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 is riffed from Ina Garten, which also inspired last year’s grapefruit cake. But why stop there? You can take a yogurt loaf cake like this in almost innumerable directions. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Swapping all of the vegetable oil with olive oil
- Swapping a few tablespoons of the vegetable oil with a flavorful nut or coconut oil
- Swapping grapefruit, orange, blood orange or lime for the lemon
- Swapping blackberries or raspberries for the blueberries
- Add 1/3 cup of poppy seeds and skipping the blueberries for a lemon-poppy cake
- Adding 1/2 to 1 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.
I cannot wait to see which combination you choose.
One year ago: Arborio Rice Pudding
Lemon-Blueberry Yogurt Loaf
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable or another neutral oil
- 1 cup (200 grams) plus 1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 small/medium or 2 large lemons
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional; I skip it)
- 1 cup (225 grams) plain yogurt, whole, low-fat, or greek-style
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon (205 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups (250 grams) blueberries, fresh or frozen [see Note]
- Powdered sugar for dusting [optional]
Pour the oil and 1 cup of the granulated sugar in a large bowl. Finely grate the zest of all the lemons you’re using into the bowl and whisk to combine. Whisk in eggs, vanilla, and yogurt until evenly mixed. Sprinkle the surface of the batter with baking powder and salt and whisk thoroughly, ensuring it’s dispersed through the bowl. Add flour and berries, stirring just to combine.
Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 60 to 75 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
While it bakes, juice your zested lemons — you want 1/3 cup juice. Pour into a small saucepan, add remaining 1 tablespoon sugar, and heat over medium until the sugar has dissolved.
When cake comes out of the oven, brush it with the lemon syrup. If the syrup isn’t absorbing well, use a skewer to make holes all over the cake, which will help.
Let the cake cool completely in the pan. Once cool, cut around the cake just to make sure it hasn’t stuck and transfer to a plate. Dust with powdered sugar, if you wish. Serve in 1-inch slices.
Do ahead: Leftovers keep for 3 days at room temperature, 1 week in the fridge. This cake freezes and defrosts nicely too; just wrap it tightly and defrost at room temperature a few hours before you want to eat it.
This recipe got some fresh photos (and notes, above) in 2023 but if you’re nostalgic for the 2008 top image, here you go:
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.
Can you use Greek yogurt?
I used low fat vanilla Greek yogurt and the cake was spectacular My blueberries were very large and despite flouring sunk to the bottom but still very yummy!!
Can you use sour cream for the yogurt?
Nancy
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! :-)
Hi Jessica:
This happened to me as well. It took forever to bake and it seems off. I don’t know. I will try another slice but it seemed gummy,
Mary P.
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.)
mine cracked as well, but i think it was because all the berries sunk to the bottom and made it too moist. how can i avoid that, was my batter too liquid?
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.
Oh my. I made this AGAIN last night with extra vanilla and 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Tastes soooo good anytime of the day!!!! Mmmmm.
Deb, Honestly, your pound cake recipe has fewer calories than this lemon-yogurt recipe — How can that be? Your pound cake recipe uses a full stick of butter, whereas this recipe uses 1/2 cup of vegetable or olive oil? Do you think it would be less calories/fat if I used low fat plain yogurt instead? Thanks….
Yes, I mentioned that the first time I posted about it. Just because it is yogurt doesn’t mean that it is “healthier,” it is a different kind of cake–more moist, a heavier crumb. Several people in the comments mentioned making it with low-fat yogurt and thought it turned out great–I am sure yours will too. Others have also said that they made it with a tablespoon or three less oil, and it also worked out well. It’s pretty hard to mess this cake up!
Thanks for your response. I will have to play around with the recipe. I think this is my favorite post of yours ;)
I love cranberries, so I used oranges and switched out the blues for crans cut in half, and a half cup of walnuts for texture. Its a wonderful recipe, Deb. Thank you so much for sharing. Today I’ll be making the chocolate wedding cake for my husband’s birthday tomorrow. Wish me luck.
Thank you SO much for this recipe! I made it today, and my boyfriend (who is coincidentally also named Alex) couldn’t stop eating it! I think he’s eaten half of it today. Lucky for him, I toned down the fat content a bit by using nonfat yogurt (that works in France). I also took your advice and used olive oil… it’s awesome!
