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.
Can you use cake batter in doughnut moulds
Hi Wendy. I’ve baked this batter in muffin cases but I’ve never used doughnut moulds, unfortunately. I can’t give you directions about temp and baking time, sorry. x
How about fat free yogurt?
I’m always looking for quick not to sweet treat!
Hi! I prefer using full-fat or low-fat for a tender crumb and flavor, although fat-free yogurt works too. x
I’ve been looking for a yummy baked item with lower sugar and this is perfect! Used coconut oil and can’t wait to make again with variations. A perfect quick bread that is so moist and delicious!
That’s great, Jan! I’m glad it turned out delicious, thanks for your feedback. x
Would Balkan yogurt be ok to use in this recipe?
I’ve never used it for this recipe but I assume it should be fine. If it’s too thick, stir in a touch of milk to thin it out before adding to the rest of the ingredients. You don’t want the cake batter to be too thick, otherwise it’s difficult to incorporate the flour. x
Can I add the lemon juice?
Yes, Linda, but the lemon flavor comes mostly from the lemon zest. x
Can this be cooked in the airfyer?
Sorry, I’ve never tested the recipe in an airfryer..
I have 5% greek yogurt left over, can I use that?
That’s fine. : )
great recipe – thanks!
I subbed coconut oil for vegetable oil, and used golden sugar instead of white.
turned out really nice.
the batter, however, was super thick after adding in the flour mixture, so I added about 1/3 cup of 3% milk and it was much easier to work with.
I also used a muffin tray, so the cook time was shorter – about 22 minutes.
I may add in some blueberries next time to give them some added zing!
Lovely! Turning the batter into muffins sound great and takes less in the oven. Well done!
Thanks for sharing. x
Thank you for sharing! I swapped out the oil for coconut oil, used greek yogurt, didn’t have vanilla so went for maple syrup, half the quantity of sugar and it was a deliciously moist cake with enough sweet! I love how you can tailor this recipe according to your taste buds but a beautiful base to work with!!
A winner for us kids took huge slices to school will def be using this recipe ❤️
What a lovely feedback, Sera! Same for us – this is our go-to cake for the week, including school snacks. : )
Amazing recipe! I did everything as it was described but with even less sugar and no lemon and was shocked at how good it was!! Oh and I used olive oil instead. I tried it also with orange marmalade mixed in the batter and it was unbelievably good.
That’s great, Chloe! Thanks for sharing. x
Love this recipe!! My daughter requests it all of the time. Her favourite changes are to add 1 tsp almond extract and 1/4 C sprinkles – remove the lemon – to make a birthday cake loaf. Thanks for such an amazing recipe base that can be easily modified for variety. We also love the original version. 🙂
Wonderful feedback, thanks so much, Amanda! : )
Very good! I used orange and tangerine zest.
I’m so glad it turned out good! Thanks for sharing, Brooke. x
Just made this using homemade yoghurt, which, although it is from 2% milk, turned Greek as I let it drain a very long time. So when I mixed the batter, it was far thicker than the video’s. I added the zest of only 1 lemon, and the juice from 1 1/2 lemons – still too thick, so I added some milk. Batter looked good. Baked in my toaster-convection oven at 340° (because convection cooks faster). However, internal temperature was only 190°. Put back in until it was over 200°. It looks lovely, good rise; can’t wait for it to cool. It will of course, be more of a lemon-yoghurt loaf. But I love lemon loaf. Also (no jam) made a lemon glaze with 1 Tbsp lemon, and (sifted) icing sugar (its amazing how much sugar one has to keep adding to absorb the juice).
I love that big lemon flavor! Thanks so much for sharing, Nicola : )
HI,
I have a question if we change the amount of sugar by honey.
is it ok?
thanks
Hi! I don’t recommend swapping sugar for honey here. I tested the recipe (using less than 1/2 cup honey) and the batter was too runny and took too long in the oven.
I wasn’t happy with the result. x
Wonderful cake. Not too much sugar and I still reduce! Like a slice of cake but not too sweet and I try not to limit sugar anyway due to it not being a “food” and very unhealthy. Moderation is key.
However, I do have a question regarding the scant 80grms of oil. I understand that if this was measured it mls it would be around 95 mls. Is this correct? Also try not to have too much fat/oil.
I use self raising flour and no baking powder. The flour I use is half white self raising and half Wholemeal. It is such a quick and easy cake to make and easy to make changes. This really is my ‘go to cake recipe’. Thank you very much.
I do agree, moderation is key.
Re your question, 80 grams is about 90 ml, that might varies depending on the oil. You’re welcome to reduce the fat if you wish, that’s what I often do when I bake this cake for my son. I find that 70 ml oil works just fine. And I love self-raising flour too, so quick and easy!
Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate it. : )