Calamansi and Meyer Lemon Yogurt Cake (inspired by Barefoot Contessa’s Lemon Yogurt Cake)

Calamansi and Meyer Lemon Yogurt Cake

Recently, Cheryl, the Children’s Librarian, brought in a basketful of the most adorable citrus fruit from her aunt’s backyard! Have you ever met the CALAMANSI? Oh, you should! They are petite, perfectly round and have a sweet and sour personality.

According to Alan Davidson’s The Oxford Companion to Food (2nd edition, 2006) (oh yeah, I’m pulling out the reference books now!):

Calamansi (or kalamansi or calamondin/kalamondin) is a hybrid of the mandarin orange and the kumquat. It is a small citrus fruit of the Philippines which plays an important role in Filipino cookery.

Aren’t these the cutest? They look like those little pumpkin candies – only these are real and have vitamin C!

Fresh from the Oven made cute loaves in November and recently, Butter & Sugar made an Orange Yogurt cake. Both took inspiration from the Barefoot Contessa’s Lemon Yogurt Cake.

I made a few changes to her recipe to use the Calamansi and Meyer Lemons. Click here for Ina's recipe!

This cake has a lovely crumb!

Dry ingredients, sifted together:
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour, 2 t baking powder, 1/2 t salt

Wet ingredients, whisk together:
1 c low-fat lemon yogurt from Trader Joe’s (because I didn't want to leave the house to get the whole-milk plain yogurt, which is actually hard to find - they all seem to be non-fat or low-fat. Next time, I might use Greek yogurt since I always have this around.)
1 c sugar
3 large eggs
2 t grated citrus zest (I used 1 t calamansi and 1 t meyer lemon)
1/2 t pure vanilla extract

After mixing the dry and wet ingredients together, fold in oil:
1/2 c olive oil (Ina uses vegetable oil, but I thought adding some Omega-3s would be a good thing!)

Ina uses a loaf pan and bakes it for 50 minutes (350 degrees), but I used a 9" round and baked it for 40 minutes.

Syrup:
1/3 c freshly squeezed juice (I had 80% calamansi and 20% meyer lemon)
1/3 c sugar
While the cake was baking, make the syrup by dissolving sugar in small pan with lemon juice. After the cake comes out of the oven, let sit for 10 minutes. Remove from pan, and poke some holes in the cake with a toothpick. Pour or brush on the syrup.

Ina has a glaze of juice and powdered sugar, but I just dusted it with powdered sugar.

This cake is really delicious. It is light, very moist and wonderful for a breakfast or tea snack. As you can see by the many adaptations, you can make it any way you want. And now that there are lots of citrus around, there is no excuse for not making this!

Thanks Cheryl for introducing me to the wonderful world of calamansi citrus!