My pictures of the cake are over at my blog if you want to check them out. Thanks again for the recipe!
I just wanted to add that I also made the cake. I’m curently experimenting with different citrus recipes. I used lime only, added juice of 1,5 in the batter and a lot of zest. Used 1/4 cup ev-olive oil and reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup. It turned out great, at first I had my doubts because the syrup (also with lime juice) was quite tangy to my taste, but after letting it sit for half a day it tasted delicious.
Hi all!
Just some more notes on this recipe: last night I doubled the recipe (using orange zest / juice and chocolate chips) and was able to split it up into 10 mini loaf’s.
I used a bag and a half of mini chips and slipt the batter equally into 10 of those aluminum mini loaf pans found at the supermarket (they come in sets of 5 each)
reduced cooking time to 30 minutes, rotating and flipping the pans once after the first 15 minutes. I followed the greasing-flouring-parchment paper directions, very important.
They are delicious and adorable! And still very moist!
I took this recipe and made cupcakes. I have a couple notes to share: 1) fill the cupcake liners almost full to the top. The batter doesn’t rise all that much, and halfway filled cupcake liners, like mine, look rather sad. 2) The cooking time will probably be about 20-22 minutes. Do the whole toothpick check thing. I took mine out when the toothpick was clean, but I think they could’ve used a smidge more time so they weren’t quite as soft.
They turned out super tasty, despite all of that. My fairly picky husband with the coat hanger body loved them.
I thought this recipe looked awesome, so I tried to adapt it so that my very health conscious dad could enjoy it, too! I replaced the eggs with Eggbeaters, the whole milk yogurt with non-fat organic and the oil with Smart Balance oil. It turned out very well, although my blueberries did sink a bit. Thanks! http://www.dinnercakes.com/2008/11/breaking-moms-rules-to-make-dad.html
I made this as per your recipe, but substituting a cup and a half of fresh cranberries for the blueberries. I know some people find fresh cranberries too tart but they were absolutely lovely in this – really cutting through the sweetness in the batter – and the scent of the cake whilst it was baking was just lovely.
I baked this last night and took it over to where my son was having a playdate. He and his two buddies came tearing up the stairs when I came in as they had been alerted to the arriving cake. His friend’s faces fell when they saw me with a loaf pan. R dejectedly said “It’s not a cake – there’s no icing” and asked if she could play with my silicone mitt. I replied to her it was a different kind of cake and maybe she could try it. Once all were installed at the counter with glasses of milk and slabs of warm cake they had been fully converted. Icingless cake – 1; Skeptical 6 year olds – 0.
Thanks so much for the recipe! I made it a few nights ago… words cannot explain the deliciousness of the cake.
Must make this! Would be perfect for my book club … where we don’t have too many bakers. Lemon is always a hit. Again, a perfect end of winter recipe. THANKS!!
Made this today to use up various leftover ingredients. Here’s what I changed:
-I used 1/4 c melted butter and 1/4 c olive oil, because I wanted to use up the half-stick of butter in my fridge.
-I subbed agave nectar and honey for the sugar in the loaf, because I’m almost out of sugar and don’t want to buy more before I leave for a 3-month stay in Greece. I had a bit less than 2/3 c agave left, so I filled the cup to a little less than 3/4 c with wildflower honey. Lemon and honey are a classic combo, right?
-I added 1/2 tsp of almond extract as well as the vanilla.
-To compensate for the added liquid from the agave/honey, I used 6oz of nonfat Greek yogurt instead of a full cup.
I baked it in a 9×5 pan because it’s the only loaf pan I have, and I lowered the temp to 325 because of the sweetener substitution — had to bake for about an hour before it looked properly browned. It’s a bit soggy right out of the oven; the blueberries definitely look much mushier than in your pic. I think next time I would add a few more tablespoons of flour to firm it up, or maybe subtract a couple tablespoons of oil, but it tastes great!
Another success! I tried this recipe with meyer lemons (and no blueberries) and it was tasty and had a nice color. I enjoyed it being a nice, fluffy, cake with a pleasant crumb. Mostly, I was just happy to not have to pull out (and wash) my mixer. My husband said as he was eating the first few bites that he feels like it needs a “crusty, sugary glaze” (which I guess is how the original Ina Garten version is written). Personally, I liked to indulge in just having the basic meyer lemon flavor, but I can see his point. Thanks as always for sharing.
