lemon yogurt anything cake
We were almost done with our blissful batch of Meyer lemons when I realized that it would be a crime against… well, something dramatic if I finished them without sharing with you a recipe which might look at the outset like just a plain old loaf cake, but should not be taken at face value. You may see lemons and blueberry but I want you to see a palette upon which you can paint your countless citrus yogurt cake dreams. This cake is so moist that it needs to be cut carefully, so not to smoosh the crumbs from the top of the cake into the bottom, and so delicious, I dare you to make it last a week(end).
The core recipe comes from Ina Garten, and you might recognize it from the grapefruit cake I made last year, but really, I never meant to stop there. Let me now make up for lost time with other ideas for the cake:
- Swapping all of the vegetable oil with olive oil
- Swapping a few tablespoons of the vegetable oil with a nut or coconut oil
- Swapping grapefruit, orange, blood orange or lime for the lemon
- Swapping blackberries or raspberries for the blueberries
- Using 1/3 cup of poppy seeds instead of the blueberries for a lemon-poppy cake
- Adding 1/2 cup of toasted, chopped walnuts or pecans
- Swapping almond extract for the vanilla
- Covering the cake, once completely cooled, with a glaze of 1 cup of powdered sugar whisked with 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Making an extra and sending it to Alex, who for the first time, ever, did not suggest a baked good could be improved with chocolate
- That said, if you added 1 cup chocolate chips to an orange version, you’d get something reminiscent of this Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake
- This recipe will also yield about 12 standard muffins or 36 miniature muffins, baking time adjusted.
- It could be doubled and baked in a well-greased and floured bundt pan, baking time adjusted.
- This recipe could also be baked in an 8-inch square or 9-inch round, to create a thin cake (approx. 1 1/2 inches tall), baking time adjusted.
With all of those ideas, I cannot wait to see which combination you choose. If you try a version, do let us know how it came out in the comments and if you post it to Flickr, please consider adding it to the Smitten Kitchen Recipes Pool!
One year ago: Arborio Rice Pudding
Lemon-Blueberry Yogurt Loaf
Adapted from Ina Garten
1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (if you’re skipping the fruit, you can also skip the last tablespoon of flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
3 extra-large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (approximately 2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed (miniature wild blueberries are great for this, and pose the least risk of sinking)
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.
Sift together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter. 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.
Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1 tablespoon 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 before flipping out onto a cooling rack. 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 (a pastry brush works great for this, as does using a toothpick to make tiny holes that draw the syrup in better). Cool.
All I could think about when I saw these pictures was “YUM!”. Also, a lime and coconut combination would be great too.
Ooh, so yummy. Yet ANOTHER reason that I bemoan the fact that my husband “just isn’t into lemon.” Grr.
Oh my! That looks awesome. I wish we could get Meyer lemons in the UK.
Must. Make. Now.
especially since I have the best tasting lemons growing in my next door neighbors yard. You don’t think she’ll mind do you?
I haven’t even seen meyer lemons around here. *sigh* But, this looks delightful.
it looks phenomenal! lovely pictures as usual.
Nice. It’s like the “clean out the fridge” stew version of the quickbread genre… “you got a little somethin’ extra? Toss it in there! It’s all good.” I bet you could do something crazy with lemon and cardamom, too.
I have used Ina’s recipe before and it is really is incredible. I like your idea of the olive oil. Do you think a little rosemary could be used along with it? If not I have a ton of blueberries in the freezer I need to use up. I would so loose the dare, as this has already been proven by the cakes I’ve already consumed this month.
I’ll take one of each of the above variations, please!!
I will have to make this immediately! I try to be an “equal opportunity gadget user” and as far as I know my loaf pan has gone untouched in 2008.
One question- do you think you could swindle some meyer lemons from your San Franciso reader (for your Texas fans)?
We just moved back to Texas after living in California for 2 years. Meyer lemons are EVERYWHERE there and I am kicking myself for not smuggling a tree into my Honda.
Wow! You’re making my mouth water. I’ve been thinking about making a yoghurt cake for about a week now. I’ve been collecting yoghurt pots for measuring out the ingredients — on this side of the pond we usually weigh the ingredients rather than measure by volume, but there are a lot of recipes that use 125g pots. Replacing the blueberries with poppy seeds sounds like a great idea!
I did the grapefruit ones as mini-muffins for a Super Duper Fat Tuesday (primary watching/Mardi Gras) party a few months ago and they were a definite hit. We made a simple powdered-sugar/grapefruit juice glaze and dyed a third of it green, some yellow, and some purple. Which, frankly, looked pretty gross, but appeased my New Orleans-born roommate, who was sad that we couldn’t find any king cake.
Love the 1st photo w/ the blueberries! I have been meaning to try this cake - I always make the other original lemon cake by Ina and love it, but this one should be a bit lighter which would definitely be better.
Can’t wait to try it!
