Dairy – Free Meyer Lemon Tea Cakes to Brighten Up a Dreary Day

Editor’s note: This post is sponsored by Danone North America.  All opinions are my own.

It’s one of those rare dreary days in Colorado and nothing picks me up better than some hot tea and lemon. So today, I’m baking some dairy free Meyer lemon tea cakes to brighten up this cold cloudy day!

To make these cakes I stopped by my local Sprouts and grabbed some So Delicious CoconutMilk yogurt alternative and Meyer Lemons (there’s a BOGO Free Silk or So Delicious Yogurt Alternative coupon for these in the Sprouts app until 2/26/20!). I really love the So Delicious CoconutMilk yogurt because the plain flavor is subtle and doesn’t overpower with coconut. It’s creamy, making these cakes soft and moist and the tanginess helps the lemon shine through!

So Delicious, as a part of their parent company, Danone North America has also made a commitment to sustainability by becoming a Certified BCorporation! This means that So Delicious products must meet the high standards of social and environmental sustainable business practices. I like that I can work towards my goal of reducing my dairy intake while knowing the yogurt alternative I’m enjoying comes from a company with this commitment. Win-win!

Making the Cakes

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then, start by measuring out the dry ingredients. I like mixing these with a fork in a bowl so you don’t get clumps of baking soda in a bite. For an even fluffier cake, you can sift the dry ingredients – but I often skip this step.

The chemical reactions that help the cakes rise start when you mix the wet and dry ingredients together, so this is a good first step while you wait for your oven to preheat.

Next, grease your baking tins. I used a bundtlet tin for these cute shaped cakes! Be sure to get into all the crevices so the cakes come out cleanly. I grease my tins using an oil baking spray.

Then I zest my lemons and squeeze some lemon juice and set aside. Life hack: flip the zester or microplane upside down (so you zest the top of the fruit instead of the bottom). The zest will neatly collect in the top and you won’t have a huge mess or yellow stained fingers!

Finally, we can get to the wet ingredients. Whisk together the eggs, yogurt, and oil until smooth. It’s important to wait until the end to add the lemon juice in order to avoid the risk of curdling the eggs.

Add in the dry ingredients and water, alternating between the two for the best consistency. Then, at the last moment, mix in the lemon juice and zest!

Baking these cakes was a learning experience. I hadn’t baked in this bundtlet tin before so it took a few tries for me to make sure the cakes were baked just right. My tins tend to brown the sides quicker than the top (the bottom of the bundtlet) browned, so I waited until the top was a pale golden color to test the cakes.

In order to check and see if the cakes are done, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake and remove. The toothpick should come out clean if the cakes are done! The shape of the bundt makes it so that heat cooks the center of the cake evenly with the sides – hence the ring shape. So if you’re making bundtlets, testing the center of the cake means the center of the ring.

Now is the fun part – decorate! I chose a simple lemon glaze and some zest to top off my cakes. You could always try a dairy free cream cheese frosting, sanding sugar, or dairy free icing – the sky is the limit!

And of course enjoy! These cakes are best served with some hot tea (might I recommend chamomile with lemon?), a cozy blanket, and some good company!

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