Finally got around to making this on Wednesday (for work on Thursday)…only a year later…shaddup.
Why oh why did I put it off!? It was FANTASTIC. I cut down the amount of oil to 1/4 cup based on commenters’ suggestions and it was still perfectly fantastically moist. I also didn’t do the sugar/lemon syrup, since I knew I wanted to do a powdered sugar/lemon drippy glaze. And I didn’t thaw my mini blueberries, to no ill effect.
Took it to work with a loaf version of the chocolate stout cake, and they were eaten in precisely even measure–equally popular among my co-workers. Thanks for another awesome recipe, Deb!!!
This recipe is a delicious! I was looking for something that I could easily adapt to using coconut oil (my new favorite oil) and coconut palm sugar. I will be posting my adaption soon – it was delicious and just enough healthy ‘stuff’ for me to justify eating it for breakfast. Thank you for the awesome recipe – this will go in the make again file!
Mmmmmm I made this last night and it was deeeeelicious. I used half low-fat natural yoghurt and half creme-fraiche, because I had some of the latter hanging around. I upped the lemon zest count (you can’t have too much!) and added 1/3 cup of poppy seeds rather than blueberries. It was the first thing I’ve baked in my newly-acquired bundt pan (which, despite its protestations to the contrary, is NOT non-stick) – these pans are not really that common over here in the UK – most people stick to standard loaf-shaped and round/square cake tins – I for one, however, love the novelty value of the bundt pan, although this may wear off…I baked it for approx 60 mins and it sank a little when it came out, but no matter. It tastes amazing, and that’s what I’m interested in. I will add this to my regular repertoire – thanks Deb!
This recipe is one of my go-to yogurt cakes. It’s UNBELIEVABLY delicious. You’re just brilliant.
This is a lovely, light, delicious cake. My only variations were to use a quarter of a cup of olive oil and 2 cups of thinly sliced strawberries, and I used an 8-inch round baking pan. I also left out the extra tablespoon each of flour and sugar. I was too lazy and greedy to make the lemon juice drizzle but might do once I’ve finished my cup of coffee. Or I could just sprinkle some icing sugar on top, as the cake’s sugar content is understated (one of the reasons I like it so much). The strawberries sort of settled down in the bottom half of the cake, but that just gives the cake an attractive layer effect!
Hey! Thanks for this recipe. It was amazing. The only variation I made was to cut down sugar to 2/3 cup. It worked for my family because we’re not big on overly sweet stuff. But otherwise it was awesome!
Although I do advise one to keep it an hour or two before eating. I cut it 10 minutes after it came out and began eating it but was left a little disappointed. It was awesome yet not quite there. An hour later my mum came back home and called out for me shrieking that the cake was lovely. I played along, tried it when I went down and was very pleased to find it was a lot more settled and tasted sweeter than at first.
All in all, lovely recipe. I will next time try to cut down oil as some reviewers here have suggested. Thanks!
I just found your site and can’t wait to refer all my friends. The lemon blueberry cake that I made for Easter dinner was heavenly! My husband and I decided to try a variation the next time I make it…..sort of a southern thing I guess…..cherry limeade cake. I’ll let you know how it turns out. :)
Oh YUM. I made these as muffins and swapped a couple of things based on what I had in stock:
Vanilla nonfat yogurt, so I omitted the vanilla extract and used used only 2/3 cup of sugar
Added a few more blueberries
Used bottled lemon juice and no zest in the batter. I’m sure it would have been much lovelier with a twinge of zest but my husband was crying for blueberry muffins so I thought I’d give it a go with what I had. Shame on me for not having fresh lemons in the kitchen at all times. Oh well.
These turned out rather well though. The batter is super versitle. Thanks again, Deb!
I love this recipe! Made it couple of times and it’s a complete winner with friends. I made it again on Saturday for pot luck. I made Lemon and Poppy Seed this time. As I am on a diet (but still love to bake), therefore I made some reductions on the sugar and oil and it’s still taste fabulous. This batter is amazing and I love it!
– used low fat yoghurt instead of whole milk
– sugar used 3/4 cup
– oil, used olive oil 3/8 cup, slightly over 1/3
– vanilla, i had a vanilla pod at home so used 1/2 fresh vanilla pod instead of essence
Thanks again for such a great recipe!