It looks great! Your blueberries didn’t sink at all!
Thank god you finally posted the recipe - I’m walking out the door with my shopping list…
Great photos… my mouth is literally watering as we speak. My parents are visiting this week and my Mom’s birthday is tomorrow… I think you may have just provided me with a birthday cake!
Now that looks wonderful!! There’s nothing better than lemon and blueberry.
Oh I love this cake. I usually make it with a bit more flour and only 3 eggs, and of course BUTTER. Because I’m sinful. Tonight I made it marble. Love it. My dream breakfast. Cappuccino and cake.
really beautiful! love all the blueberries. i was lucky to find meyers back in stock at fairway this weekend and i picked myself up a bunch. it’s going to be a lemony week :)
That is one helluva loaf that would make a beautiful pudding after a dinner with friends. Too bad we can’t get Meyer lemons here in ole Blighty… Wonder if one could do a rhubarb and lime loaf?
Oh, this is one of my *favorite* desserts! I usually make it with the glaze on top, but I like your idea of dusting it with powdered sugar. And I LOVE the idea of using blueberries in the batter…must do that next time!
Metafilter suggests using three parts lemon juice to one part orange juice as a substitution for Meyer Lemons. Does anyone have any thoughts on whether that will work in this recipe? I’m guessing the recipe seems pretty flexible, but I’m a pretty novice baker so I really have no clue!
Thanks! Definitely going to make this, maybe just using oranges instead!
It is not necessary to use Meyer lemons for this cake. I used them because I had them, but to be completely honest–since I’ve made this cake with both Meyers and conventional lemons–I actually prefer that latter in this cake for its louder flavor/tang. So, whichever you can get will work.
I have been searching for a recipe just like this…all the other lemon cake recipes I find are so blah. And I am totally making the poppy seed version…I’ve been dying to do that since that one time I threw a bunch into a batch of lemon cupcakes. Thanks!
Oh my, this could never be described as “plain”, this is my favourite type of cake, perfect with a cappuccino in the morning!!!mmmmm!!!
Ina Garten’s Lemon-Yogurt cake is my favorite citrus cake, bar none. I make it all the time! Thanks for the ideas for adding blueberries and such. Great idea!
I actually made the cake with lime juice and blackberries (I used frozen, though)…it turned out beautifully! I’ve also done plain ol’ orange with a bit of blackberry as well….also delicious. I’ve also substituted fat-free yogurt, and it worked fine. People LOVE this cake!
So, mine is in the oven right now, and I don’t know about anyone else, but it seems like I have a TON of batter. It was within an 1/2″ of the top before I started baking… I knew I should have made a couple of mini-loaves too! :-)
The swaps sound delicious, though I think I’d love it best just the way it is! I’m going to make this as soon as I get my paws on some blueberries.
I love lemon blueberry…and I love Meyers! What a fab recipe.
I can’t wait to try this cake or muffins!!! I think I will use some of your swapping suggestions!
I’ve made the original cake from Ina Garten and it is AMAZING. I’ve made 2 in one weekend and they’ve both been eaten.
the blueberry idea sounds GREAT!!!
Oh my oh my… those look absolutely wonderful!!
hahah and I love your creativity and humor! “Swap this with that, switch that with this, and, ooo! try this too!” :D
That hardly looks like cake! The inside almost looks like fudge! I must try this, it sounds incredible. Ina is a great cook and this just looks scrumptious so how can it not be good?
- The Peanut Butter Boy
looks DIVINE!!!!!!! so moist and tender.
I cannot wait to bake this cake. I’m thinking of making the Lemon Blueberry for my mom on Mother’s Day, but I’d like to try to a Raspberry Lime myself. Or Pineapple Coconut for my boyfriend. Oh, the possibilities are endless!
I just made your black bottom cupcakes. Delish!!!! They were perfect, recipe to the T. Thanks!!
Looks moist, velvety, looks like I must have now - but live too far away, blast. I’ve made a similar Ina cake w/ blue berries - she gets me every dang time; she just makes her cooking look so calming and necessary - I can hardly NOT cook her version of xyz. Kind of annoying, really. She’s like Sandra Lee’s arch nemesis. What a staff meeting that would be.
I digress. This looks stunning and I wish you would mail it to me. Barring that, I will have to cook it again, thanks to all the brilliant new substitutions you tossed out there. Thanks, Ann
I just made Ina’s lemon cake the other day! It looks out of this world with the added blueberries! I love your other suggestions too.
Oh my god… those blueberries just take over the whole thing (in a good way.) It looks fabulous!
You are really teasing me at the moment! I am on a health kick, well, sort of and cakes are unfortunately off the menu. I love the way the blueberry colour oozes into the cake, it’s beautiful. I could kill for a slice of that with my tea right now.
I’m trying to cut back on sugar…what do you think about replacing the plain yogurt with sugar-free vanilla yogurt and cutting back a bit on the sugar?
