Tea and cake or, coffee and cake. Whichever one you prefer, this is the cake for either occasion. Who doesn’t love a slice of something with a cuppa? I adapted the recipe from The Kitchn's One Bowl- Yogurt and Honey Olive Oil Cake.

one bowl yogurt honey and lemon olive oil cake with pistachios and figs

I've shared this recipe before on Instagram but it's had a bit of a makeover, and I've been looking forward to unveiling the new look. (I'll publish the previous version at some point, which includes healthier cream cheese topping).

When I first stumbled across this yummy recipe, I read the words one-bowl and was compelled to make it. I'm not a natural baker (at all) and mostly a sugar-avoider, but the creative side of baking has always appealed to me. One of my guilty pleasures is cake-making reality TV shows, Cake Wars, Extreme Cake Makers; I can watch them all day long! Perhaps I need to take a cake decorating class 🤔.

yogurt honey and lemon olive oil cake ingredients and method

I had some hesitations cos of the whole sugar thang, but I decided to go ahead and share the recipe as it’s pretty marvellous! If you have any ideas for sugar alternatives, please let me know, I'm swaying towards coconut sugar or stevia, not overly familiar with either, but they’re on the must-try list.

The recipe contains organic honey in place of sugar and instead of butter, olive oil. I reckon that counts as healthier! It’s also straightforward to make, of course, a big plus.

Can you tell how guilty I’m feeling over this? I’ll shut-up now about sugar🙈.

slice of yogurt honey and lemon olive oil cake with pistachios and figs

One-Bowl Yogurt Honey and Lemon Olive Oil Cake with Pistachios and Figs

PREP/COOK TIME 45 MINS | DIFFICULTY RATING - EASY | SERVES - 8-10 | RECIPE TYPE - DESSERT/TEA BREAK | EQUIPMENT - ELECTRIC HAND WHISK

Ingredients - cake

1 cup of full fat Greek yogurt
⅔ cup of olive oil, ⅔ cup of honey
1tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 large eggs
1½ cup of plain flour
½tsp baking powder
½tsp baking soda
¼tsp salt

Ingredients - topping

¼ cup of crushed pistachios
Sliced figs
Honey

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180c.
In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, honey and lemon juice. Then whisk in the eggs one by one until smooth.
Add the dry ingredients including the lemon rind and combine well with a spatula (Note, there will be some lumps, it won’t be completely smooth and that’s fine).
Prepare a 9inch circular baking tin, springform pan or silicone baking mould by spraying with cooking oil. Either of the tins should be lined with baking paper and spray with more oil if using an ordinary baking tin.
Pour the better mixture into the dish and place in the centre of the oven at 180c. Bake for 25–30 mins until a skewer comes out clean.
Leave for 10 mins on a cooling rack, then remove from the baking dish.
When the cake is room temperature, add slices of figs, a sprinkling of nuts and drizzle with honey.
The cake will keep in an air tight container for a few days in the fridge.

My notes and tips

This recipe is reasonably fail-safe, I find using a silicone baking dish adds to the simplicity and would highly recommend getting one for this or any baking. I also use mine for cooking tasty frittata or breakfast egg-cups. They're very budget friendly and, easy to use and to clean.

I crushed the pistachios by pulsing them in my mini blender for a few seconds, you can also leave them whole.

I've tried making the cake with a cup of raisins added to the batter mix before baking, works well. Fresh thyme from the original recipe is also delicious.

If you'd rather have a creamy topping, try mixing a tub of full fat cream cheese with 3tbsp of maple syrup. Add crushed pistachios on top - delicious!