Glazed White Chocolate Raspberry Loaf

Ingredients

Wet ingredients:

• 125 gunsalted butter (Note 1)
• 150 g caster sugar (superfine sugar) (Note 2)
• 250 g plain yogurt, at room temperature, full fat best (Note 3)
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature (~50-55g/2 oz each)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp lemon zest (not critical)

Dry ingredients:

• 260 g plain flour (all-purpose flour)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 0.5 tsp baking soda (Note 4)
• 0.25 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt

Add-ins:

• 180 g raspberries , fresh or frozen (not thawed, see Note 5 tips)
• 2 tsp flour , prevents raspberries from sinking (Note 6)
• 90 g white chocolate chips

Glaze:

• 130 g icing sugar / powdered sugar , sifted
• 0.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 tsp milk , preferably full fat but low / 0% fat ok
• Pinch of salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan-forced). Grease and line a 22 x 12 x 7 cm loaf pan with paper (8.7 x 4.7 x 2.75", Note 6).
2. Toss the raspberries with the flour. If using frozen, put the bowl in the freezer (so they don’t thaw).
3. Wet ingredients – Put the butter in a heatproof bowl and microwave until melted. Cool for a minute then whisk in the sugar. Next, add the yogurt, eggs, vanilla and lemon. Whisk until combined.
4. Dry ingredients – Sprinkle the dry ingredients across the surface, then mix it in using a rubber spatula. Stop mixing as soon as the flour is incorporated – some lumps in the batter is fine. (Over mixing = tough loaf)
5. Raspberries – Working fast, add the white chocolate and the raspberries (including any residual flour in the bowl), then mix briefly just to disperse the raspberries. (Fresh raspberries – careful not to squish them. Frozen – work fast, else the batter chills and thickens = takes longer to bake). Batter is pretty thick.
6. Fill pan – Scrape batter into the prepared pan. Roughly level the surface (spreads and levels in the oven). Press Extra Raspberries into the surface, if using.
7. Bake 40 minutes. Cover loosely with foil then bake for a further 35 minutes for fresh raspberries, 40 minutes for frozen. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out without raw batter on it.
8. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer onto a rack. Full cool before glazing.

Glaze:

1. Mix Glaze ingredients in a bowl until smooth.
2. Glaze – Put the rack on a tray or plate to catch glaze drips. Drizzle glaze all over the cake. Scrape up glaze from the plate and glaze again.
3. Serve – Leave for 20 minutes to let a crust form on the glaze before cutting thick slices to serve.

Notes:

1. Butter sub – 1/2 cup plain oil (like canola, grapeseed) can be substituted but the loaf crumb will be a little damper. Conversion – 1 US butter stick = 115g , not 125g. But also, US cups = 226 ml not 250 ml like cups in the rest of the world. So actually, the difference is relative across the key ingredients which is why it works is 1 US stick or 125g of butter. 🙂
2. Sugar – Regular white sugar is fine too. Brown sugar is not recommended, it makes the crumb a little too damp.
3. Yogurt – Greek or regular plain is fine. Low fat will work but the shelf life will be a day or two shorter. Sour cream can also be used, but give it a good mix before using it to loosen it up.
4. Baking soda (bi-carb) – can be substituted with 1 1/2 tsp baking powder but baking soda works better, and particularly recommended if using frozen raspberries. See FAQ section above.
5. Frozen raspberries – Don’t let them thaw as they will streak in the batter. Toss in flour and pop it back into the freezer so they are frozen when mixing through the batter (they thaw quickly).
6. Loaf pan size – Other sizes can be used, the loaf shape will just differ. If using a larger loaf pan, it will cook faster so start checking for doneness earlier.