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 is my official go to coffee cake. I needed something that was made with yoghurt instead of milk. I have made it twice now for guests and everyone loved it!! I love the sauce and I use coconut whipped cream to add a little bit of fun on top.
Hi Mary, thanks so much glad everyone likes it.
My friend Lindy told me about this cake, wow it is so easy to make and so tasty this recipe is going to be used over and over again, just loved it! I made it for a woman’s social and everyone loved it, it was a big hit!
Hi Sophie, thanks so much to you and Lindy. So glad everyone enjoyed it. Have a great long weekend.
Hi, I’m considering making this for my 4 year old’s birthday party and have a few questions. 1) Will it bake up in a large (think it’s called 1/4 sheet) cake pan? 2) Can I ice it and if so what kind of icing would you use? Thanks in advance!
Hi Sondra, it seems that the cake pan is bigger than the cake pan that I use, so maybe you could double the recipe and the extra batter you could bake in a smaller pan. If you use vanilla yogurt then maybe a simple whipped cream frosting with some fresh fruit would be a good idea. Hope that helps. Let me know how it goes.
Thanks Rosemary! I’m wondering if the cake can actually tolerate either butter cream or ideally cream cheese frosting. I saw you say somewhere you wouldn’t ice it, wasn’t sure why. I have an edible image I need to put on the cake and i don’t think whipped cream frosting will work for that. Thanks again!
Hi Sondra, I think if you made it plain then a cream cheese frosting could work. This cake is so moist and really good on it’s own that a sprinkling of powdered sugar is perfect for it and of course my family does not like frosting, although I do. But give it a try and let me know how it turns out. 🙂
Turned out fantastic! My 7 year old baked it tonight! She popped a few fresh blueberries in it and did in a bunt pan. I made a batch alongside her but subbed half cup flour for cacao powder and added frozen cherries and chocolate chips. I popped mine into a 9 inch pan and had to adjust bake time accordingly. My daughter dressed her cake with powder sugar as recipe calls for while I whipped a quick batch of ganache and poured that on top. Both cakes are airy and delicious. Thank you very much; simple is truly the best!
Hi Maria, they both sound delicious and good for your daughter. Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
I made this cake for my sister’s twenty-first birthday. It was absolutely fantastic!! I topped it with strawberry sauce and whipped cream cream cheese frosting.
I made a few changes to the original recipe; instead of vegetable oil I used melted coconut oil, instead of white sugar I used coconut sugar, and instead of using 100% all purpose flour I used a 50:50 combination of white whole wheat flour and all purpose flour. I also used 2% plain Greek yogurt; the fat’s good for you and I prefer the flavor and consistency of it better, it also typically has less sugar than the flavored/nonfat varieties.
Thank you for the recipe, I’m sure I’ll use it again sometime in the future.
Hi Gaby, so glad you liked it. Have a great week.
Hello
Can I make this cake three days prior to a birthday and if so, can it be kept in a very cool room instead of the fridge.\(tightly wrapped of course)
Thankyou
Hi Sarah, I have kept this cake for three days but I would advise no more than 4 and yes tightly wrapped in a cool room. Hope you enjoy it. 🙂
Okay Thankyou.
I just made this cake again, however, this time I used 2% vanilla greek yogurt, rather than a flavored yogurt and I added one teaspoon vanilla extract. I also changed out the flour with cake flour, and it was really good! Plain and simple, but delicious. I sometimes serve it with ice cream, but even plain and simple, it’s an amazing cake. Not too sweet, but that’s what we like. Also, even two days later, the cake is still as good as day 1. Thanks for another great recipe.
I just made this cake again, however, this time I just used 2% vanilla greek yogurt and I added one teaspoon vanilla extract. This time, I also changed up the flour, and used cake flour, rather than all-purpose flour. It came out amazing, as usual. Even two days later, it is still moist and still taste great. It’s plain, ,but that’s what we like. We serve it with ice cream at times, but it’s good, just plain and simple. Thanks for another great recipe!
Hi Stephanie, thanks so much, so glad you all enjoy it. And yes sometimes all you really need is a good plain cake. Have a great weekend.
Rosemary (I just “met” you, but after a cake like this one I already feel like I’ve known you forever 😀 )… I LOVE this cake! I kept 100% faithful to your recipe. My pan is a bit bigger (26 cm – I think about 10 in), and with no hole in the middle, so I was a little worried about the baking process. But everything went out just fine. It cooked in 30 minutes. I was afraid that, even after the toothpick test, it would sink, considering the time it was in the oven… But it didn’t! I wish I could show you a picture!
And about the flavour… It’s p-e-r-f-e-c-t. It takes a lot for me to keep a cake recipe on my cookbook, but I will surely keep this one! SO moisty! What a lovely cake! (And so quick and simple to do…) I’ll definitely do it again. And I will also keep this recipe for birthdays. I like having alternatives to chocolate cakes, and this one seems perfect to fill and frost. 🙂
Thank you so much, Rosemary. I’ll surely come back!
Hi Sofia, nice meeting you too and thanks so much. So glad you enjoyed it. I would have to say it is pretty well our favourite and yes so many ways you can make it and fancy it up. Have a great rest of the week. 🙂
I made this with 1 cup quinoa flour and .5 cup ground flax + 2 T chia seeds in place of white flour. I used coconut oil in place of vegetable oil, .75 cup raw agave syrup instead of white sugar, and plain Greek yogurt + 2 tsp pure vanilla extract. It was done in 34 min at 350 in a gas oven. It’s DELICIOUS! My husband loves it, too! I topped it with fresh blueberries and a sauce made from vanilla Greek yogurt & raw honey. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Hi Brielle, so glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Just made this with a strawberry reduction since I did not have blueberries. YUM! Light and moist.
Hi Lena, so glad you enjoyed it, great idea with strawberries. Have a great week. 🙂
I made this since I was trying to use up my greek yoghurt and it turned out so gooooooood! I had a little bit after dinner and it’s amazing, I’m in awe. It was so fluffy and moist and light. And making it was so easy. But I did add 2teaspoon of vanilla extract, a bit honey and some blueberries (on one side of the cake).Cause I was afraid the greek yoghurt would be too sour or something. I love this cake and definitely making more! Thank you so much for this amazing and quick recipe XD
Hi Cassandra so glad you like it, it is my kids absolute favourite cake. Have a wonderful Sunday.
I baked this cake at 350 for 40 minutes and the middle part is not cooked and very jiggly. I added more time and it’s the same. I followed every direction you posted. Anyone experience the same thing? I never baked with greek yogurt before and I have some in the fridge and thought to use it. Help?
Hi Fitri, that is strange, I make this cake almost once a week and I have never had this happen, what you could do is lower the heat by 25 degrees so that it cooks slower and longer. Hope that helps.
owww good idea Iwill try your suggestion next time, since I had the same experience
Hi Maria, thanks, let me know how it goes. Merry Christmas.
Is this cake made in a bunds pan (like the video shows) or an 8″ round pan? Thank you!
Hi Gayle, it can be made in either. I make it in both. Have a great weekend.
This recipe along with all the positive comments really makes me want to make this cake! I have just one question, what size bundt pan would you use? I only have a 10″ bundt pan which is a 12 cup capacity and according to a chart from Allrecipes is the equivalent of 2 regular 9″ cake pans. Can’t wait to try it!
Hi Betty, I think that might work, try it and see. Let me know what you think. Have a great weekend.
Love this! It is very similar to a recipe I have knocking around. I would make it gluten free by using my wholegrain gluten and rice free flour blend…
Hi Vicki, thanks it is a good recipe.