Butterless cake tasty, moist and healthful

This citrus season, use nonfat sour cream to cut calories in a light and flavorful Butterless Lemon-Almond Cake.

Lemon zest adds moisture and bite to the batter, while freshly squeezed lemon juice perks up the icing, also scented with almond extract. Slivers of toasted almonds add crunch on top.

In modern times, the practice of baking without butter arose from necessity. In the 1940s, “Victory Cake” or “War Cake” was often eggless and milkless as well as butterless.

These days, many bakers and home cooks lessen or eliminate butter for health reasons. One cup has 184 grams of fat, 488 milligrams of cholesterol and more than 1,600 calories. Most of that fat – 117 grams – is saturated fat.

Nonfat sour cream has only 4 milligrams of cholesterol and none of those other problems. It helps make this delicate cake tender and moist.

Butterless Lemon-Almond Cake

For the cake

2 eggs

1 cup nonfat sour cream

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

Zest of 1 lemon

1 1/2 cups flour

For the icing

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Juice of 1 lemon

Zest of 1/2 lemon

1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and sour cream until smooth. Add soda, sugar, almond extract and lemon zest, and stir until well combined. Add in flour about ½ cup at a time, mixing well. Pour batter into 9-inch, nonstick, spring-form pan. Bake until golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, combine all icing ingredients. Drizzle on cake. Sprinkle with almond slivers.