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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My daughters love this cake. We’ve made it several times, or rather a variation of. Instead of using flavored yogurt, I use plain and add a spoonful of whatever jam we have on hand or a little honey (with the yogurt before mixing). The first time we made it, I used the remains of a strawberry Greek yogurt for one and plain Greek yogurt with a little jam for the other. We liked both cakes, but the latter version was less sweet and we preferred it a bit more than the other. We have made it with nonfat and full fat Greek yogurts and don’t add the powdered sugar or the glaze. We sometimes add fresh fruits on the side or a small dollop of whipped cream and fruit. Mostly recently, we made a lemon version with a little zest and a small amount of juice. An additional change we’ve made based on COVID-19 shopping availability, is to use egg substitutes in place of real eggs (our stores have been our a few times in the last 6 months). The two versions we used worked well and the cakes turned out great.
Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Tammy, thanks so much and glad you and your girls like it. Yes it is a very versatile cake. And I love all the different ways you have made it. Have a great week.
Hi Rosemary,
We just made this cake again (still a favorite) but I used plain whole milk yogurt and a tablespoon of dry lemon pudding mix to try for a stronger lemon flavor. It was our favorite combination this far, so I thought I’d share.
Thank you!
Hi Tammy, thanks so much, very interesting with adding the lemon pudding mix. Have a great weekend.
I did some changes to the recipe. I only used 2 table spoon sugar and 1 /5 table spoon oil just because I wanted to make it a little bit less in calories. Yet the result was amazing. Super moist and delicious. Thank you Rosemary for another great recipe.
Hi Hannah, thanks so much so glad you liked it. And thanks for letting me know about the less amount of sugar and oil.
Super easy! I added 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp lemon zest and it was fabulous!
Thanks so much Lorraine, so glad you enjoyed it. Take care.
I will try to make it, can’t wait. But I have one question, what am I supposed do to with the sauce? Am I supposed to dip tge cake in it or pour straight into the cake?? I would be thankful for a reply 😊😊
Hi Dariia, you can either pour the sauce on the whole cake, or on individual slices or don’t even have to make it if you don’t want to. I hope like the cake. Let me know.
made this with vanilla Greek yogurt, one grated apple, and a tsp of cinnamon. a hit!
Hi Sam, great idea, glad you enjoyed it. Take care.
I grew up at the Mediterranean coast, close to Barcelona and this recipe reminds me of the yogurt cakes I used to bake with my mother when I was a teenager. I will try now following your ingredients proportions.
Thank you!!
Hi Frances, thanks I hope you enjoy it. I went to Barcelona last year and it was so beautiful. A wonderful city. Take care.
Very easy to make, didn’t take me long at all. I used a cocktail stick to prick lots of holes in it while still warm and drizzled honey all over and served warm. Went down really well had a lovely yogurt tang to it. Thank you for the recipe.
Love this recipe, brings back fond memories of visiting family in Italy. My son has a slight dairy intolerance so used dairy free yoghurt and added a cup of blueberries to the mixture at the end
Hi Marianne, thanks so much, so glad you all enjoyed it. Take care.
Does this cake need to be refrigerated?
Hi Liz, no you can keep it a room temperature for up to three days. Or you can freeze it.
Delicious. I was making a meal to deliver to friends and wanted to make a dessert using yogurt.
I was delighted to find this recipe. So I made 2 of these cakes. I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract. The cake is so moist and pleasantly dense. I served it with a cold mango coulis (puree mango, lime juice and confectioners sugar until it’s the consistency of apple sauce).
Hi Theresa, thanks so much and the mango coulis sound delicious. Take care.
I usually never comment on recipes, but I have to for this one ! Thanks so much for the delicious yogurt cake, best one I have ever had and everybody in the house agree :))
Thanks Alice, so glad you and everyone enjoyed it. Take care.
Okay I love the flavor of the cake I’ve made it now about six times. And each time I try to make sure I don’t be too long cook it too long etc. But every time it never really rises and it doesn’t have that crumbly outside that your pictures have. My baking powder is not expired. And I’ve adjusted my oven 25° either direction sometimes b I’m also using a spring pan though it’s a 10-in versus an 8-in so that I understand but it still doesn’t rise or get that crunchy crust it looks like yours has. I don’t know what to do.
Hi M, Italian cakes are a little more dense then regular cakes and mine doesn’t have a crunchy crust. You may be using a larger pan then I do, I usually use an 8 inch.
What can I replace the eggs with, I tried making it with buttermilk as an egg replacer but it dint work. The cake was dense and fudge like. It dint rise too.
Hi Sunita, if that doesn’t work then I really don’t know I have never made the cake without eggs. Sorry.
Use applesauce, Sunita. I use it as an egg substitute sometimes for my banana bread. Should make the cake even more moist.
I tried this recipe for the first time. Followed everything (kept in oven for only 35 min), except i added earl grey tea leaves (cut open 5 tea bags and mixed them in the batter) to turn it into an earl grey tea cake. It was the perfect, most fragrant, and moist treat for afternoon tea! Hubby says it’s one of the best things he’d eaten. It was truly easy and will be a go-to in my family. Thank you!
Hi Maxine, thanks so much, that sounds delicious, my daughter would love it. Take care.
Hi chief, can I doble this recipe?
Hi Tanzanian, yes others have doubled it without a problem. Hope you like it.
I made this in the oven with Greek yogurt. Delicious. In a 7.15 inch spring pan had to add some time. I’m wondering this could be made in instant pot? Has anyone tried
I also added almost a quarter cup of milk because the Greek yogurt was super thick