YOGURT CAKE (one-bowl)
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Who doesn’t love a simple and delicious yogurt cake that’s so easy to prepare and involves hardly any cleaning up? All you have to do is mix a few ingredients, all in one bowl, and bake.
The result? A moist and mouth-watering cake loaded with yogurt and with hints of lemon and fruit jam.
This cake is a must, not only is it good, low sugar, and packed with nutrients, but it’s also inexpensive and easy to make. And you know exactly what’s inside the batter!
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Friends, this is a foolproof recipe to keep in your back pocket and perfect for any occasion. I baked it thousands of times and it always turns out lovely.
Watch how to make it
What ingredients you need
- Yogurt
- Eggs
- All-purpose flour or spelt flour
- Baking powder
- Unrefined cane or regular sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Lemon zest
- Pinch of salt
- Vanilla essence
- Apricot or orange jam (optional)
HOW TO MAKE A YOGURT CAKE
- Mix eggs and sugar in one bowl
- Stir in vegetable oil, yogurt, lemon zest, and vanilla essence
- Whisk flour, baking powder, a pinch of salt and add to the bowl
- Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients until just combined
- Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for about 35-40 minutes.
- Brush with warm apricot or orange jam.
- Enjoy!
WHY CLEVER?
It’s one of the simplest healthy cake you can bake for the whole family, in no time and inexpensive: less than $ 4 (8 servings)!
Added bonus?
It’s low sugar. I usually choose unrefined cane sugar, less processed than white sugar, but you can use any sugar you have on hand. However, the healthiest tip is reducing the amount of added sugar, whatever it is.
When it comes to cakes, expeller-pressed canola oil (or cold-pressed olive oil) is my choice. This oil is naturally produced by mechanically squeezing (pressing) the canola seeds and it doesn’t go through an insane amount of processing with chemical solvents.
RECIPE TIPS & FREQUENT ASKED QUESTIONS
WHAT KIND OF YOGURT CAN I USE?
Plain, low-fat, or flavored yogurt with a “pourable” consistency works well in this recipe. However, I find the real Greek yogurt is too thick and gives a denser texture.
CAN I USE GLUTEN-FREE FLOUR INSTEAD OR REGULAR FLOUR?
Yes, I tested the recipe using only rice flour and it turned out well. See notes on the recipe card.
Eggs: possibly use eggs at room temperature and make sure the yogurt is not too cold. The ingredients should be more or less at the same temperature, this is a way to avoid a curdling batter. But if that happens, don’t worry too much and bake it anyway.
Do not overmix the batter because working flour too much can produce gluten, which creates a dense and rubbery cake.
Flavor
I love the zesty lemons, they are always in my fridge alongside my yogurt, hence if I run out of creativity or ingredients, lemon yogurt cake is what I happily end up with. But this yogurt cake is actually a blank canvas for many other delicious ingredients. You can add to this recipe dark chocolate chips, spices, orange zest or whatever you like most.
Glaze
It’s totally optional, but it’s so simple to make and I love it.
I put some apricot or orange jam into a small saucepan. I heat gently over low heat until the jam has melted, and if it looks too thick I adjust the consistency with a tiny bit of warm water. When the glaze is the consistency of runny honey, I brush the yogurt cake straight away. Easy peasy.
Leftovers
It keeps well for up 3-4 days at room temperature, in an airtight container. But do not refrigerate: refrigeration dries this cake out! It’s also freezable: wrap the cake, or slices of cake, in plastic wrap (clingfilm), store in an airtight container and freeze for up to 1 month.
MORE EASY HEALTHY CAKES?
If you make this delicious and easy yogurt cake, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or tag a photo #theclevermeal on Instagram. I would love to hear from you!
EASY YOGURT CAKE
Ingredients
- 1 cup (250gr) plain yogurt
- 2 leveled cups (250gr) all-purpose flour or light spelt flour (I mixed both)
- 1/2 cup (100gr) white or unrefined cane sugar
- 1/2 scant cup (approx 80gr) vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 Tsp Vanilla essence
- 1-2 Lemon, zest*
- 1 pinch salt
JAM GLAZE
- 3 Tbsp apricot or orange jam
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F°/180C° and place the rack in the middle position.