I love to bake, but I’m also on weight watchers, so I’m trying to be a healthier baker. With that said, I took your recipe and tweaked it to fit my needs.
I created 6 jumbo muffins.
I made a puree of strawberry, lemon juice, and honey. Stirred it into 300g of 2% Fage greek yogurt. Added 1T canola oil, .5c brown sugar, 3 eggs, and 1t homemade vanilla (Ina’s recipe). Whisked all these things together.
In a “dry bowl” I mixed 1.5c ww pastry flour, .5c wheat bran, a handful of chopped lemon thyme, the zest of one lemon, 1t sea salt, 2t baking powder, a dash of cinnamon, and a dash of nutmeg. Whisked all these things together.
Gently stirred the wet into the dry until they were just incorporated, filled the muffin cups, sunk a whole strawberry into the center of each muffin, and baked them for 25 minutes somewhere between 350 and 375 (our oven is flaky).
they taste delicious, but didn’t really rise much. I might experiment with using baking soda instead of powder next time. And if I planned to serve them hot from the oven, I probably wouldn’t add the center strawberry–it burned my tongue!
overall i thought they were delicious and I appreciate your site giving me the inspiration–THANKS smitten kitchen!
My best friend Bec made this for girls night last night and we housed it – it was absolutely unbelievable – I will dream about my next one!
This was great. I even had to sub in cherry vanilla non-fat yogurt because I forgot to pick up plain. It is perfect with a sprinkle of confectioners sugar.
Made this tonight (it’s actually the third time) with half the (olive) oil AND about half the yogurt, as I’d found it too unctuous before; maybe it’s a little dry, now, but good. I used lemon and added a cup of shredded coconut (bought with unfulfilled macaroon ambitions at Passover; it’s cheap and light, so I’ve got a lot of it) and sliced almonds on top; glaze of lemon juice, Tia Maria and powdered sugar; baked in shallow tins (small round and just an inch in a loaf tin) for about 35 minutes. Thinking about the orange-chocolate variation the next time . . . .
I totally forgot to mention that I also used about half a cup of cornmeal instead of that portion of the flour, for additional textural interest and flavor, but that probably made it even drier.
But other than that it’s _exactly_ your recipe!
I know, I’m commenting here a year after you posted this recipe – but this is DELICIOUS! I made it as you wrote it here, but my mind is spinning with so many variations. Will definitely make again and again!
I’m beginning to look obsessed, right? But I made it again in an orange-chocolate variation and it was the best yet! I used just a little cornmeal for texture, a quarter cup of oil plus a big squeeze of orange to come to about a third of a cup of liquid, the full amount of (non-fat) yogurt, a smidge less sugar than you call for (mixed brown and white); mixed in a half-cup or so of chocolate chips; and baked in a cake tin, with a light sprinkling of slivered almonds, unsweetened coconut, and sugar on top. The chips were almost unnecessary (and they sank right to the bottom of this very wet batter and stuck a bit), but the cake was beautifully flavored and delightfully moist without seeming greasy or gooey.
Okay, I think I may be done. Three more: 1) lemon & frozen wild blueberries, square pan, a little cornmeal & brown sugar — very nice; 2) similar but in round tin & with a small peach cut up & sprinkled over the top, also excellent; 3) lime & coconut, no cornmeal this time, a little almond meal and a little walnut oil, in the oven now.
One of these days the weather will change to Summer and then it’ll be too hot to bake, so I might as well make the most of it now, right?
a recent “healthy” version i did, with sliced strawberries: http://jengoestocollege.blogspot.com/2009/06/while-back-i-posted-ina-gartens-lemon.html
Funny thing, I made this for the fourth of july this past weekend for company. Made it in a 8″ round pan, used 1/3 c. oil and it came out perfect. No cracking on the top, great color and shape. Able to remove it after 10 mins without falling apart. I was so pleased with myself. Previously I made this and it cracked and seemed too mushy in the middle. Great, I was ready to go.
Got to my destination and at dessert time, sliced it up and the slices looked like chessecake, kindof eggy like. I took a bite and instantly realized I forgot the sugar. It all came back to me… when I was mixing the wet ingredients, I intentionally thought about mixing all the wet and then adding in the sugar, but never did it. Totally forgot… So the company nicely ate the cake with lots of whipped cream. Ugh!!! How embaressing.
