The yogurt cake is a very soft cake perfect for breakfast but also an excellent base to fill as you like ( pastry cream, jam, Greek yogurt and fresh fruit). A very simple recipe that takes only a few minutes and will give you great satisfaction; ideal for adults and children alike, it can also be enriched before baking with fresh fruit or nuts.
I often read that oil or butter can be substituted by the same amount of yogurt—believe me, this is not true. Oil and butter have a very high fat content while yogurt has very little. They are complementary ingredients that together give the cake great softness. It is not necessary to use a lot of fat to have a good yogurt cake, but some is needed, so use whole-milk yogurt and pair it with oil or butter according to your tastes.
The recipe I propose today, like many other recipes on my blog, was made with oil.
Can I use fruit-flavored yogurt?
Certainly, have fun flavoring the cake as you like. I prefer plain yogurt to which I add citrus zest and vanilla extract, but you can comfortably use whichever you prefer.
Can I replace plain yogurt with Greek yogurt?
Yes, you can, but you will need to add a few tablespoons of milk to the batter because Greek yogurt is thicker, contains less liquid but more protein.
Yogurt desserts, like the classic seven-pot apple cake, are much loved. I leave you some ideas and you can find more on my blog. Now let’s prepare the soft yogurt cake together.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Budget-friendly
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Cooking time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup 00 flour (all-purpose)
- 3/4 cup potato starch
- 7/8 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (whole-milk – 1 small container (about 1/2 cup))
- 6 tbsp peanut oil (or another oil; or about 7 tbsp (100 g) very soft butter)
- 3 eggs (medium)
- 1 packet baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest (about the zest of half an orange)
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (about the zest of half a lemon)
- 2 tsp butter (for greasing (about 10 g))
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (for dusting the pan)
- to taste vanilla powdered sugar
Tools
- 2 Bowls
- 1 Electric hand mixer
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Springform pan removable (9 in diameter)
Method
To obtain a soft and well-made cake you must use eggs at room temperature because they will incorporate more air, making the batter well aerated and very soft.
Combine the flour, potato starch and baking powder, mix and sift them onto a sheet of baking paper. Transfer everything to a bowl.
In a large bowl pour the eggs and the sugar, beat everything with electric beaters until you obtain a light and fluffy mixture (this will take about 7–8 minutes).
Add the yogurt, the lemon zest, the orange zest and the vanilla to the mixture, briefly stir with a spatula.
Add half of the dry ingredients, folding them gently with the spatula so as not to deflate the mixture, then add the oil and the remaining flour, always mixing from top to bottom. You should obtain a soft and well-emulsified batter.
Grease and flour a 9 in diameter pan, pour in the batter and level it.
Bake in a preheated conventional (non-fan) oven at 347°F for about 35–40 minutes. Do the toothpick test to check the baking; if necessary, continue for a few more minutes.
Remove the yogurt cake from the oven, let it cool, transfer it to the serving plate, dust with powdered sugar and serve.
Want to fill it? Here are some ideas
Fill it as you like with jam, pastry cream, hazelnut cream or whipped cream. It’s excellent sliced in half and filled with a layer of vanilla Greek yogurt and fresh seasonal fruit.
Tips
Storage
The yogurt cake keeps at room temperature for 3–4 days in an appropriate cake container.
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