Lemon and blueberry is my favorite combo and a yogurt cake!?? YUM! I love yogurt anything!
This looks so colourful and moist - who said spring hasn’t arrived yet!
I’ve got to get an Ina Garten cookbook. This looks fabulous! So pretty with the blueberries dotting the inside of every slice. Looks so delicious!!
I am always interested in anything citrus, Deb. This looks wonderful!
a cake that does it all
very impressive!
when I opened up your site, that picture pulled me in entirely!! i love all yogurt cakes,and with blueberries, well, i just melt. that is one beautiful looking cake.
completely drawn in by the picture! looks so good and moist. I once did a lemon blueberry yoghurt cake as well..recipe was from Alice Medriech if i got her name right. i think it’s one of the best combinations so far. thanks for sharing
I love how jam packed with blueberries this cake is, it looks wonderful!
My loaf is also currently in the oven right next to me and the smell alone is selling me completely on this cake. I used frozen strawberries and vanilla yogurt instead of plain - I will definitely let you know how it turns out!
I could die or kill for that loaf of cake!! I’m surely trying your recipe SK!:)
Deb
soooo. i just tried it and love it! i made a few substitutions because I had strawberries on hand, and wanted to let you know that it is wonderful… i will also post a photo to your flicker pool.
I followed your procedure and baked it in a 9 inch circle pan for 40 minutes at 350. Instead of a glaze I made fresh whipped cream and oh my goodness we have a winner!
here is your recipe with a few of my things substituted:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup sour cream
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced strawberries
Thanks for posting this cake. I think it is added to my list of ‘make again sometime soon’. I now want to buy blueberries to try it the original way!
That’s great you made it with half the oil? Was it still crazy moist? Because if so, I think it is definitely worth trying and that others will be eager to follow suit.
(Ironically, the lemon yogurt cake actually has more calories/fat than the pound cake, but I try not to point out such un-fun things.)
You always make the best recipes! This looks delicious!
Quick question regarding the order of the recipe. The directions call for the oil to be mixed in with the wet ingredients (yogurt etc.) and then again once the dry is mixed into the wet. Which one is correct or does it not really matter?
Also, with frozen blueberries the batter turned slightly purple. It also seemed very wet even though I drained them. Are fresh blueberries a better bet?
Thanks for the beautiful recipe and photos.
I made it using mixed berries (blackberries, blueberries and raspberries), plus replaced the vanilla with almond extract and lemon oil…delicious!
The second suggestion of vegetable oil is a typo (it was Ina’s suggestion; I felt it unnecessary). It’s been fixed now–thanks.
One other question as I just made this and let it cool 10 minutes. As I took it out of the pan, it cracked and feel somewhat apart. What’s the trick so that does not happen? Let it cool a little longer? Also, with the lemon juice-sugar that goes on at the end, I was a little nervous to put it all on, fearing it will be too soggy. Should I just go for it? As the cake cools further, does the liquid kindof gel up? (not sure how best to state that, hopefully you’ll know what I mean)
Not sure why the cake cracked (this hasn’t happened to me) but you want to put the lemon syrup on while it is hot, so it will absorb. It keeps the cake extra moist, not soggy. Should you choose to do the powdered sugar glaze I mentioned in the bulleted suggestions, you’d want to pour that over a completely cooled cake. (I’ll update it to stipulate that now.)
Oh no! My blood oranges seemed to have stopped coming in my vegbox lately. This loaf would look amazing all streaked with red.
deb
in response to your response, we think it is lovely and moist…. though i have not made your original version, thus perhaps I have completely unknowingly shortchanged ourselves. :)
when i make your version i will try it with the 1/2 cup and see. Perhaps the use of 1 cup sour cream versus 1 cup yogurt makes some difference with the moistness of the cake because to be honest I used only 1/4 cup after seeing how wet the batter was. I followed the wet to dry and then fold in the oil method and the batter was really really wet (in my opinion) so I used 1/4 cup olive oil. we love it and I guess it could save those calorie counters on their points. I am not very concerned with that, and did it out of gut instinct not concern for fat :) Thanks! it is a great cake.
Looks so great! I want to try this one, especially while I’m on a lemon kick. I just made a lemon pound cake this weekend from Ina Garten and it was amazing. Lemons remind me of spring…hopefully some more sunshine….
Good gravy, a recipe of Ina Garten’s that’s fairly healthy! I think I just breathed a sigh of relief. :) It looks delicious and incredibly moist. With the bright colors and lemon flavor, it seems like a perfect springtime dessert. Or summer dessert. Or anytime dessert.
Actually, Ina’s recipe is a modification of Dorie Greenspan’s recipe published in a Bon Appetit article about French baking. In the original, Dorie uses thinned out marmalade as the glaze (it makes it a tad more breakfast-y). I make it all the time and I use 2% greek yogurt with great results. In a pinch I’ve made it with fat free yogurt and it tasted fine, it just didn’t brown as much.
