Hazelnut, apple and lemon yoghurt cake loaf

Lately I have been neglecting my blog more than I would like. This is probably the longest I have gone without uploading a new entry! It's not that I have not been cooking. But I have been lacking the effort to pick up my camera and to spend a few moments to put down a few thoughts into words. I guess that is what work can do to you sometimes.
I have dedicated today as an absolute day off (well, almost absolute day off anyway), ie not going to shopping, not doing meeting up with anyone, not reading Australia Pharmacist trying to get a few lousy CPD points. I went to a new hairdresser to have my hair cut. I wonder why most gay men make better hairdressers and make up artists than straight women? It must be quite an interesting job to be a hairdresser. It is almost like part of their job descriptions to gather gossip and chit chat with the clients. I used to feel so devastated to have my hair cut short because I had such difficulties growing it. Today I must have had about 25cm of my hair cut off and I feel great (my mum would be proud - she's all for short hair). Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to get a bob :P
I used the yoghurt cake loaf recipe again. I really like how moist and dense the cake is. Only this time I've halved the recipe so I ended up with a flat loaf.

Hazelnut, apple and lemon yoghurt cake loaf


1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup wholemeal plain flour
1/8 cup wheat germ
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup plain natural yoghurt
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp brown sugar
1 extra-large egg
grated lemon zest from 1/2 lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped and roasted hazelnuts
1 small apple
Freshly squeezed lemon juice from 1/2 lemon

1) Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Line a loaf tin with baking paper.
2) Sift together the flour, baking powder and wheat germ. Peel the apple and chop one half into small cubes. Mix the chopped nuts and apples into the flour mixture.
3) Whisk together yoghurt, 1/3C sugar, egg, lemon zest, vanilla extract and oil. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and whisk in the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined.
4) Pour batter into the prepared tin. Core the remaining half of the apple and cut into thin slices. Arrange the apple slices on top of the batter and bake for 40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
5) Heat up the lemon juice, ground cinnamon and 1tbsp sugar until sugar dissolves. Set aside.
6) When the cake is cooked through, allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to the cooling rack. Use a chopstick or toothpick to create holes on the surface of the cake. While still warm, pour the syrup over the cake and allow to soak in.