But to tell you the truth, it isn’t half bad for breakfast with some warm maple syrup and powdered sugar. It is much like an eggy custard bread. But having made it with the sugar before, I much prefer it that way. I think the sugar makes everything else taste better. I know you’d all agree.
So… lesson is, don’t forget the sugar. (Also, don’t rush so much)
Even after reading the comments, I did exactly the same thing as you, Lulu. The loaf is just out of the oven, so I don’t know if mine will be edible (breakfast… there’s an idea), but I’m kicking myself already.
My daughters and I have had so much fun with this recipe and all of the possilities. Now we have several beautiful mini loafs, and my question is, can these be frozen and defrosted to serve later?
I LOVE this recipe and have made it sooo many times, with so many additions and variations. I have to make a celebration cake for my grandparents’ 60th anniversary on Thursday, and have decided, after much umming and ahhing between this and your lighter-than-average pound cake, to use this as a base recipe. I will, however, be scaling it up to fit a 12″ square cake pan….does anyone have any idea at all where to start with quantities??! When I bake this in an 8″ square tin (rather than in a loaf tin) I normally add half again (i.e. 2 and 1/4 cups flour, 3 tsps baking powder etc) but I’m a bit flummoxed what to do for a 12″ square cake. I suspect the original recipe will need tripling, although how this will affect rising and baking times I do not know…as an aside, the chocolate cake in your “Project Wedding Cake; the cake is baked!” post is so ridiculously, beautifully flat that I could cry. I will be aiming for (but probably falling short of) similar flatness by dropping the cake on a flat surface before putting it in the oven and attempting to keep the heat down in my extremely temperamental Rayburn.
Any advice at all, from anyone, on quantities, would be very much appreciated!
I made a version of this last weekend with 1 cup of chocolate chips, 1/2 a cup of raspberries, and orange zest & juice — highly recommended flavor combination! I also used 1/3 c. oil and nonfat yogurt — might either use lowfat yogurt or decrease the baking time by ~5 minutes the next go around, ’cause the cake ended up a teensy bit on the dry side around the edges.
To the other Lauren right above me: Baking 911 has a good pan substitution chart here: http://www.baking911.com/pantry/substitutes_pansizes.htm Hope that helps!
WOW Laurenmonkey that is one comprehensive site!! My head hurts a little just from reading about the “conversion factors” but i’m sure it wll be useful – thank you so much!
Your chocolate chip/raspberry/orange zest verion sound delicious. I have had great success (i.e. a lot of compliments!) with a version I’ve done with raspberries/poppy seeds/lemon. Looking forward to blackberries in early autumn as I thought I might try adding them, maybewith white chocolate chips, or possibly a touch of brandy in the syrup instead – I will of course report back!
I’m slowly making my way through your recipes here. Found local blueberries for half price bc they were picked wet (so, smushy and hours away from spoiling) and thought I’d bake to use them up. It was, um, a disaster. A heaping pile of purple berry smush with a few spots of cake mixed in – ugh. Used lime instead of lemon and didn’t love the combo. Had to bake it forever. I know this was totally my fault bc of the extra juice in the berries…just wanted to share my experience!
Just made this yesterday and it turned out great! Thank you so much for this recipe.
Sorry to post again on the same recipe but I made this again, this time following it to a T, but using 200g of fresh raspberries instead of the blueberries. FABULOUS. Much nicer than my strawberry version (which wasn’t sufficiently sour for my tastes). I was asked to skip the lemon syrup though as the cake on its own with icing sugar scattered on top is just lovely.
Lemon and Rhubarb yummy! this cake looks like a sublime variation of the famous Lemon Drizzle cake so beloved of the Lemon Loving Fraternity.
As for me I make myself daily a large bowl of Lemon Yoghurt with half a pot (250g) of Greek Yoghurt and 2 lemons. I used to use one but the amount has inexorably crept up.
I am addicted and it is a brilliant way to incorporate 2 of your 5 a day and get a gigantic calcium boost.
Made this one last week for an event at a nursing home. I cut down on the zest and skipped the glaze at the end – the cake had just the perfect lemony twinge to it. I used blueberries from the market that I had thrown in the freezer, and cut down the oil (I used olive) to 1/3 cup. It was tasty and moist – the berries all sunk straight to the bottom, but the ladies raved about it anyway!