- Grease a 9x5x2.5 inch loaf pan with butter, cooking spray, or simply line the pan with parchment paper (in this case there's no need to grease the pan).
- Mix eggs and sugar, then add oil, lemon zest, vanilla essence and mix again. Add yogurt (not very cold) and mix it into a smooth consistency. All in one bowl.
- Whisk flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt together and add to the wet batter until just combined.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top.
- Bake for about 35-40 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- When the cake is done, remove it from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
- You can serve it plain or brushed with some quick and easy jam glaze which adds a lovely shine and flavor.I glazed this cake brushing some warm orange jam on top (see notes)*.
Video
Notes
- Flour: you can use white whole wheat, spelt, rice flour or all-purpose flour. Personally, I prefer mixing light spelt flour and all-purpose flour.
- Gluten-free flour: I tested the recipe using rice flour and it turned out well. I stirred the four into the batter and mixed well until smooth, then I baked it 5 minutes longer. It had a good rise and lovely flavor. However, it might be a bit less moist than its regular version, but perfectly enjoyable and not dry.
- Lemon flavor: add the zest of 2 large lemons if you prefer to boost the lemon flavor.
- Fruit glaze: put 3 tablespoons of apricot or orange jam into a small saucepan. Heat gently over low heat until the jam has melted and If it looks too thick adjust the consistency with a tiny bit of warm water. When the glaze is the consistency of runny honey, brush the yogurt cake straight away.
- Baking the cake in a round pan rather than a loaf pan reduces the baking time (approx 30-35 minutes).
- Keeps well for 4 days at room temperature, in an airtight container.
- Do not refrigerate (refrigeration dries this cake out!)
- Freezable.
Like others are saying, this cake turned out dry, despite the fact that I started testing for doneness at 30 minutes.
Hi Sarah, I have hundreds of rave reviews for this recipe, both on the website and socials. It’s extensively tested by me as well, and it’s one of my son’s favs.
I don’t know what happened there, but if you were careful with the baking time, maybe the wet-to-dry ingredient ratio was off. Have you used a kitchen scale to measure the flour?
I appreciate the reduced sugar and fat content!
mine came out dry and lacked the typically melting and rich feeling I usually get with most yogurt cakes I’ve tried. usually they are gone in minutes. this one lingered for 2 days and I ate most of it! like 80%!
Now, for disclaimer, I’m not a baker, I just try to replicate recipes as best as I can. so maybe something went wrong somewhere in the process.
Thank you
Hi Nadege. This recipe has a ton of rave reviews here and on social media. I’m not sure what happened there, but next time I recommend using a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients.
Just to clarify, it’s a simple yogurt cake, soft and delicious, though not exactly melting-in-your-mouth or as decadent as most cakes packed with butter or vegetable oil. x
It was quick and easy to make, the flavour was good but it’s a very heavy cake – too dense for me. But glad I tried it.
Thanks for sharing your feedback, Lesley – that’s appreciated. x
If this was doubled and baked in a 9×13 pan, would the cooking time just be extended? any need to adjust the temp?
Thanks! sounds delish 🙂
Hi! No need to modify the oven temp. Regarding the baking time, check the center of the cake with a skewer or cake tester after 40 minutes.
The baking time will likely take a bit longer (I’m unable to give you an exact time here), but I recommend checking for doneness every 4-5 minutes to be safe. x
This was delicious! I made it exactly as the recipe indicated, with the exception of gluten free flour. I had some very tart yogurt that I didn’t care for, but it was great in the cake. Thank you!
Wonderful! I’m so pleased the recipe turned out so well using gluten free flour.
