Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease the sides of an 8-inch round cake pan and line the base with a round of parchment paper.

Step 2

Make the cake batter. Place sugar in a large bowl. Add lemon zest and rub it between your fingers until very fragrant and pale yellow-colored. This will extract all of the delicious lemon oils to flavor the cake. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the lemon sugar and whisk until evenly blended.

Step 3

Combine oil, egg, yogurt, milk, lemon juice and vanilla extract in a medium bowl and whisk until completely smooth.

Step 4

Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with dry ingredients and gently fold it all together being sure to get down to the bottom and bring up any dry pockets. Stop right when the batter is fully combined and be careful not to over mix.

Step 5

Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan using a small offset spatula and bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly golden and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 20 minutes in the pan and then transfer cake to a cooling rack.

Step 6

Make the glaze. Combine powdered sugar, yogurt and lemon juice in a medium bowl and whisk until completely smooth. Place the cake on a wire rack and set the rack over parchment-lined tray. Pour the glaze over the cake letting it drip over the edges. Scrape up the glaze that drips off the cake onto the parchment and spoon it back over the cake. If you want, you can also add more powdered sugar to make a thicker icing, but I like this donut-glazed effect. Grate some more lemon zest over top while the icing is wet and serve immediately or store covered to serve later.