I made this recipe, but doubled it for a bundt cake.
But my cake, despite from smelling great, is extremely heavy and dense…as if I added liquid concrete to the batter. After some googling and I think I have discovered an explanantion. Your recipe calls for baking powder, but this seems incorrect; baking soda is the more appropriate ingredient and here’s why:
Baking soda is intended for batters that include buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream, molasses, honey, maple syrup, citrus, or other fresh fruit or fruit juice. (The majority of which are included in this cake!!)
When the baking soda makes contact with these acidic ingredients, the soda fosters a chemical reaction that produces carbon dioxide gas. This gas expands in the heat of the oven, creating bubbles…and the trapped bubbles create steam, which releases into the batter and makes the cake moist and light.
But the recipe called for baking powder, whic does not require an acidic ingredient to produce that much needed chemical reaction.
The result? A dense cake that never chemically reacted.
Now, I need to leave work and re-bake my cake with baking soda!
What was the result with baking soda?
I made this last night and it made for a delicious breakfast this morning!
I love the combination of lemon and blueberry and was thriled I finally got to try this recipe.
I also loved yesterday’s post about Lamb kabob’s. I have always marinated with oil, garlic and rosemary, but am going to give the yogurt marinad a try. It looks like a winner.
I am a long time reader and want to wish you and your husband well with the baby:)
Best wishes!
I did it with light olive oil, full-fat yogurt, poppy seeds, a few pecans and almond slices (could have used more of those last two), and a bit of grated fresh ginger. Husbeast pronounced it the best thing he has ever eaten. I actually wondered what he REALLY wanted, so fullsome was his praise!
Thanks!
ok I just clicked the surprise me button and was brought to this heavenly looking cake that I will for sure be adding to the mix for post Thanksgiving brunch. Am thinking I will try it with sour cherries that I have frozen from the farmers market as well as the lemon and blueberry version since I have a ton of frozen blueberries from the summer. I can’t wait to give this a shot and have learned that the surprise me button is awesome!
2nd try — That’s “beat”, not “bean” in the second graph of the recipe. (I guess the first time I changed it, it didn’t actually register stupidbadconnectivityargh.)
I made this today using orange instead of lemon, and included toasted walnuts. Reduced to 1/3 c. oil and 2/3 c. sugar. Cake was moist and flavorful. Loved it! Also, after I brushed on the orange-sugar glaze, I sprinkled it with sugar for a pretty finish. So lovely. Wonderful with tea.
A friend received a gift of backyard-picked lemons, oranges, tangerines and grapefruit mailed from her Florida boyfriend (we are in Michigan), and she in turn gifted me and so I had to make this cake. I used the zest from one orange and one freakishly large lemon, and used olive oil. I skipped the blueberries and threw in about a quarter cup of toasted pine nuts, used plain 2% homemade yogurt, and made the syrup with lemon and orange juice. Since I was leaving out the fruit I thought this might be a smallish loaf and so baked it in my smaller bundt pan. It nearly overflowed while baking, but settled nicely as it cooled. The cake baked perfectly in 40 minutes, was nice and golden on the outside and spectacularly moist on the inside. The flavor is intense enough (I used quite a bit of zest because I wanted it to be very citrusy) but not overwhelming–just bright and sunny. Thank you for such a lovely recipe and all the ideas. If we finish this cake by tomorrow I will try a grapefruit variation by the weekend!
I had to try this, to go with my current yoghurt obsession, so I made it today with grapefruit zest* and it’s lovely. Light yet moist and really satisfying. However, I don’t quite get the point of the ‘syrup’. I don’t think the cake really needs it. Maybe if it were thicker…
I can’t wait to try more variations. Orange with finely grated chocolate,instead of chips! I’m also excited about the lime-coconut combo – but does anyone have advice on how to administer the coconut? I’m afraid the grated stuff would interfere with the lovely texture….maybe some coconut oil?
*and a tiny bit of sour cream because I didn’t have full-fat yoghurt.
You could toast the coconut and grind it in with the flour. You could also swap a little bit of the yogurt with coconut milk.
just made this with tart wild blackberries………fantastic!!!!!!
