Low-fat Lemon, Yoghurt and Blueberry cake

Another low fat recipe?! Don't worry, the Christmas goodies are coming next, and they're all full-fat, but until then it's lean and mean...

This cake is gorgeous. Light, moist, tangy, sweet...it's just perfect. And only 1 egg and 70g (2.5 oz) of butter! Hard to believe, really.
I had some yoghurt I needed to use up ASAP and quite a few lemons. I hadn't baked anything in quite a while and felt itchy feet to get back in the kitchen. Interesting that one of the recent cakes I baked on a whim was also because I needed to use up some elderly yoghurt. Evidently I have some yoghurt-consupmption issues. I remember seeing a few yoghurt and lemon cakes on different blogs, but I didn't have the computer on and I really did want to make use of these many new cookbooks I have. The Alice Medrich Chocolate & the art of low-fat desserts was still sitting open from the last post I did and it provided me with inspiration for this cake.
Seeing her Orange-flavoured Cranberry Pecan cake, I thought "oh yeah, I reckon I can adapt that". It was a yoghurt-based cake, with citrus flavour, and berries folded through, so varying it to my needs wasn't so hard. I had a punnet of fresh blueberries hanging around, and decided to throw them in to the batter. A good choice 'cos lemons and blueberries are complementary flavours and really turn this cake into something perfect for summer. Additionally, I replaced 1/2 cup of the flour with ground almonds to give it a moister, lighter texture. Very highly recommended if you have ground almonds hanging about, as I did (I have a big bag I store in the freezer now cos I was getting so pi**ed off paying megabucks for those tiny little packets at the supermarket. Funding Caribbean cruises for the nut company owners, I reckon...)
Again, I found Medrich's instructions a little tedious, and required too many bowls happening at once, but in terms of difficulty it was very low. It was also really quick to whip up and bung in the oven. Again though, be careful when turning it out, as low-fat cakes are very fragile and can break easily. I had a few hairy moments turning this one out and nearly lost it completely.
I recommend this recipe very highly. Its lightness and tangyness make it perfect for warm weather, or for breakfasts and brunches. The added advantage that it's low-fat makes it even more attractive to everyone!
Read on for the recipe

Low-fat Lemon, Yoghurt and Blueberry cake
Adapted from Alice Medrich.

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup almond meal (or flour if you don't have ground almonds)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 whole egg
1 egg white
5 tablespoons butter (70g / 2.5 oz)
Grated zest of 2 lemons
1 cup sugar
1 cup low or nonfat yoghurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 punnet blueberries
Juice of 1 lemon
~6 tablespoons powdered (icing) sugar

1: Preheat oven to 350F (175 C) and position a tray in the lower third of the oven. Spray a ring shaped pan with vegetable oil spray.

2: Whisk together the flour, almonds, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In another small bowl, lightly whisk the whole egg with the egg white. Set aside.

3: Cut the butter into pieces and place in an electric mixer bowl. Add the lemon zest and beat for about 1 minute to soften. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat on high speed for about 3 minutes. Dribble eggs in slowly, about tablespoon at a time, beating constantly for about 2 minutes. On low speed, beat in a third of the flour mixture. On medium-high speed, beat in half of the yoghurt. On low-speed, beat in half of the remaining flour. On high speed, beat in the rest of the yoghurt and vanilla essence. On low speed, beat in the rest of the flour. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the blueberries.

4: Scrape into the prepared pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out dry. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes in a rack .

5: Meanwhile whisk lemon juice and powdered sugar to form a glaze. Unmold the cake. Brush the glaze over the top and sides of the cake until all the glaze is used. Cool cake completely before serving or storing.
Cake may be stored for 3-4 days, or frozen up to 2 months.

Calories per serving: 256
Fat: 8.5g
(figures based on original Cranberry Pecan cake. I don't know how the addition of some almond meal and omission of the pecans would affect these figures)