This healthier, Lemon Apricot Protein Loaf Cake is seemingly sinful, yet makes a rich and decadent snack or dessert anytime!

A slice of rich, buttery, melt-in-my-mouth, homemade pound cake can make me swoon! Swoon to the point that I’m willing to ignore the fact that it is made with equal parts of butter, eggs, flour and sugar. And, I blame all that swooning on a boy.

Since we are in the month of red, heart shaped, everything, I will come clean and say my love for pound cake was ignited by a boy. But not any boy.

This was the boy of my dreams. I must have been around 12, (you didn’t think a boy could influence me at my ripe old age now, did ya?) and devouring every word of an article about the lead singer of my favorite band, Morten Harket; when I came across the tidbit that he was a pretty healthy eater with his only weakness being Madeira Cake!

Of course, back then I had no clue that Madeira Cake was synonymous with pound cake which was synonymous with my mom’s butter cake.

So, I went to the library and picked up as many cookbooks as I could find that had a recipe for Madeira Cake in them. Then, I tried my hand at making one. Well, let me just say that back then I was more talented in the art of water burning than I am now, so, my Madeira Cake never panned out.

But, when my mom got light of what I was trying to do, she decided to bake me a bona fide Madeira Cake and one of her Butter Cakes. And – gosh darn it y’all – they were the same darn thing! The funny thing is prior to reading that article, I was always a chocolate cake kinda gal. The power of a teen crush – eh!?

Now you might be wondering if my yammering on about pound cake has anything to do with this Lemon Apricot Protein Loaf Cake?

Well, I’m sorry to be a killjoy, but, other than the fact that both are made in a loaf pan – there’s absolutely no co-relation at all. You see, this Lemon Apricot Protein Loaf Cake does not contain equal parts of flour, sugar, eggs and butter.

In fact, it contains absolutely no butter!

And, I didn’t miss it (I am hoping you won’t either) because the lemon (juice and zest) and apricots add so much flavor to this loaf cake, while the ricotta makes it taste almost sinful!

But, that’s not all – I made this Lemon Apricot Loaf Cake as a tastier – yet healthier option to snack on and I added in Premier Protein‘s Vanilla Protein Powder to give each seemingly-sinful slice of this loaf cake a powerful protein punch as well!

Premier Protein is on a quest to help show everyone and anyone how a good source of protein can help them “tackle life’s daily challenges, feel their best and live the life they want”  Care to join them?

Please check out Premier Protein on Facebook • Twitter • Pinterest • Instagram as they have a ton of products and recipe ideas that can help ya incorporate a tad more protein into your day!

If you’ve looking for healthier treats, I so do hope you give this recipe a try.

While I enjoyed a slice of this Lemon Apricot Loaf Cake drizzled with some lemon icing, my daughter topped a warm slice of it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream before inhaling it!

I’d love to know if you happen to make this recipe (or any other on here) so pretty please tag me @RunninSrilankan and #RunninSrilankan on Instagram, Twitter &/or Facebook. And, if you haven’t yet, then please make sure to subscribe to my email list to have all sorts of eats, treats and delightful ramblings delivered right to your inbox!