Easy Yogurt Cake
Easy Yogurt Cake, a simple easy and delicious Snack or Dessert Cake Recipe made with your favourite flavor of Yogurt. You can use either Greek or Regular. Change your Yogurt Flavor, change your Cake!
I happened on this Easy Yogurt Cake Recipe almost 20 years ago, from a woman I encountered in the local supermarket, buying yogurt no less.
My Italian was far from perfect at the time (still isn’t perfect I might add), but a cake recipe I understood. In Italy, yogurt usually comes in single servings of 125 grams.
Recipe Ingredients
- Yogurt – either regular or greek yogurt will work – yogurt makes the cake moist
- Eggs – large room temperature
- Vegetable oil – I use sunflower or corn oil
- Sugar
- Flour – all purpose or cake flour
- Baking powder
- Powdered sugar – also known as icing or confectioners sugar – for dusting the finished cake
You can use plain yogurt although you may want to add a flavoring such as vanilla, orange, lemon or even almond to the batter.
So the recipe was as follows …
2 containers of yogurt (containers are 125 grams each), 1 container of oil, 2 containers of sugar and 3 containers of flour, 3 eggs and 1 package of baking powder, now how easy is that? And it makes the perfect snack, breakfast cake or even some Yummy Strawberry Cupcakes.
I make this cake quite often and I recently made the cake with low fat regular yogurt, zest of 1 lemon and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. It was gone in a day!
How to make Yogurt Cake
In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer on medium speed, lightly beat the eggs.
Add the oil, sugar and yogurt and beat.
Add flour and baking powder and beat until well combined.
Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake until done, test with a toothpick, when it comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached it’s ready!
Let cool completely then dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Why bake with room temperature ingredients?
With cakes and other baking, it’s always better to use room temperature ingredients. So, take any cold ingredients out of the refrigerator an hour ahead of time or sooner if it’s cool in your kitchen. Room temperature ingredients blend easier, creating a silky batter, which will help to create a light tender baked good.
What makes a cake fall?
- There are a lot a reasons a cake may fall, but the most common ones are, your oven temperature is off, you can always check it with an oven thermometer to check this.
- You open the oven door too early. Never open the oven door before 25-30 minutes of baking.
- Once the batter is mixed it should be baked, letting a cake batter sit too long can cause it to fall. The baking powder or baking soda usually start acting immediately and will only last for a very short period of time, therefore if the cake batter is left to stand before baking then there is always a risk that the baking powder or soda will have expired by the time that the cake goes into the oven.
- Your baking powder or soda has expired and is no long active.
- Use room temperature ingredients.
- The pan size might not be the correct size, sometimes using a bundt pan will help.
How to serve the cake
I think it depends on when you are serving the cake, if you serve it for breakfast then a little dusting of powdered sugar is perfect. If you want to serve it as a dessert then why not serve it with a delicious Blueberry Sauce, a dollop of whipped cream, a scoop of ice cream or even dress it up as a Strawberry Shortcake?
What’s the best yogurt to use?
And it can also be made with any flavour of yogurt, I find that greek yogurt, 0 fat (yes 0 fat!) or regular yogurt both work well. If you use greek yogurt then it is a good idea to use 3/4 cup of yogurt and 1/4 cup of milk, that’s because greek yogurt is thicker than regular yogurt. Each makes this Easy Yogurt Cake super moist and delicious.
More Delicious Italian Cakes
- Mascarpone Cake with Raspberry Cream
- Tablespoon Italian Lemon Cake
- Classic Italian Tiramisu Layer Cake
- Chocolate Yogurt Cake
So choose your favourite fruit greek yogurt or regular fruit yogurt and turn on the oven. This cake is also a perfect Easy Summer Dessert Recipe. Enjoy!
Easy yogurt cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup any flavour yogurt** (I find flavoured regular natural yogurt to be the best / room temperature )
- 3 large eggs (room temperature)
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1½ cups all purpose flour or cake flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
EXTRAS
- 2-3 tablespoons powdered sugar
BLUEBERRY SAUCE
- 1 cup blueberries
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F degrees (180 cm). Grease an 8 inch (20cm) cake pan or a 9½-10 inch (24 cm) bundt pan.
- In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer on medium speed, lightly beat the eggs approximately 30 seconds, add oil, sugar and yogurt, beat for 1 minute until smooth, add flour and baking powder and beat until well combined approximately another minute.
- Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake for approximately 35-40 minutes or until tested done (when a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out dry or with a few crumbs attached). Let cool 15-20 in the pan then move to a wire rack to cool completely. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.
BLUEBERRY SAUCE
- In a medium pot mix together berries, sugar, cornstarch, water and lemon juice, bring to a boil then lower heat and simmer until desired thickness. Pour into a bowl, let cool completely and or refrigerate.
Notes
Tips
For room temperature ingredients be sure to remove the ingredients from the fridge about 45-60 minutes before using. I find flavoured regular yogurt to be the best, in the video I used Strawberry. It can also be made with any flavour of yogurt, I find that greek yogurt, 0 fat (yes 0 fat!) or regular yogurt both work well. If you use greek yogurt then it is a good idea to use 3/4 cup of yogurt and 1/4 cup of milk or water, that’s because greek yogurt is thicker than regular yogurt. I make this cake quite often and I recently made the cake with low fat regular yogurt, zest of 1 lemon and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. It was gone in a day.How to make homemade cake / pastry flour
For every cup of all purpose flour, remove two tablespoons and replace with two tablespoons of corn starch. Be sure to sift the flour and cornstarch together a couple of times, this way it is sure to be properly combined and lump free.How to store the yogurt cake
The cake can be stored well covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also store it in the refrigerator, make sure it is covered well so no air gets to it, which can dry it out. Bring it to room temperature before serving. It will keep for up to 5-6 days in the fridge. Once the cake is completely cooled, double wrap it with either foil or plastic wrap and then place in a freezer safe bag. It will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let the cake thaw overnight on the counter before serving, or overnight in the fridge fully wrapped.Nutrition
Updated from February 7, 2014.
