Walnut Cake with Lemon Glaze

Cake
½ cup butter, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
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⅓ cup plain yogurt
⅓ cup kefir (or additional ⅓ cup yogurt)
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2 cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
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1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon rind
1 cup walnuts, toasted and finely chopped

Glaze
¾ cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick (or ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon)
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
Dash of ground cloves

Preheat the oven to 350°.

For the cake, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and then mix in the eggs. Blend the yogurt with the buttermilk. Sift together the dry ingredients and add them alternately with the yogurt mixture into the egg mixture. Stir in the lemon rind and walnuts.

Pour the batter into a buttered 9x13-inch baking pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. The cake should still be moist.

Meanwhile, make the glaze by simmering together all the ingredients, covered, for about 15 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick. When the cake is done, remove it from the oven, turn the oven off, pour the glaze over the hot cake, and return it to the oven for about 10 minutes. Cut the cake into squares and serve it warm or cool with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.


Adapted from: