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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I’ve made this cake twice in the past four days because my family can’t get enough! The first time around, I followed the recipe exactly and it was perfect! I had requests to make it again, but a little sweeter, so I used full fat Krema brand Greek vanilla yogurt, and added 1 tsp lemon zest, the juice of half a lemon, and a 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract. This has quickly become my favorite cake recipe! So simple, so so good.
Hi Annie, thanks so glad you like it, it is a favourite in our house too.
I just took it out from the oven. Instead of fruit yogurt, i used plane yogurt and addes some fresh peaches. Cannot wait to try it!
Hi Sarka, hope you like it let me know!
Hi Rosemary! Thank you for the recipe. I made with full fat plain Greek yogurt, vanilla and olive oil (not EVOO) and it came out so lovely and moist. I love how easy it is to make. Next time I’ll try a cinnamon or lemon version.
Hi Sue, your welcome, I love this recipe for just that reason, every time you change your yogurt you change the taste. Thanks glad you enjoyed it.
Hi how are you?
I tried this recipe for the first time yeaterday, but I doubled it and made it in a large round cake pan. I baked it at 325 for a little over an hour and it came out great.
I was wondering if I could just use 3 eggs eggs when doubling the recipe instead of 6 to make it lighter and do 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup applesauce instead of a full cup of oil?
Or how can I double it and not ruin it?
Hi Cynthia, personally I would just double it, I don’t know about adding 3 less eggs. But I think the half oil and half applesauce might work. As they say “try it and see”. Let me know if you do. Have a great Sunday. After rethinking this Cynthia, I think if you use applesauce you may need to use apple yogurt or a yogurt that goes well with applesauce.
Hi
Just wondering if this recipe can be frozen?
Hi Lily, yes you can, as long as you wrap it up tight (so no air can get in), you can freeze it up to 2 months. Hope that helps.
I just made this tonight. I only had coconut oil and single serve pottle of strawberry yoghurt to which I used 3. It was amazing!! Will definitely make again 🙂
Hi Stevie, thanks, so glad you liked it. 🙂
Mmm. I made this yesterday morning, as Sunday Breakfast Cake. So yummy! I added not quite a tablespoon of pure vanilla extract and used coconut oil in place of the oil, and it gave it a slight hint of coconut. Used plain greek yogurt, which gave it the perfect “tang” with a cup of coffee. My teenage girls love muffins, and asked that I make the cake as muffins, with cinnamon and sugar (I put 1/2 the batter in the muffin tin, sprinkled a good amount of cinnamon/sugar mixture, topped the rest with batter, and swirled it with a knife, then more cinnamon/sugar on top. I just took them out of the oven, and they smell heavenly. Looking forward to enjoying one with my coffee in the morning. Thanks for the recipe. I’ll be using this recipe often.
Hi Letha, thanks, so glad you enjoyed it, and great idea about the muffins. I will have to try that too :). Have a great week.
also can u use a healthier substituted for the flour?
Can the sugar be substituted with Splenda for those of us that are diabetic and or have had bariatric surgery?
Hi Renee, I’m sure a sugar substitution would work, although I am not sure about flour because I have never used one in place of all purpose, but if you feel like experimenting give it a try and let me know. Have a great day.
Hi Rose,
I hope you are doing fine, few days back i came across you fantastic recipe, and decided to give it a try. Before starting i wanted to ask a question. The yogurt i am using has got sugar in it, but i have no idea how much. Does this mean that i need to reduce the amount of sugar that i am putting in the recipe? Your advice will be really helpful.
Thanks for sharing such a ravishing recipe 🙂
Hi Anna, I wouldn’t reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe, because the yogurt I use has sugar in it also. I usually use 0 fat greek yogurt now but when I first started making it (over 20 years ago) I used regular yogurt. Hope that helps, let me know.
Hi Rose, i made the cake exactly the way you described and it came out so perfect and delicious. My maa had two slices as soon as i transferred it to dish 🙂 every one was drooling over the yummy softness of this heavenly cake. Thanks alot for sharing this wonderful recipe..i will soon try out other recipes by you 🙂
Hi Anna, thanks so much, so glad you and your Ma enjoyed it. Let me know what else you try. Have a great weekend.
Hi Rosemary, I used 1/4 cup flaxseed oil and I/4 cup applesauce and it came out just fine. This recipe is very good. I think I will add some fruit next time or maybe use a filling like lemon. thanks so much!!
Hi Carol, good idea, so glad you like it, I think the lemon filling sounds delicious. Have a great week.
I saw this recipe with peach yogurt in it and really wanted more peach to it, so I made it a peach upside down cake. I put about a Tbsp of melted butter in the bottom of a 9in cake pan and sprinkled on some brown sugar and then put a pretty spiraled layer of frozen(and mostly thawed) peaches. I put the cake batter right on top and baked it, flipped it upside down, and served with whipped cream. It was wonderful! Thanks for the inspiration.
Hi Kristy, what a great idea, sounds amazing. Happy Sunday.
Have you ever substituted applesauce for the oil? I am excited to try this recipe for my father in law’s birthday. He is eating healthy and cutting out butter and oils. So I wanted to sub out the vegetable oil, but worried it would affect the texture. I have done it before but not with a yogurt cake.
Hi Samantha, I have never substituted applesauce for oil, but apparently you can, I read 1 for 1. So if you give it a try let me know, I would be really interested to know how it came out. They also say the texture is denser and moist. Have a great weekend. And Happy Birthday to your father-in-law.
Hello, would using whole wheat flour work on this recipe instead?
Hi Teena, I really can’t say, but try it and let me know.
It does work, I baked this for the first time today and used wholemeal flour, full fat yoghurt and 3/4 cup demerara sugar. It turned out nice. Just brown!
So glad to hear it worked with the flour. 🙂
Love that you can use any flavor you love!
Hi Brianne, I know that is what I love about it.