I find something very appealing about small, individually portioned baked goods; they are more delicate and dainty than full sized versions, and easier to serve. Not that I take the individually portioned bit seriously...if anything,their small size makes it easier to scoff down more than I would if I were eating a slice from a single, large cake... Especially when they are as light, moist, and fresh tasting as these little loaves are.
The reason they are so light and moist is because I used greek yoghurt (I used Total) and ground almonds in the batter, both of which are excellent at providing moisture in baking. The freshness comes from limes - there is grated zest in the batter and sprinkled on top of the icing, and I brushed the cakes with a lime sugar syrup when they came out of the oven, which gives a burst of tangy flavour and also adds to the moistness. The icing is a very simple mixture of greek yoghurt and icing sugar, it is entirely optional, as these little cakes are also delicious left plain or sprinkled with a little sugared lime zest (don't skip the lime syrup though), but it does look very appealing drizzled over the top. You could also replace the yoghurt in the icing with coconut milk, which would give the cakes a fantastic tropical flavour.
You will need a mini loaf pan with 8 cavities to make these, something along the lines of this one
. Make sure that you grease each section well and line each one with a strip of greaseproof paper that comes above the top of the tin - these cakes are prone to sticking and the paper makes it easy to lift them out. If you don't have a mini loaf pan you can always bake them in a muffin tin lined with paper cases.
Mini Lime Yoghurt Loaf Cakes
Ingredients
Cakes
- 2 medium eggs
- 125 g (⅔ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
- finely grated zest of 2 limes
- 65 g (½ cup + 1 scant tbsp) plain flour
- 65 g (½ cup + 1 scant tbsp) ground almonds
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 65 g (¼ cup + 1 tsp) butter, melted
- 65 g (¼ cup) greek yoghurt
Syrup
- juice of 1 lime
- 45 g (scant ¼ cup) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
Icing
- 50 g (scant ¼ cup) greek yoghurt
- 175 g (1 + ¾ cups) icing (powdered) sugar
- finely grated zest of 2 limes
- 2 teaspoon granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Grease an 8 hole mini loaf tin pan and line each section with a strip of greaseproof paper.
- Whisk together the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer for 5-8 minutes until pale, thick and at least doubled in volume. The beaters should leave a trail that disappears after a second or two when they are lifted from the bowl. Whisk in the lime zest.
- Mix together the flour, almonds and baking powder; gradually fold this mixture in to the eggs, alternating with the melted butter and yoghurt, until it has all been combined, be very gentle.
- Divide the batter between the tins (I like to use an ice cream scoop), there will be enough mixture to make 6-8, depending on the size of your tin.
- Bake for about 20 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- While the cakes are baking make the syrup. Combine the lime juice, sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring up to the boil, simmer for a few minutes until syrupy, Remove from the heat and as soon as the cakes come out of the oven, brush each one generously with the syrup. Give each cake several coats of the syrup, allowing each one to soak in before adding the next, until you have used all of the syrup.
- Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for about 5 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the icing, place the yoghurt in a bowl and sift in the icing sugar, stir until smooth. It should be thick but pourable, add a little more icing sugar if it is too thin, or a little more yoghurt if too thick.
- Stir together the lime zest and granulated sugar.
- Spread a generous spoonful of the icing over the top of each cake, allowing it to drip over the sides. Sprinkle over a little of the sugared zest to finish.
- Keep in an airtight container.
Notes
I am sharing these with Totally Talented Tuesdays, Create Link Inspire, Foodie Fridiy, Fiesta Friday and Foodie Friends Friday
Loretta
Welcome to Fiesta Friday - you've brought some real beauties here. Like you, I just love the mini pans for anything, they are so delicate and exquisite. The addition of lime and the Greek yogurt had to give it a lovely moist texture, it certainly looks like from your pictures. Ground almonds are always an extra bonus. Just gorgeous overall.
hannahhossack
Thanks Loretta 🙂
The Free From Fairy
Gosh they look delicious! I have a lemon cake recipe that uses ground almonds and yoghurt and it is lovely. I might have to have a go at adapting these to make them suitable for me and the family!
hannahhossack
I love using ground almonds and yoghurt in baking, they give such a lovely texture 🙂
tentimestea
Oh these mini loaves look adorable, and the yogurt and lime sound so refreshing! I doubt the small size would help me with portion control either though!
hannahhossack
The small size just makes it justifiable to eat several of them!
Julie is Hostess At Heart
These little loaves look so pretty! I love using yogurt in baked goods. It just makes them so moist!
hannahhossack
Thanks Julie! Yoghurt and buttermilk are my favourite moisture-giving ingredients 🙂
carolinescookingblog
These look lovely, very cute and I love lime in almost anything so sure I would like these!
hannahhossack
Thanks Caroline 🙂
Michelle @ Giraffes Can Bake
I love individually portioned foods, they're so cute and I can eat more without feeling guilty haha! These mini loves look and sound delicious, I love that you used almond flour in them too!
hannahhossack
Thanks Michelle 🙂 That's precisely why I like mini foods - you can eat more!
skd
They look so elegant to me. love the pictures. The color combination is so suave.
hannahhossack
Thank you!
Sinfully Tempting
These look lovely! Definitely saving this recipe. Happy FF, have a great weekend! 🙂
hannahhossack
Thank you!
Lili
I love everything in these little loaves and the beautiful photos!! 🙂 Yum! Thank you! 🙂
hannahhossack
Thanks Lili 🙂
Foodie Quine (@foodiequine)
These sound and look gorgeous. I really think I'm going to have to add so mini loaf tins to my already overflowing baking tray cupboard.
hannahhossack
Thank you! They are very cute, I think I might prefer mini loaves to cupcakes...I know what you mean about overflowing cupboards though...I've got stuff piled up in boxes because I ran out of cupboard space, there are still more tins I want to buy though...!
Sush
Lovely pictures! I would love to try this recipe.. Just wanted to know if I could substitute Greek yogurt with regular yogurt?
hannahhossack
Thank you! I don't see why it wouldn't work...but make sure that the yoghurt you use is quite thick, if it is too runny it may not work as well.
Sush
Thank you Hannah 🙂
hannahhossack
No problem 🙂
Johanne Lamarche
Love these and will make them soon. Love the grou d almonds in the batter and yogurt in both the cake and icing. Yum!!
hannahhossack
Thanks Johanne 🙂
petra08
What beautiful cakes! I love that the are individual and the freshness of the lime and yoghurt!
hannahhossack
Thank You! They did taste very fresh and zingy 🙂
Helen at Casa Costello
I bet these tasted incredible - I'm such a fan of individual portions! Beautiful cakes. #Bakeoftheweek x
hannahhossack
Thanks Helen 🙂 x
Carrie - Time to be an Adult
These look gorgeous and so much easier to have a little taste rather than taking a huge slab of a large cake!!
hannahhossack
Thank you 🙂 although I had lots of little tastes so probably ended up eating the same amount as a huge slab!
angeladarroch
These mini loaves look gorgeous - so light and summery. ... and yes I think I would have to have more than one too 🙂
hannahhossack
Thank you 🙂
gymbunnymummy
Oh wow, these look amazing! Such beautiful photography #TastyTuesdays
hannahhossack
Thank you 🙂
Sneaky Veg
Yum, these sound fantastic. You might just have persuaded me to buy a mini loaf tin. Because I don't already have enough baking equipment of course! #CookBlogShare
hannahhossack
They are handy...my cupboards are overflowing with tins and yet I still don't have enough...