Oh, as far as the cracking goes, you probably overmixed it.
This looks amazing! (Obviously.) I’d love to try it with some raspberries…weirdly enough, I’m not too into blueberries in baked goods. Call me crazy. But they look GORGEOUS. Definitely marking it to try.
I made Ina’s version of the cake for my bridge party a few months ago. I thought the cake alone was sort of tasteless (sorry, Ina) so I made a puree of blueberries to serve with it. Huge hit! They all asked me to make it again.
That looks so good! Blueberries and lemon is one of my favorite combos!
for mama v who asked about substituting the yogurt-
plain yogurt-not vanilla- would not have sugar, so you wouldn’t need to worry about that. you Would have to worry about adding a funny taste if you used sugar free vanilla though (not to mention unnecessary chemicals!) stoneyfield farms has a Great plain whole fat yogurt and you can use the rest with a little honey and cinnamon-it’s heavenly.
just wanted to clarify any confusion you had between vanilla (flavored and sugared) yoghurt and plain (none of that nonesense). hope it helps! :)
looks amazing. can’t wait to try it.
Made this with lime/lemon juice and zest and a passionfruit! Accidentally put the juice in the batter- but it turned out to be a good thing with plain sugar syrup on top. So good. As soon as I get some blueberries…
looks so delicious! i’ll definitely bake it this weekend
I just made this cake with apples and almonds. I also used 1/3 cup olive oil. Very moist and delicious. Thanks for a great post!
We are just having a smitten day today! I stopped by to get the cauliflower and walnut whole-wheat pasta recipe to make tonight (the husband LOVED it when I cooked it a few weeks ago) and saw this on top - and knew I had to make it! I got by with a few modifications. I thought we had enough yogurt in the fridge, but we didn’t, so I used about 2/3 cup yogurt and the rest some creme freshe. We also didn’t have any veg oil (I so should have picked some up at the store, but totally forgot) so I used our standard oil for cooking instead - rapeseed oil. Raspberries are my favourite, so I got some frozen ones and threw those in. It just finished cooling and I tried a slice - heavenly. The sister-in-law and her kid are coming to visit tomorrow - now I have something to offer…
This looks like a fantastic yogurt cake and I love all you ideas. But why does it call for extra large eggs? I’m guessing that’s how the base recipe was written. Any suggestions for how to use large eggs instead. I never buy extra large. I guess I could get the weight value of the extra large and go from there. I may have to b/c this looks so good!
It calls for extra-large eggs because for some (annoying) reason Ina Garten insists upon using these in all of her recipes. However, at the three-egg level, the difference in volume between large and extra-large eggs is not enough to make a difference in the cake. (4 to 5 extra-large = 5 large eggs) I used three large and had no trouble. If you’re doubling it, I’d probably add an extra egg.
Hm, I guess I should update the recipe with this or something!
I didn’t have yogurt, so I adapted a Cranberry Orange Bread recipe that called for buttermilk and made a Lemon, Blueberry, Rhubarb, Apple cake — all the odd fruit I had laying around after baking other things. :) Thanks for the inspiration.
My adaptation is in the oven right now. Mine are muffins instead of a loaf, and I subbed vanilla chips for the blueberries, but kept the lemon flavor. They’re for a bridal shower and her colors are yellow and white, so I thought it’d be perfect! I had enough batter for about 18 muffins as well. Can’t wait to try them when all’s said and done.
WOW. I put plain yogurt on the shopping list. I’ll have to give it a try. I think everyone will ove it here.
Thanks for another great recipe.
mmmmm, I’m thinking blood orange with cranberries. I think I might actually have everything for this on hand too- SWEET!
Super yummy - thanks!
PS I used homemade yogurt so I am feeling especially proud of it.
I was going to make this anyway…and then I saw that you’d based it on the grapefruit cake (one of my staples by now), and I pretty much put my hand through the screen to get the recipe, haha.
Made this last night~ yummy!
Substituted “light” lemon yogurt for whole milk yogurt, regular lemon zest instead of Meyer. Also, didn’t make the glaze, as I used Eureka lemon syrup instead. Tasty!
Also, used large eggs, not extra-large. This recipe is pretty forgiving.
