Morning Glory Yogurt Loaf

INGREDIENTS

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
⅔ cup plain yogurt
2 tsp finely grated orange zest
1 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
Pinch ground cinnamon
1 cup peeled and diced fresh peaches, or one tin (14 oz/398 mL) crushed pineapple, well-drained
½ cup raisins
⅓ cup sweetened, shredded coconut

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 325f (160c) and grease a 9 — 5-inch (2 L) loaf pan.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs to the butter mixture one at a time, blending well after each addition. Stir in the yogurt and orange zest.
3. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon, and stir this into the butter mixture. Stir in the peaches (or pineapple, if using), raisins, and coconut. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
4. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, until a tester inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool the loaf for 30 minutes, then tap it out of the pan to cool completely on a cooling rack. The loaf will keep, well wrapped and unrefrigerated, for up to 3 days.

Note from Kitchen

Even when trying to be healthy and more wholesome in baking, you need to use full-fat sour cream and yogurt in your recipes. Sour cream and yogurt are tasty ways to add moisture and richness to coffee cakes and muffins, but using full fat versions is the key to successful baking. That sour cream you use should be 14 percent and the yogurt should be a minimum of 3 percent, ideally 6 percent. The reason for these high percentages is that the lower-fat options are set with other thickeners such as guar gum, starch, or even gelatin. Once heated, the thickening agents dissolve and the lower-fat sour cream or yogurt turns watery. Therefore baked items could be dense or heavy coming out of the oven, and crumble easily after cooling.