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.
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I do know Italian dessert are not sweet, but I found this cake almost tasteless, I used vanilla Yogurt and served it with the blueberry sauce and whipped cream, this saved it. Maybe a different flavor would work better or adding a little flavored extract.
I have enjoyed many of the recipes you post😉
Hi Connie, it’s actually supposed to be made with a flavoured yogurt but if you use plain then yes a flavouring should be added. Glad you enjoy the recipes. Take care.
Hi Rosemary,
I have made the scientific bundt cake twice now. Each time the chips sink and then the cake is difficult to remove from the pan. I followed the exact directions as written, so I’m not sure why it keeps sticking.
The flavor is good but the cake is just a little dry.
Thank you
Hi Cindy, to keep the chips from sinking you should toss them with about 1 tablespoon of flour. Be sure to grease and flour the pan really well. Try baking it a little less that should help with the dryness. Let me know. Take care.
I do not understand comments about flour and the corn starch!! What is this referring to???
Hi Becky it is referring to homemade cake flour. To make it for every cup of flour you need to remove 2 tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Hope that helps.
Will plain Greek yoghurt work?
Hi Teresa, yes it will, you might want to add some flavouring (1-2 teaspoons) of your choice. Let me know how it goes.
this recipe is sooo good i love it! thank you for sharing your recipe
Hi Klayde marie, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it. Take care and have a great weekend.
Hello this looks delicious! Do you think full fat Greek yogurt would be ok to use?
Thanks
Hi Geena, yes you can but because greek yogurt is thicker, use 2/3 cup greek yogurt and 1/3 cup water. Hope that helps. Let me know how it goes. Take care.
Used plain yogurt. After the cake cooled a bit, I poked holes in the top using a bamboo skewer, and poured lemoncello atop to fill the holes. Served the cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Divine strawberry shortcake.
Hi Amy, that sounds absolutely amazing. Glad you liked it. Take care.
How do u store the cake @ room temp or in the fridge
Hi Jj the cake should be stored wrapped and at room temperature. It will keep for 2-3 days. Take care.
is it 310 cal per slice or for whole?
Hi Isabelle, it’s a slice, including the blueberry topping. Hope that helps.
I tried this recipe as I have a left over yogurt and I am so surprise of the outcome. I put some blue berries in it( as the kids requested😊😊), it turns out moist and soft. The family loved it.Amazingly good.. thus recipe is for keep. And meant to share..
Thank you for this recipe
Hi Janelle, thanks so much, so glad you and your family enjoyed it. Take care.
Hi Rosemary,
I first made this cake with gluten free flour and it turned out well but then tried the recipe with regular flour and it deflated badly. I tried again and same issue happened. I wonder why….
Hi Lida, it could be because the gluten is removed from the flour. Try using cake/pastry flour instead that might help. Let me know.
What size springform pan do you use?
Hi Cindy, I use an 8 inch pan. You could probably use a 9 inch but it won’t be as high or even a bundt pan (9 or 10 inch) would work. Hope that helps.
I don’t use much sugar in the recipe at all (none if it’s a sweet yogurt), but we make this recipe sometimes to serve with fresh fruit and a soft, fresh cheese (like cottage cheese, ricotta, etc). It’s my absolute favorite way to use up leftover yogurt. I think it would be delicious with some nuts and maple syrup, so we’re having that for dessert tonight.
Hi B, thanks so much, so glad you enjoy it. And sounds delicious how you serve it. Take care.
Really good. I used strawberry yogurt and my cake came out soft and fluffy and very pale pink ❤.
Hi Raisha, thanks so much so glad you enjoyed it. Have a wonderful Sunday.
After reading some of the comments, I decided to use 1/2c sugar, add 1tsp vanilla and bake it in a Bundt tin. It turned out really well and I’ll definitely be making it again. Super easy to make and has an amazing flavour. I didn’t make the sauce, just served it with plain yoghurt.
Hi Katharina, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it. Have a great weekend.