I just want to scream in delight, but I think that would creep my kids out. This is beautiful! I have seeking out good “bread” and cake recipes for another job I am taking on and this is PERFECT! You are genius! Thanks so much for sharing :)
Carrie
http://fieldsofcake.blogspot.com
I wonder if one can make portions of batter of all the variations they like, and then bake them side by side in one pan to make a super-cake… mmmmm…
simple & beautiful in its adaptability. thanks for sharing!
well of course I went straight out to buy all the ingredients. Although my cake did not do any justice to yours. Yours looks so delicious, but because my husband hates berries i tried a coconut lemon version. I really should have just stuck to one of your specific variations, since your photo does make me want to lick the screen! Yum, I will stick to your exact recipe next time and eat it all myself!!!
http://www.thechefbite.blogspot.com
I tried making these last night. I reduced the (olive) oil to 1/3 cup and ended up with a very soupy batter. I baked them as 12 muffins at 180 deg C. I cooked them for 25 min and then checked them every 10 min after that but they just seemed SOOO wet. I finally took them out after 45-50 min and had some trouble pulling them out of the tins. I wonder if the yogurt I used was wetter than what you are supposed to use? The batter also filled all 12 tins nearly to the top - maybe it was too heavy? They didn’t rise very much either.
Lin, I am guessing that possibly your yogurt may have been a bit wetter in texture. It is also quite possible that your flour is wetter than Ina Garten’s and Smitten Kitchen’s. Flour absorbs a lot of water, so you may need to add a touch more next time. I make my own yogurt at home and it is much “soupier” than some of the yogurts you can get at the store that have gums and stabilizers in them to make them firmer. I haven’t made this cake yet, but I plan to strain my yogurt to make it a bit thicker before I measure it for this recipe.
Hi Lin — Actually, mine took a bit longer to bake as well this time, but for me it was because I hadn’t drained my blueberries well and I knew it was taking extra time for that moisture to bake off/the batter to set. I
I made this last night and, even though I completely forgot to add the baking powder, this was an amazing cake. I can only imagine how much better it will be when I make it the right way!
As promised, I put those yoghurt pots into action and made a lemon and poppy seed yoghurt cake!
All the recipes I have been seeing in blogland for lemon stuff have been driving me crazy, so I made this cake last night for an after-dinner treat. I subbed olive oil for all the veg oil, and almond extract (which I could almost drink straight) for the vanilla. I had frozen tiny blueberries, so I used those. The cake was fantastic — even my non-dessert eating husband loved it. I thought my berries were too tart, and would probably leave them out next time; the texture and flavor of the cake were just too lovely on their own. I put it in the fridge last night, and it was reeeealy good this morning for breakfast!
I love anything by Ina Garden! Looks so heavenly good w/ a tall glass of ice cold milk - of course~~!!
Now I gotta tell you - that looks totally wonderful - I would definitely make this. As Ina would say - “what could be bad”?
I saw it in my feed reader and I was in the kitchen within 10 minutes!
Resulting in a very delicious Apple Walnut Yogurt Cake, and some much needed baking therapy!
Thanks for the inspiration, Deb!
Someone above mentioned the black bottom cupcakes, and I felt compelled to find them. Always one to comment on the recipe you moved on from a year ago, I still have to say that my aunt made these when I was a child. She made a frosting of whipped cream, instant espresso powder and chocolate syrup that was quite amazing. Now which to make first, the lemon cake or the cupcakes?
I still have the grapefruit cake starred in my reader and now this?!?
There is a typo in the printable version regarding what to do with the oil…Otherwise, love the recipe. Just wish I had defrosted the blueberries totally.
This looks really really good!
I’ll make it this weekend!!
I can’t believe you made this it was just about the time that I finished making the cake last week when I logged on to your site and saw you made this! The Ina recipe is my go-to recipe for this type of cake. I had been at my Aunt’s just a few days before taking all of the meyer lemons she’d give me.
Can’t wait to try some variations. I’ve often made the blueberry sauce that she serves it with on the show she made this. Right now, fresh blueberries are too dear but during the summer, it’s all about the sauce too. Only problem is the meyer lemons aren’t great then.
oh i forgot to say one thing I’ve done with this. You can use flavored yogurts to add other sublet flavors. I’ve used lemon to give it even more lemon flavor and I’ve used vanilla to punch up the vanilla notes.
I just made this with orange zest / juice and chocolate chips. Brought it into the office and everyone FELL on it, actually came into my office to say how fantastic it was. Definitley a repeat
Yes, there is a typo regarding when to add the oil. didn’t seem to make a huge difference in the texture, however
Confused about the oil error–I thought I’d fixed it days ago (see #58) and don’t see it here, or on the print version either. Help? Want to fix!
Glad to hear you’re all loving the cake–love the adaptations as well.
just made this. could not resist the look of it. beautiful pictures, deb! used all olive oil and blueberries. top is deliciously crisp and the inside is so moist! had a bit too much batter so made a few muffins too.
The first cake I learned to bake, ever…and one I never stop to experiment with like you do. Isn’t it great fun! The cake looks fantastic!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I just made the cake with fresh chopped strawberries, vanilla whole-milk yogurt, meyer lemons (found them in a random grocery store down here in NC), and a tahitian vanilla bean instead of extract (then let the bean husk boil in the lemon syrup) and it is ABSOLUTELY DIVINE. The smell of the cake as it came out of the oven was heavenly, and it was absolute torture waiting until it cooled to cut a piece. The tart syrup on the top just takes it to that next level… yum!!
