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
- 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
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.
How to make Homemade cake 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. Cake flour in cakes will give you a very tender texture and fine crumb, it will also help the cake to rise.
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.
FAQs
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.
Adding yogurt helps to make a cake moister.
Yes you can although you may want to add a flavoring such as vanilla, orange, lemon or even almond.
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!
More Delicious Italian Cakes
- Mascarpone Cake with Raspberry Cream
- Tablespoon Italian Lemon Cake
- Classic Italian Tiramisu Layer Cake
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
Nutrition
Updated from February 7, 2014.
.
Can you use Olive oil instead of vegetable oil?
Hi Sandra, maybe a very light olive oil, but olive oil will give it a stronger taste. If you try it let me know how it goes.
What type and size pan did you use in the video? I couldn’t find it listed anywhere.
Thanks!
Hi Michelle, it’s a tube pan that I get in Italy. You might be able to find one on line or in a store.
Love this recipe, I only changed a few things, I used plain yogurt and add a bit of vanilla. For the sauce I used mango instead of blueberries and it turn out perfect since my mango was not too sweet.
Hi Aiko, thanks so much, great idea using mangos. Take care.
I made this yesterday. Taste wise it was nice enough, but mine failed to have a lovely loose crumb like yours. Maybe it’s the flour we get here in India, called “Maida” which may be unsuitable for this recipe.. Mine came out with a dense crumb, although the cake rose just fine. Thanks for sharing anyway.
Hi Tanya, yes it could be the flour.
The yogurt in India is very watery. Try hanging it for sometime and use hung curd. It will give better results.
I used mango flavoured yoghurt and it was a hit! My boys love it so much! Thanks for sharing this easy and yummy recipe!
Hi Suzy thanks so much, glad your boys loved it. Take care.
Thank you for sharing this cake recipe. I have attempted to make this case numerous times and every single time I make this cake my cake deflates completely to a third of the height as soon as I remove it from the oven. Can you please help. I’m growing frustrated but I absolutely love the flavour so that is why I keep trying to make it.
Hi Rose, I really don’t think it’s the cake because I make this regularly, I think it might be your oven temperature is off, your baking powder could be expired or you are beating too long. Make sure your ingredients are room temperature. Let me know.
Hooray! At last an american cups recipe where the author has the sense to put in proper measurements that the rest of the world (especially europe) can understand! Made this recipe using 130g pots of outdated (as of 6 january, we are now 24 april ^^ ) fruit yogurt with pieces & tweeked quantities just rounding up or down (154g became 150g). Strawberries are a giveaway here in France during the covid19 confinement, so I split the cake, filled it, glazed with coulis… and had strawberry soup on the side 😉 Felicitations, I really wish more American recipe sites would give links to conversion pages or simply as you did use universal measures!
Hi Tazmeen, thanks so glad you enjoyed it. Yes I agree, makes baking so much more accurate and easy in my opinion. Take care.
Very easy and a great recipe to add to the “repeat” list. I reduced sugar to half a cup. And used half a cup of ground almonds to one cup of flour. Yum
Hi Rachel, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it. Take care.
Have you tried this recipe with Greek yogurt? I have an over abundance that I need to use up. Thank you for your time!
Hi Kristen, my daughter used greek yogurt, the only thing you should probably add a tablespoon or two of milk or water, because greek yogurt is so thick. Let me know how it goes.
The easy yogurts cake is the easiest cake I have ever made. Most important, it tastes really good, moist and soft.
My family loves it.
Thanks a lot for sharing the recipes!
Thanks Peggy, glad everyone enjoyed it. Take care.
Hi and thanks for the recipe! I think you mean that 1.5 cups of flour = 325 grams, since one cup of yogurt is 250 grams? Thanks!
Hi Louisiana, no the measurements are correct, remember a cup of flour is not the same weight as a cup of yogurt.
Thanks a lot! Do you think I can use butter instead of vegetable oil in the recipe? If so, should the batter be homogeneous without lumps?
Hi Alessandra, yes you can use butter, be sure to melt and cool it down a bit before adding. Let me know how it goes.
Hello, I was hoping you could help me. I made this cake 4 times. Each time it deflated after I took it out of the oven. It didn’t sink in the middle, the whole cake just sank. The inside turned out like a fudge. I don’t understand what I am doing wrong :(. I didn’t open the oven, I took everything out of the fridge to get to room temperature, I weighted all the ingredients using a balance, I used a stop watch to make sure I don’t over mix….I would really appreciate so help.
Hi Anna, that is very strange, in my opinion I think it could be either your baking powder has expired or maybe your oven temperature is wrong, you should check the temperature to make sure it is accurate. Hope this helps. Let me know.
Can I make this with dairy free yogurt ? Can I replace sugar with honey ? For the cake and the sauce both ?
Hi V, yes dairy free yogurt will work, and honey can be substituted for sugar, for every cup of sugar use 1/2 – 2/3 cup of honey. Just in case you want to read this, https://www.thekitchn.com/4-rules-for-successfully-swapping-honey-for-sugar-in-any-baked-goods-230156. Let me know how it goes.
HI, could you bake this cake with Fruit in? I have some frozen raspberries and blackberries to use up.
Hi Suzibob, yes you could, I would use maybe 1/2 cup to start, don’t thaw them and toss them with a teaspoon of flour before adding to the batter (fold them into the batter). Let me know how it turns out.