Just made this (yes, at 4 am central), and it looks so amazing!
I made one loaf (2/3 of the batter) and divided the rest into 10 mini muffins. I wanted to experiment with the muffins so added various things, such as semi-sweet chocolate chips, almonds, dried cranberries, blueberries. In terms of the basic ingredients, I used half brown sugar/white sugar, went light on the olive oil, and after looking at the comments about baking powder/soda, ended up using both (3/4 powder, 1/4 soda) and my cake/muffins rose exactly to my desired height : D (3/4 in a mini muffin filled out).
This is my first time using the Meyer lemons and they are so heavenly in scent and color. I love them, and I love this recipe. Thanks so much!
Just made an orange walnut version – used 1 Cara Cara orange for both the zest and the juice, and toasted a 1/2 cup of walnuts and added – and it’s DELICIOUS. Super moist and filling. I think next time I’ll try a raspberry lemon pistachio version.. mmmm..
I made this with applesauce instead of oil, fat free yogurt and the Costco triple-berry mix. I also doubled the amount of Meyer lemon juice and poured the lemon/sugar mixture on while it was just out of the oven. The effect was wonderful. It made the cakes settle to half their height and they were both sweet and tart. Very moist and absolutely delicious.
Hi Deb! I just wanted to write that I had great success with this recipe. I went for the poppy seed version, folding in 1/3 cup of poppy seeds after folding in the oil (not sure if that is the right moment to add them but it worked!). The loaf was moist and delicious. Also, I skipped the lemon glaze to make it more of a breakfast loaf (ha!) and it still had plenty of lemon flavor. Thanks for a great description, all of your add-in/replacement ideas are really helpful for recipes like this!
I made this (with the blueberries) as cupcakes for a birthday because I have a bizarre affliction that involves putting quick breads in muffin pans. I glazed them then put your Swiss buttercream frosting on top. That was the first time I made swiss buttercream, it was a near disaster, but it turned out delicious. Moist lemony cake with buttery rich frosting. Thanks Deb!
Curious to know how this cake holds up after it is made — per Deb’s suggestion I was thinking of making it and sending it my brother who is taking the MCAT next week. But will it arrive moldy/ it is so moist it requires refrigeration?
I made a version of this with olive oil instead of vegetable oil and replaced all of the sugar with honey and used nonfat plain Greek . The baking time was quite long and the loaf got a little more golden than I would have wanted but the loaf smells quite good and I can’t wait to take a slice of it.
I’ve now made this cake 3 times (First – just like you did, second with poppy seeds instead of berries). This time it came out so well I had to share…I made it late last night and my pantry wasn’t well stocked in the flour dept. But I had set my mind to making this and only having whole wheat flour wasn’t gonna stop me. So I only used whole wheat flour – and it’s great! I increased the lemon zest to 1 tbsp to help balance the grassy whole wheat flavor and I used poppy seeds instead of blueberries. I made it in cupcake form to more easily share with co-workers and when I pulled out the cupcake liners I found my lavender and sprinkled it on top – SO good – and pretty! I did decrease the oil to 1/3 cup – the cake seems drier than before – but probably because of the whole wheat flour…am anxious to try with olive oil now!
Just made this with a few of the suggested swapouts: 1c mixed blueberries and blackberries because that’s all I had, 2 Tbls poppy seeds, vanilla sugar because I had some and had never used it and greek yogurt. Instead of making the lemon syrup, I am using Limoncello! I will serve slices with berries macerated in limoncello!
I just discovered your blog recently and just love your recipes and the layout.
I have two loaves of this in the oven right now to take to work tomorrow. I made it for Easter brunch and everyone loved it. I cut the oil down to 1/3 cup and used low fat yogurt.The cake is still moist and luscious. Instead of taking the cake out of the pan to baste with the lemon sugar I poked holes in the top and poured it over while still in the pan, this way the sides and bottom get to absorbed the syrup too. Thanks again!
So I am just making this now, and tasted the batter as I am cleaning up, and this is incredibly bitter. I am not sure what I did wrong, and I am hoping that the cake itself will taste better as it bakes, but I am sad! This recipe looked so good!
Just a warning, don’t pour the lemon sugar-mixture over the cake before you get it out of the pan. I ruined my loaf this way. I’ve made this loaf twice now and its delicious, will be making it a third time!