I made mini bundt cakes out of this recipe. They turned out great! Instead of lemon, I substituted orange zest and fresh-squeezed orange juice. It was a terrific way to use the last of some organic vanilla yogurt I had in the fridge (didn’t like the taste of the yogurt, so I was glad to find a way to use it up!). Thanks for the many ideas of ways to vary this recipe. I will be making it often.
Well, you’ve finally made me come out of long-time lurkdom - this recipe was amazing!! I made it today with raspberries instead of blueberries; it was delicious!
I made this cake this morning in a glass loaf pan and it came out kind of mushy at the bottom. Is it because I used a glass pan? I baked it for 50 minutes like the recipe said. It looked finished at the top and the toothpick came out clean but I don’t know what I did wrong.
I used Dannon’s Light N Fit Vanilla Yogurt and omitted the vanilla extract but I wish I added it. Otherwise the cake was delicious! Next time I will follow the rules though.
Soo, I’ve been reading your blog for months now, and this is the first recipe I tried and my first comment). I’ve been meaning to make a yogurt cake since I saw Ina’s recipe, but I’ve been lazy. With a potluck coming up this week, I needed something quick and cheap, and since I’ve always got at least half of the stuff for this cake in the house, I opted to try it out. The problem with living in Wisconsin (and being a broke college student) is that you can never find good citrus for a good price! I was lucky this morning, though, I found some great Minneola Tangelos? Now I’m agonizing and waiting for it to come out of the oven and cool so I can eat it.
Dearest Smitten Kitten,
I have only just recently discovered your blog (where have you been all my life?!) and I am indeed smitten ;) I could not help myself but baked this lemon yogurt goodness last night and it was definitely an enriching experience on my tongue! It was incredibly clever to add a subtle glaze to the top, the tartness was the perfect marriage to the citrus sweetness of the dense cake. I used poppyseeds instead of blueberries and was quite satisfied. Thanks so much! I also must add that you take absolutely gorgeous and drool-inducing photos, yays for you!
I made this tonight with plain old regular lemons (Dupont Circle’s Safeway is sorely lacking in many items) but it turned out great. I think the amount of sugar balances the tart of “regular” lemons. My big issue was that my blueberries sank (again, I was unable to find small “wild mountain” blueberries as you suggested). Any hints or tricks for incorporating regular sized berries into the dough without them sinking the bottom? I also think my oven must be off because I baked this for 60 minutes and the top still sank as it cooled. This is my first post here - but my husband and/or I read your site virtually everyday! Keep up the good cookin’!
Lime Raspberry Cake - I made this over the weekend subbing limes & raspberries where the original called for lemon & blueberry. Delish, but same as everyone else, this is wicked moist, wet, fudgy, whathaveyou. I used 4 large eggs instead of 3 xl. This condensed some as it cooled, into a tart-sweet brick of yumminess. Love.
After reading the reviews, I think I’ll try it again, this time a lemon-blueberry version with 3 eggs and less/no oil.
My Mom made this cake not for her birthday last week, but as a hosting gift for a family visit. It was a wonderful, moist success. She managed to find fresh, frozen blueberries at the supermarket (Wyman’s brand, if that helps Liz) and they didn’t sink. Our one adventure was that the cake had to bake for nearly an hour instead of 40 minutes, because it didn’t seem done. We were all nervous that it would turn out super dry, but it was just as moist as you promised! I’ll be blogging about it soon, and will definitely track back to your site.
This looks absolutely amazing! Has anyone tried substituting Greek yogurt? Or perhaps does anyone know what the ratio would be in general when substituting Greek yogurt for regular yogurt? Thanks and I can’t wait to try out this recipe!
I’ve been dying to try this recipe, but I haven’t been able to find fresh blueberries, so I might resort to frozen ones or I might just go with dried cranberries instead!
I used frozen blueberries. Cascadian Farm, I think, had those super-tiny ones (though it didn’t say it on the bag, I was hoping for tiny ones so yay). If you use dried cranberries, you might want to plump them a bit in hot water so they do not draw a lot of moisture out of the cake (though, luckily, there is moisture to spare).
Oh and Helen — You can definitely use Greek yogurt instead of regular. It will be delicious.
Hi, love your blog. Anyway, tried this cake this past weekend. Used Greek yogurt, veg oil and regular blueberries (washed and then let dry thoroughly before adding in flour). I only had large eggs so I thought about using 4 but stuck with 3 instead. Also, and maybe this was the issue, used a glass loaf pan. Cooked for the 50 minutes and found the top beautifully browned but the inside was still very, very wet. Cooked for an additional 20 minutes and the toothpick came out clean. The cake was very heavy and sunk even before I put any glaze on. Taste was fantastic. But texture? More like a bread pudding texture is really the only way I can describe it. What happened? Thanks.
