LEMON CAKES

I love lemons!
They are yellow and happy like the sun, and they smell nice and
refreshing!
I thought the big lemons with thick peel belonged to the
Costiera Amalfitana, the capital of Limoncello (a famous liquor
made with lemon peel).
That is not so!
I have discovered beautiful lemons also here in the Verona area.
Citrus fruits were brought from the Liguria Riviera to Lake Garda
during the 13th century by the monks of the San Francesco Monastery
of Gargnano.
In the 16th century Bongianni Grattarolo wrote,
"For nearly ten miles along the lake, from Salò to Gargnano, there
are many gardens whose amenities do not pale in comparison with what
the poets wrote of Atlantis, Alcino, and the Hesperides, full in every
season of the year of all those fruits with the golden peel."
So here I am with lots of perfect lemons to prepare my favorite lemon
cake, and maybe another time some sweet Limoncello.

LEMON CAKES

Ingredients:

2 free range eggs
half cup plain yogurt
half cup extra virgin olive oil
grated peel of one big lemon with thick peel
juice of one lemon
half cup brown sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour 6 mini loaf pans or a regular one.
In a bowl mix the eggs with the sugar until creamy.
Add all the wet ingredients and the grated lemon peel.
Add the flour and the baking powder to the mixture.
Divide the batter evenly into the pans, smooth the tops,
sprinkle with granulated sugar,and bake for 30 minutes,
until a cake tester comes out clean.



I serve the small cakes for tea or I give them as a
school snack to my son.