Raspberry and Yogurt Loaf Cake

Raspberries are having the year of their lives. If they were sprinters, they'd be gloriously winning the Olympics in world record breaking time. 

If they were musicians, they'd be celebrating Grammy award winning albums, platinum record sales and Chris Martin would be forced into spending his time touring burger joints rather than international stadiums with Coldplay. 

If they were authors, JK Rowling's book sales would be left in tatters and the Harry Potter theme park, hit by downward spiralling attendances, would be torn down in favour of 'Raspberry World'*. 

*Think M&M World, Leicester Square but pinker and more squishy. 

This summer, growers are predicting bumper raspberry crops and, move aside please blueberries, the raspberry is now Britain's fastest growing soft fruit.

To celebrate the raspberry's ascendancy I baked a cake (as if I needed and an excuse). This is based on a Donna Hay recipe. The yogurt adds a light, fluffy crumb to the tangy, sweet and juicy raspberries.

Raspberry and Yogurt Loaf Cake

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

140g Greek yoghurt

225g self-raising flour

175g golden caster sugar

150g unsalted butter, melted

150g raspberries plus extra spoonful to serve

Icing sugar, for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 160°C/140°C fan/325°F. Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin with non stick baking parchment. 

2. Combine the eggs, vanilla extract and yogurt and whisk with a fork to combine. 

3. In a separate large bowl, stir together the flour and sugar. Using a metal spoon, fold through the melted butter and yogurty mixture, being careful not to over mix. 

4. Spoon half the mixture into the loaf tin, scatter over the raspberries, and spoon the remainder of the batter into the tin, levelling the top

5. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour ten minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow the loaf to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar and top with extra raspberries to serve

Bakers notes...

• The original recipe used blueberries rather than raspberries but I reckon chopped strawberries, gooseberries or blackcurrants would also work a treat in this recipe
• Fancy a fancier topping? How about white chocolate and yogurt: omit the icing sugar and mix together 250g melted white chocolate, 125g natural yogurt and 1 tsp vanilla essence to form a smooth thick icing and spread over the cake