For those of you whose cakes have sank, I don’t mean to leave you in a lurch, but I am not sure what went wrong. I’ve made this cake a few times with no problems or sinkage. The only thing that I can think of–as I mentioned a few comments back–is that if your berries are still wet, then it will definitely take extra baking time to bake off the moisture.
One more note: I’ve lined this up against other yogurt cakes I have used and/or heard great things about, and it definitely looks like one can be equally successful with the 1/3 cup oil level, for those of you who are looking for places to cut back.
I keep meaning to write to say that I made a cranberry orange version of this cake, per your prompting to play around with it. I just substituted orange for the lemon and frozen cranberries for the blueberries. It turned out deeeelish, although my Spanish friends here in Brussels were (as usual) a little puzzled by the cranberry (there is no good translation for it) and decided to call the cake a “bizcocho.” Whatever they want to call it is fine with me, since they polished it off in a trice. We had it after a fondue dinner, and the sweet/tart cake was a nice contrast after all that cheese!
Ooh, one more comment (I just read yours, Deb): it did take quite a bit of extra time to bake this, perhaps, as you mention, because of the wet berries. (I also used a slightly larger loaf pan.) But the texture turned out beautifully.
Up next: caramelized shallots for dinner tonight! (Thanks for all of your great recipes and photos!)
I make a lemon-yogurt-olive oil cake (we like to have it with raspberry ice cream), but it has never once occurred to me to add bluberries and a glaze. Such simple, and delicious, tweaks often elude me. I made this for my family (using Meyer lemons), and it was a hit across the board; thanks for sharing the recipe.
I have these (I split the batter between two smaller loaf pans, since from my experience banana bread always bakes better this way) in the oven right now, and can’t wait to try them. The photo drew me in, and my son needed treats for senior citizens who will be arriving to view his high school’s play tomorrow. Blueberries are so great for the eyes, and there are no nuts in this recipe to cause denture problems or anything like that, so I thought it would be perfect. I plan to wrap the slices individually, like the pound cake slices you see at coffee shops. I used all organic ingredients (as I always do), lowfat yogurt since I don’t like the full fat kind…glad to know it works just as well. I also used one large standard lemon, not the little Meyer ones, and found that it zested and juiced up to the exact measurements required. My batter turned out swirly-marbled purple and yellow, since my (frozen Cascadian) blueberries are leaky…but I think it will be beautiful. Also, purple and gold are his school colors…so it will be perfect! Thanks for posting this recipe, I can’t wait to try more of the others on this site.
Hmmm…the texture came out lovely, but the flavor wasn’t as lemony as I expected. Still tasty, though.
Deb - I LOVE your website. I have been addicted to it for months — the humor, the pictures, the food! But, I haven’t written anything in because I haven’t had a chance to make any of the recipes. But on Sunday, we made two — the porcini mushrooms with fettucini and this one. I didn’t have blueberries so I made them with frozen cherries. The texture is perfect but I wanted a tad more lemon in it. Next time I make it, instead of using the glaze, I might try glazing it with the Bella Cucina lemon cream that I purchased a few months ago (it’s got a citrusy creamy quality that I think would work very well with this.) Thanks for the recipes and the website!
Hi Deb, thank you once again for your incredible recipes and pictures, you have got yourself another faithful reader here. I was wondering, is it possible to substitute the eggs in this recipe with something else? This recipe looks amazing but unfortunately the occasion for which i have to make it requires vegetarian (and therefore eggless) food. It’s to be made for sunday!!! Thanks Deb!
MMmmmm! This cake is so so so delicious. I’m thinking of trying to do some sort of apricot/almond thing? I’ll probably leave out the citrus, but keep the rest. Hopefully it turns out pretty good! Thanks, Deb!
I made the grapefruit cake back when that recipe was posted but it was a gift and I didn’t get to taste it in the end, so I was excited to try this version. I used egg replacer and soy yogurt so my version would be vegan. It came out ok despite the fact that at the point where I added the blueberries I wasn’t paying much attention to the recipe and used a whole package of thawed blueberries instead of the smaller amount called for in the recipe. Oops! Of course it took longer to bake… I’d like to say that you can never have too many blueberries, but I think it came pretty close.
i made these last night in muffin form….and they were freaking awesome! i had to knock down the baking time to 20 minutes but that is to be expected. thanks!!
Cheyenne, what can i use as egg replacement? Does any trick given on the internet work or is there something more specific? I’d really appreciate a come back! Thank you :)
Made this almost as directed — I swapped olive oil for the veg oil and used full-fat Greek yogurt. It took about 65 minutes to bake all the way through. When making the syrup, I added a tablespoon of strained juice from rinsing and draining the blueberries, because it was just too yummy to waste. Then I added a little bit of lemon juice to thin the mixture out before pouring it over.
Result: this is a cake that could make me give up chocolate (at least for the weekend).
I just made this, it’s in the oven. Can’t wait to try this.
