Lemon Yogurt Cake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the best yogurt for cake? ›

The Best Yogurt to Use in Baking

While you can technically bake this cake with nonfat or low-fat yogurt, its texture and flavor are really the best when made with whole milk, full fat yogurt, as the fat in the yogurt is what lends the cake its signature tenderness and richness.

The thick yogurt makes for a “denser, tighter crumb” and makes the case more “luscious,” she says. “That is a unique ability of yogurt.” Its inherent sour tang also nicely mellows out the sweetness of the cake. And yes, it just so happens to be more nutritious than, say, sour cream.

Add up to a few teaspoons of zest to your baked goods to provide background flavor notes. It can be used to boost the overall lemon profile of your bake or accent additional flavors, similar to vanilla extract. Add the zest to your recipe when called for or when adding the fat (butter, oil, etc.)

Mix 3/4 cup of sour cream or Greek yogurt into your cake mix and stir thoroughly. This replaces the oil in the cake adding a richness and denser flavor that also keeps longer.

While sour cream sets the stage for a denser, more traditional cake, the inclusion of Greek yogurt can often lead to a lighter, health-conscious choice with a subtler finish, perfect for those who enjoy a less heavy dessert.

According to Live Strong, ''You can use Greek, plain, fat-free or low-fat yogurt whenever your favorite baking recipe calls for oil, shortening, butter, milk or even sour cream. Be aware that Greek yogurt has more of a tang to it than plain yogurt.

Adding mayonnaise, sour cream, yogurt, or melted ice cream to boxed cake mix can make the finished product moist and rich. Swapping out ingredients, like oil for butter or milk for water, will take a boxed cake to the next level. Things like coffee, soda, and spices will help to amplify the flavors in a boxed cake.

If the recipe calls for 1 cup of butter, you can replace it with 1 cup of yogurt. However, yogurt tends to increase the moisture content in a recipe, and as such, bakers suggest only using yogurt in place of recipes that call for 1 cup or less of butter.

Yogurt. Yogurt can be a really good replacement for milk in recipes. As with sour cream, it'll add moisture and flavor, but also a bit of tang. You can stick to a one-to-one replacement, but try to steer clear of flavored yogurt.

Lemon flavor: Let's all say it together: LEMON JUICE DOESN'T ADD LEMON FLAVOR (when added to the cake). Instead, try adding more zest, lemon extract, or a lemon soak.

Why does my lemon cake not taste like lemon? ›

The oils predominantly come from the zest or skin. The most effective way to get the strongest lemony flavour in baking will be to use a juicer to completely strip all the oils out of the entire lemon, then boil it down to a thick syrup.

Sprinkle in lemon or orange zest to give your box cake batter a hint of zing. You can also replace the water with lemon, orange or lime juice or soda. Use this method with any type of cake mix, but it works best with lemon, yellow and white cake.

Here are a few substitution ratios to keep in mind: Try cutting the oil in your recipe back by substituting ½ of the amount of oil with ¾ the amount of yogurt. For example, if your recipe lists 1 Cup of Oil, try replacing ½ cup of Oil with ¾ cup of yogurt. Try substituting the butter in your recipe with yogurt.

Sour cream is one of the fattiest dairy products; the extra fat content (for example, adding sour cream to a cake instead of milk) will make the cake moister and richer, says Wilk. "Fat, in any form (butter, lard, cream, etc.) shortens gluten strands, which essentially leads to the most tender baked goods," she adds.

Both yogurt and buttermilk are good substitutes for eggs. It's best to use plain yogurt, as flavored and sweetened varieties may alter the flavor of your recipe. You can use 1/4 cup (60 g) of yogurt or buttermilk for each egg that needs to be replaced.

And of course, one of Greek yogurt's main selling points is the crave-worthy, slightly tangy flavor it brings to finished baked goods. Plus, it can help cakes, cookies, and quick breads attain a light and fluffy texture while maintaining a perfectly moist crumb.

So to substitute Greek-style yogurt for American-style yogurt in baked goods, remember this rule: Use only two-thirds of the amount of Greek yogurt called for in the recipe and make up the difference with water.

Use full-fat or 2% Greek yogurt — and make sure it's plain. Your cake recipe already calls for sugar, so reaching for vanilla Greek yogurt will probably make it sweeter than you're expecting (although it still can be good!).

When using Greek yogurt as opposed to natural yoghurt, this additional fat will make the texture of a cake not only more moist but also a little denser (but pleasantly so) making it easier to cut, while the reduction in liquid added will also make the crumb more tender.