Thanks so much for sharing your great feedback, Cindy. x
Great recipe. I used a stand mixer as opposed to whisking ingredients by hand which allowed me to whip the eggs at high speed until light and silky. Doubled and baked 45 min in a bundt pan. Used homemade vanilla yogurt. Subbed the sugar for Splenda, and subbed the vanilla with rose water almond extract. Lovely cake that is moist, delicious!
Wow, that sounds fabulous! Thanks so much for sharing and rating the recipe, Jackie. x
Can I substitute sour cream for the yogurt
Hi Annie, I’ve never tried it, but I guess sour cream is a good sub for yogurt here. x
I’m glad I waited to make a glaze because I found out I really enjoyed the subtle, elegant sweetness. This was a first effort baking with yogurt. Loved it, and so simple!
Lovely feedback, Timothy! 😊 Thanks for sharing, that’s so appreciated. x
I altered the recipe by using the maple syrup we make at our farm instead of sugar. I also added blueberries we grow here too. I used homemade plain yogurt which is so easy and inexpensive to make. I doubled the cale recipe because, why not? One to eat now and one for the freezer to eat later. My kitchen smells amazing! Can’t wait to eat it!
Maple syrup and fresh blueberries from the garden are just amazing! Thanks so much for sharing your lovely feedback, Laverne. : )
Topped the cake with fresh blueberries and shivered almonds for some crunch after reading your review. Very yummy. Thanks
That sounds delicious! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for your feedback. x
I made this and tried following the recipe as best I could. I used medium eggs instead of large because that’s what I had on hand.
However the batter ended up being really thick and hard to mix when adding the flour. I measured the flour using the spooning method so I don’t think I used too much. I ended up needing to add 3% milk and two more tsp of yogurt to make it easy to pour. I also mixed with a spoon instead of a mixer and tried to keep mixing to a minimum after adding the flour.
The cake turned out tasting great but it turned out gummy, not sure what went wrong :/
Hey Saran! I think the ratio flour to liquid was off and the milk added at the end didn’t help. Maybe the eggs were small and not medium? Try to use large eggs or reduce the amount of flour slightly if in doubt. The recipe is very popular and gets rave feedbacks, next time I’m sure it will be amazing. x
I used vanilla yogurt and lemon zest. I thought it would be really moist, like a pound cake, but it came out a little bit more moist than a box cake. it was still good tasting though. I don’t know what I could do to make it more moist.
Thanks for sharing your feedback, Cindy. : )
If your cake was a bit dry, the most common mistakes might be:
1. Too much flour (make sure to measure the flour using a kitchen scale or the spoon and level method, if using cups).
2. Over mixing the batter – mix just until combined.
3, Over bake the cake (2-3 extra minutes the oven make a massive difference!).
So easy and so good! My toddler had a great time making with me 🙂 I used vanilla yogurt and orange zest (all we had in the house) and it came out absolutely delicious and so moist. Will be making this again!
That’s so sweet!! Thanks so much for sharing your lovely feedback, Tabitha! x
I substituted gluten free flour and it turned out very well. In fact, delicious.
(Not quite as good the next day though). I used olive oil actually because of its healthful qualities and it seemed neutral enough for this. (Coconut oil imparts a definite flavor and has saturated fat).
I served it as a strawberry shortcake —just added sliced strawberries and whipped heavy cream.This cake is perfect for that application!
Wonderful and helpful feedback, Christine! Thanks so much for taking the time to share with us. x
I double the recipe and bake in a bundt cake pan. Very soft and moist cake.
Wonderful! I’m glad it turned out delicious. : )
I think the Vegetable oil is very unhealthy and needs to be swapped out for something else… I think coconut oil might work well or avocado oil… can’t wait to try this!
Hi! I’ve tested the recipe with veg oil only, but I think you can def use avocado oil instead, with a ratio 1:1. x
I sub olive oil in this recipe and it works really well! My whole family loves this recipe, it’s on a regular rotation here!
That’s great to hear, I’m very pleased. : )
Thanks so much for your lovely feedback, Michele!