Now, I HAVE to share this with someone. Over the weekend I was having dinner with my family and we were talking about baking (I had just made a chiffon cake and filled it with lemon curd the whole thing took a dozen eggs) and my grandmother says — you know nobody cracks eggs the way I do. (her family had a coop, and she’s a scratch baker so I was thinking this has to be good) And she says she just cracks one egg against the other, and she’s had them both break only once. I just tried it and it’s a revelation. My grandma is awesome.
Looks so good! I’m going to have to add this to my list too! I can’t decide to do muffins, loaf or bundt?
-Nia, I crack my eggs against each other too.
It is still wonderful…I made it and couldn’t put it down. A cup of coffee, a cup of tea and even a good cold glass of milk - everything tastes so much better with cake. I can see what power! this cake recipe has. Good to eat, good to mull over new ingredients! Thanks! kathryn
I’ve heard if you coat the blueberries in flour before adding them it will keep them from sinking. Anyway, looks scrumptious. It’s now on my list of things to make with the kids. Thanks.
Just made bitty cupcakes as a thank you, and they are amazing! I definitely want to try all of the variations!
This was delicious! I followed the recipe almost to the letter (with the substitution of regular lemons for meyers and a bit more sugar for the glaze). Baking time of 52 minutes was about perfect for a dark coated pan. The only small mystery was that my blueberries collected at the ends of the pan, rather than being spread evenly throughout….but I think that was the result of my hesitation to over-stir once I folded in the berries.
Just tested this recipe today and I decided to make the glaze instead of the syrup to give it a more dessert presentation than a bread loaf one. I have to say it taste amazing. Though the batter turned out to be a lot and I had to use a larger pan. I think it’s because I put 2 cups of fresh blueberries in it. Cooking time had to be increased to 60 minutes for it to cook all the way through. I put the glaze (1cup of confectioners sugar, 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice) on while it was still warm, any reason why it should be applied while cool? I’ve been challenged to bake something for work. I’ll be making another one tomorrow to bring in monday. Should I refrigerate the cake for the next day?
Made this yesterday for a dinner party and served it with fresh whipped cream. Everyone loved it! I made it in a 9″ round pan and it was done in 50 mins. I’ve made the Ina Garten one before but didn’t think of how flexible it was. Adding the berries was a great idea. Mario Batali has an Orange Olive Oil cake that is a similar idea, but not as decadent. Have a feeling this will lead to lots of delicious things this spring and summer. Thanks!!
I can’t help but wonder if that extra tablespoon of flour and of sugar really makes any difference… any less delicious… will the cake turn out noticeably different without them and with even measurements instead ? Just curious… guess I’ll find out…
Made this this morning — just realized I forgot the oil entirely. Cake doesn’t seem to have sufferred, though — bit eggy, with a rougher, more bubbly crumb. Who knew?
Deb,
I read your website all the time but never comment, although this cake made me bust out of lurk mode.
This has really become the go-to cake for this spring/summer! So far I’ve made it with:
Granny Smith’s (shredded, not cubed) and made the syrup with apple juice,squeeze of lemon for tartness, and cinnamon.
Blueberries and Raspberries with lime zest and lime syrup.
Apricots and Hazelnuts with an apricot nectar/lemon syrup.
Mini chocolate bits with a vanilla syrup.
And simply plain with no syrup or zest.
It is tasty no matter what I throw into it! Thank you for the recipe. However, my trunk now has more junk than it can handle. Ahem.
This is the second time I’ve made this cake, and I am obsessed.
I substituted 1/2 cup strawberry and 1/2 cup banilla yokids stonyfield farms yogurt, switched to olive oil, and used 1 tbsp lemon juice instead of zest, and baked in a bundt pan, and it is incredible.
Very good! Took about an hour to cook and turned out very moist. The lemon flavor was almost to much for me, I might try a simple syrup rather than lemon juice over the top next time. And it tastes a lot better the next day when the flavors have had time to combine.
I love this recipe and have made it about ten times since seeing it on your site. I’ve found that since it’s such a wet batter, I can get away with adding less oil (olive oil works great); I’ve been adding 1/4 cup oil with no loss to moisture or flavor. My husband and I like to discuss which version is superior: with poppyseeds or with raspberries. Next up: the chocolate and orange version. Thanks!
Oh my god!
I made this at the weekend, it was HEAVEN!
I think it could possibly be made without the oil at all… I might try that next time! I still have a lemon left, so I could make a half batch…
I love anything with blueberries. I made this cake last weekend with fresh wild blueberries I picked up on a hike. It was a hit. I used only 3/4 cup sugar and it was sweet enough for our taste. Next time I will also cut back on oil.
Quite delicious, the balance of the blueberries and lemon was perfecto. I used regular lemons, fresh blueberries. The cooking time was closer to 52 mins as noted above. Excellent recipe. Thanks much.