needed the day I was hankering for some cake.
I decided to add some coconut flakes to balance out the lemon, and used a vanilla flavoured yoghurt to boot. There wasn't too much clash of flavors, and I loved the crisp crunch that the coconut added.

Recipe (adapted from Lemon Yoghurt Cake - www.bestrecipes.com.au)
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
Grated rind of 2 lemons
2-3 tsps of lemon juice
3/4 cup oil
6 oz flavoured (store bought) yoghurt + 2 Tbsp natural plain yoghurt
2 cups self-raising flour
1/4 cup dessicated coconut flakes

1.Preheat oven to 350degrees F.
2.Mix rind, sugar, oil and sugar with a fork.
3.Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
4.Pour into a greased cake tin and bake for 40 mins.
5.Leave to cool and dust with icing sugar