What I love about this Lemon-Yogurt cake is that it’s very moist. This recipe uses yogurt and oil, instead of butter. You don’t even have to plug in your mixer! This recipe is so versatile in that you can bake this as a bundt cake and you can use lime or orange, instead of lemon.
I’ve been a huge fan of Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa, for quite a while. . What I like about her cooking show (and recipes) is that they are “do-able” for me. She’s versatile in that she offers great recipes for breakfast, lunch or dinner– and she also has some fabulous dessert ideas.
My husband and I were invited for dinner at some friend’s. I know that the wife is trying to be health conscious, for her husband’s sake. He’s from the South, so I seriously wanted to make a Southern Coconut Cake. Instead, I decided to make the Lemon Yogurt Cake recipe that was in this cookbook, so that I wouldn’t sabotage her efforts to trim his waist. I’ve seen this recipe making it’s rounds in Blogosphere, and I bookmarked it several times. This recipe was very simple to make, and I liked that I didn’t need to set up my Kitchen Aid, nor to soften butter.
Here’s how I made it:
With baking, I definitely want all of my ingredients prepped and ready to go. Here’s a tip– to bring my eggs to room temperature, I soak them in very warm water for a few minutes. You’ll need, flour, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, baking powder, kosher salt, pure vanilla, yogurt (I used non-fat Greek Yogurt, because of it’s thickness) and vegetable oil.
Be sure to prep your pan with parchment paper. My favorite insurance that my cakes won’t stick to the pan is “Baker’s Joy” Spray. Ever since my bundt cake disaster, this has not failed to keep my cakes from sticking!
I stopped buying sifters. I prefer to dump all of my dry ingredients and, using a silicone spatula, I stir it around and it’s all sifted. Easy! Now, to prep the wet ingredients:
What do you know?! I got two egg yolks in one! Is this counted as one egg or two? I counted it as two..
Whisk all the wet ingredients…
Then, slooooooowly incorporate the dry ingredients…
Last, fold in the oil:
Pour the batter into the prepared pan (you can use a bundt pan, if you prefer):
Bake at 350F for 50 minutes– I always under bake for about 7 minutes, just to be sure. A toothpick came out clean in 45 minutes.
In the meantime, mix the remaining sugar and lemon juice in a pot and cook until clear– this takes minutes. Set aside and cool.
Once the cake cooled, I had 15 minutes before we had to leave. I quickly made a glaze of confectioner’s sugar and lemon juice and poured this over the loaf. Time was running out, so here’s the cake, sliced:
I wish I had a nice plated shot to show you, but I thought our hosts would find it odd that I brought my camera. Just trust me, that this turned out to be a very moist cake, and a big hit. I can easily see this being made with orange or lime, for a variation.
It’s all gone. Every slice. Know what else? I think this cake is so moist and flavorful that you really don’t have to glaze it. You can trim more calories this way and not feel disappointed.
Guilt-Less Lemon Yogurt Cake
Ingredients
CAKE:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
- 1 1/3 cups sugar divided
- 3 extra-large eggs
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest 2 lemons
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
GLAZE:
- 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper (Don’t skip this). Grease and flour the pan.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl.
- In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla.
- Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
- With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it’s all incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Lemon-Sugar mixture:
- Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
- When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan.
- While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.
Glaze the cake:
- For the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.
Notes
Your lemon yogurt cake looks “melt in your mouth!” I mad Ina’s Brownie Pudding Cake recently – with a similar delicious result!
Guiltless? Gotta love that! You did a great job on your cake and post…now I’m off to make mine!
I made tangerine version not too long ago but I’ve been craving lemon lately.
This looks perfect. Happy Mother’s Day!
Two yolks in one egg?! That must be a sign for you to play the lotto this week! 🙂 Sounds like you had a wonderful mother’s day – well deserved! And this cake looks delicious, especially with the yummy glaze. Love glaze.
Deb,
I love Ina, she is my favorite!
Try Dorie Greenspan’s lemon yogurt cake, she uses olive oil instead of vegetable oil and it is one of my favorite cakes.
You gave me a great idea, to use lowfat yogurt, I always use the full fat and I am trying it your way next time.
I could eat that entire loaf of lemon yogurt cake! Your photos are awesome. I hoping your talent will rub off on me!! lol…
LOVE Ina Garten. I make her lemon cake, original version all the time, and her orange one as well. This sounds lovely too. They freeze beautifully also!
this looks wonderful!
What a gorgeous lemon yogurt cake! I must try this one out, as I adore citrus flavours in bakes.
Happy belated Mother’s Day!
Rosie x
That is one beautiful looking Pound cake. Looks moist and delicious.
I feel like I walked in the wrong room and it wasnt….this cake is giving me ideas…
What a lovely lemon cake! My hubby buys jumbo eggs and we get about one in every package that has two yolks!
I just love INA!!! You did a great job tackling that recipe. It looks scrumptious!
I have been wanting to make that cake ever since I bought the book! Yours looks so moist and delicious!!! And what a lovely way to spend Mother’s day!
Lovely! That looks deliciously moist!
After seeing your beautiful pics, & having plain yogurt that needed to be used, I had to make my own. This was amazing. So moist & delicious. Thank you for sharing. BTW, I used key limes instead of lemons. Great!
I could just kiss your hands. This is a beautiful blog and OMG please save me a slice of that cake. hmmmmmm hmmmmm 🙂
Ina is my favorite. I made this cake after seeing on food network and it turned out great. I too felt that the glazing is not required as the cake itself is too moist. Loved your presentation.
I have just recently fell in love with Ina and her show and seen her make this today and it looks so amazing I think she can make anything look amazing. But I will have to wait to make this. Husbands birthday and he wanted apple pie. You have a really good blog.
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thank you for sharing, just got it out of the oven. l hope it tastes as it looks.
renata