Orange, Almond and Yoghurt Loaf

Even though I am on holiday on the Kennet and Avon Canal on a Narrow boat I am still baking away, as loyal as ever. The first recipe I picked for this week away was the Orange, Almond and Yoghurt loaf. Chose this one as it is one of the recipes with the least steps and not many additional ingredients from the standard cake mix.

I had to bring along my scales, electric whisk and loaf tin as the boat only has the basic crockery and dishes. Found when started that there wasn't a glass bowl big enough for the mixture so I had to mix it in a saucepan.

Apart from the challenges of being on a narrow boat in a very small kitchen the recipe went well and the mixture looked and smelt wonderful as It was being poured into the loaf tin. My Mother in law, whom we was on holiday with, ordered allthe ingredients I needed for the two recipes I chose to make whilst away but unfortunately forgot to order an orange for the orange zest needed in this loaf. We did have orange juice and so I had to substitute one tablespoon of zest for one of juice. It wasn't quite enough though, as the zest is stronger we actually needed more juice for the flavour to become apparent once the loaf had baked.

I also have never baked in a Gas oven before and so didn't need my Mother in law to actually turn it on for me, I had no clue how it worked apart from the hobs. So now I have another new skill to add to my collection. The loaf was to be cooked for 50 to 60 minutes at gas mark 3. I found that it needed turning halfway through so it didn't burn on one side and it needed about 65-70 minutes in total. Think that could just be down to the oven being on a boat.

We also didn't have any flaked almonds to decorate the loaf with so I just sprinkled a little bit of the ground almonds over the top which actually gave it a nice look and colour when they had browned. you could smell the loaf cooking in every part of the boat and once it had cooked we had a slice with our afternoon tea.

Everyone thought it was lovely. A light sponge, moist from the yoghurt with sutble flavours although the orange couldn't really be tasted, just added something to it other than almonds. My father in law liked it every much and eat most of it to himself even though he isn't in favour of sweet and sugary things lol.

I like making loaves now, aside from my stable of cupcakes it is my second favourite thing to make so will start to try some more out. They go down well with my older relatives that prefer something a little less sweet and intense as some of the pies and cupcakes can be. And it just goes to show that you really can bake these recipes anywhere and still get a fabulous result.