Eggless Lemon Cake

My family members are ardent fans of Starbucks - coffee, muffins, breads, cakes, etc. For a while now, I have been trying to recreate their lemon cake/lemon loaf. Ina Garten's lemon loaf/lemon yogurt cake recipe is excellent and according to me, is even better than the Starbucks' version. But the recipe requires eggs. Wanting the best of both worlds, I have been trying to bake an eggless lemon cake that  at least comes close to the real deal. Adapting from Piece of Cake, this is the recipe I used to make the eggless version.

Ingredients:

1. 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
2. 1 cup sugar
3. 1 teaspoon baking soda
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt
5. 1 - 1.25 cups milk (I used 1.25 cups of 2% milk)
6. The zest of two whole lemons (a lot, I know)
7.  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8. 1 tablespoon  lemon juice
9. 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used just a little more than 1/4 cup because I added extra milk)

For the glaze: You need 1/3 cup lemon juice and 1/3 cup sugar. Heat the sugar and juice on medium heat, constantly stirring, until the sugar completely dissolves and makes a syrup of desired consistency. You can't go wrong with this. This glaze makes a difference to the cake - trust me. Do not skip it.

Preparation:

1. Butter/grease an 8 or 9 inch pan (I used a 9 inch pan). Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Mix the dry ingredients (advisable to sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together). Mix in sugar along with the flour-soda-salt. 
3. Separately mix the wet ingredients, except lemon juice. I was nervous of directly adding it to milk. First whisk together the milk, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and then whisk in the oil. 
4. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir slowly and gently until just incorporated. Finally, add the lemon juice and give a final stir. The batter will look fizzy and more liquid-y than usual cake batters. It's fizzy because of all the lemon, soda, salt action. Don't worry, the cake will turn out fine. 
5. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then gently loosen the cake by running a knife around the edges and flip it onto a plate. With a fork, poke some holes on top of the cake. Pour the lemon syrup/glaze over the cake and let it soak in for 15 minutes or more before serving. It's not necessary to use all the syrup. Use as required. 

The cake is intensely lemony, moist, and quite light. It's not dense or chewy, but arguably not as fluffy as the version that takes eggs. Still, people liked it and went for second helpings! This is a good lemon cake that's easy to make to go alongside coffee and tea.