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This looks fantastic to be so easy.
Thanks Jocelyn and it is really easy.
I love the story of how you stumbled across this recipe! Can’t wait to give it a try!
Thanks Erin, let me know how you like it.
I can’t wait to give this cake a try! It looks absolutely delicious!
Thanks Renee, let me know how you like it. 🙂
can i use a 7 and a half inch pan because I don’t have an eight?
Hi Marissa, sure give it a try I’m it will work. Let me know.
I just made this tonight and it was just what I was looking for. I made it my own by adding vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, and clove to the batter since it is fall. Thanks for the recipe!! Will definitely add this to my “favorites” list
What a simple and lovely recipe! I love chatting with people I meet in stores, much to the chagrin of my kids, so edge away hoping no one will associate them with me. Then, I pick up a great recipe or tip like this and they are happy to eat it. Haha – I try not to push the irony on them, but smile to myself.
Hi Laura, I know I love it too. Kids are too funny.
I made the cake yesterday and it was a hit. I used vanilla zero fat greek yogurt. The cake was moist and did not last a long time on the table. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
Hi Ann, I think basically any type of yogurt would work with this cake, that is the good thing about it, you could be constantly switching up the flavour, my daughter says this is her favourite cake. Have a great day.
ok I’m not a bad baker and this recipe seemed really simple but this has been my third attempt and something just isn’t working!! the mix seems so perfect but it never seems to fully cook! I’ve tried 35min up to 60min and nothing works. Is the mix meant to be quite runny? is there a preference of bake or fan bake? does my type of yoghurt matter? help! 🙁
Hi Jen, sorry to hear that, I really don’t know what to tell you. It is a moist cake but it should be cooked, are you measuring everything perfectly? And baking it at 350°, 8 inch pan? I don’t find it overly runny, I make this often and I have never had that problem or heard of that problem. Let me know.
The flour measurement is wrong, there’s no way 1 1/2 cup of flour is 375 grams, it must be 2 1/2 cups.
Hi Lari, you are right, the cup measurement is correct therefore the grams should be 180 grams. Sorry about that, and thanks for letting me know. Have a wonderful Sunday.
Rosemary, I am glad that I come across your moist yogurt cake, I am confused when I see your reply to Lari, about the measuring cup and the weight of the flour. I would like to confirm that what I see from the recipe has been adjusted and what I need is to follow the weight of every ingredient, whether than follow the measurement by the “cup”. I am sorry to have asked this silly question, English is not my first language, and baking is new challenge to me.
Hi Edna Siu, yes the gram measurement for the flour has been adjusted, and there are no silly question we were all new bakers at one point 🙂 and btw your English is just fine. Let me know if you have anymore questions. Have a wonderful Sunday.
Your recipe states 180 grams of flour which converts to 3/4 cup. I thought it had been updated with a correction?
Hi Renee, actually there is 125 grams in a cup of flour, the recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups which equals 180 grams (more or less). Thanks.
Can you add fruit like blueberries or raspberries to it?
Hi Jean, I have only made it with chocolate chips, but I don’t see why you couldn’t. I wouldn’t add more than 1/2 cup though. Let me know.
Oh wow! I’ve heard of this… ages and ages ago someone gave me an Italian recipe very similar to this – and all measured out in yoghurt tubs! Thanks for reminding me – this is absolutely delicious, and is so very Italian! What a wonderful recipe!
Thanks for contributing to The Sunday Brunch Magazine!
All the best,
Eliza & Bel.
Thank you Eliza.
Oh my, so glad to have found this. When I was visiting my nonna in Italy about 25 yrs ago, she made a yogurt cake and gave me the recipe. However, when I returned to the states I never made it since the measurements were not in cups or tsp, and I was too lazy to make conversions I never made it. Thanks for posting this! Looking forward to making this ASAP
Hi Cynthia, so happy you found it, my daughter says this is the best cake ever. Enjoy.
I made this cake today. It was very delicious and so moist. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you for sharing Rosemary.
Hi NIna , so glad you liked it. And thanks for all your support. Rosemary
I made this cake today – my second time. I used a cherry yogurt and again the cake was lovely, moist and delicious. It has become a family favorite!
Hi Cathy, thanks so glad you liked it. I will have to try cherry next time too! Have a great day.
I’ll have to try this! It looks so good! Thanks for linking up to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party. I have linked your post up to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest board.
Thanks, Im having so much fun with all of this.
Thanks for linking up with the Tasty Tuesday’s Link-up. I have also pinned your post to the Tasty’s Tuesday’s Pinterest Board! 🙂
YUM….I love a great pound cake and somehow adding yogurt makes it seem healthier! Thanks for sharing on the Thursday Blog Hop!
Thank you, yes yogurt makes everything sound healthier.
This looks so easy and with the many flavors and varieties of yogurt on the market one could try out so many different flavors. I adore recipes like this. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Chrystal, it really is easy and good too, give it a try. Rosemary