Just made this with 1/2 c. rum instead of lemon and blueberries, and then topped it with your strawberry coulis from another recipe. I also used 2% greek yogurt because I had it in the fridge. Delicious. I had no idea how much rum to put into it, and it just so happened that 1/2 c. was left in the bottle, so in it went. Not too strong for me, but I like a distinct rum flavor if I’m making a rum cake. I wonder how the rum flavor would be affected if I did a rum glaze instead of putting it all into the cake? In any case, my non-dessert-eating husband just finished off a whole big piece. I can’t wait to try this with other flavor combinations. Deb, your blog has put such a spring into my recipe collection. I keep finding new things to try. (p.s. love the shakshuka. yum.) Thanks!!
I made this last night and it was so incredibly delicious! I used regular lemons, and changed the vegetable oil to olive oil (all i had on hand), and Fage Total Greek Yogurt. It was incredibly moist and super delicious! I ended up pouring the lemon-sugar mixture right into the pan while it was still warm (after I poked a bunch of holes) and everything turned out fine. I will totally make this again and again!!
Made this for my Mother-in-law this weekend, and got rave reviews. I like that it is moist, but tonight I think I am going to try it with less oil and yogurt :) thanks for the delicious and bEaUtIfUL treat!
I made this last night and it looks amazing! My mother said it tasted that way too! But just one question, if I’m making it ahead how should it be stored? Should I refrigerate it or just leave it out covered?
Dahlia — You can keep it at room temperature.
I have made the cake several times but I tried a couple of variations this summer and ended up with a strawberry lemonade version that turned out beautifully. The full recipe is over here at our site: http://theroadforks.com/recipearchives/strawberry_lemonade_yogurt_cake
I split the cake batter into two and substituted most of the yogurt in one half with strawberry puree and swirled the two batters together. I also used fat free yogurt and white whole wheat flour to make it a bit healthier. It takes a little more effort than the original recipe but is so worth it. Deb, thanks so much for featuring this recipe! It’s become one of my favorite “play with” recipes.
nice recipe! I was wondering if you have any recommendations for me to make this in a regular 9×13 baking pan? How much batter should I pour into the pan, in that case?
All Recipes has a great resource for pan size conversions.
Just a thought – what about using a citrus based liquer to brush on as the final step (of course with a little sweet dissolved in it before brushing it onto the cake)?
okay, this is my first post…but I don’t think my last. I have been working my way through the recipes here. Particularly the everyday cakes. I made this last night with olive oil and whole greek yogurt. I subbed the blueberries for fresh blackberries, raspberries and strawberries. *sigh* Its soooo good. Thankyou Deb for making dh and co-workers so very happy. :)
I made this with blueberries–so yummy! I did end up cooking it for a bit longer, but my rental oven leaves a little to be desired… I’m going to have to try a new version next time!
Hello! I attempted this cake yesterday and it turned out great! Almost… It was a little tough around the edges and especially on the bottom. I cooked it for over an hour before the center was cooked. I am inexperienced with baking so I am not sure whether I should turn down the heat and cook it for even longer or turn up the heat. Any suggestions?
In spite of the minor kink, the flavor of the cake is WONDERFUL and I can’t wait to try it again! Thank you so much for you site Deb!
Hi Deb!
I just wanted to let you know that I have tried a variation on this one. Instead of 1.5 cups of blueberries (which I didn’t have), I used 1.5 cups (approximately, it may have been a little less) of your rhubarb vanilla compote. I also used olive oil. Then, I topped it with about an inch of streusel. Let me tell you, it is divine. Divine! The streusel gives it a great crunch.
I would like to try a version with dates and olive oil. Fortunately, my pantry has both… So I’ll be back with an update on that next week.
Thank you for the recipe.
Here are the changes I made, mostly because I ate all the blueberries in my house and terrible ability to follow instruction. But that’s another story. Here goes.
Instead of berries, I used pears (packham and bosc chopped up into tiny cubes).
I increased the amount of lemon juice to 1/2 cup (one and a half lemons). Also, rather than saving the lemon juice for the end, I mixed the lemon juice in with the other wet ingredients (zest, yogurt, etc.)…which was accidental.
I was going to use only 1/2 cup of sugar, but for some odd reason, I kept thinking half to myself and used 1/4 of sugar in my cake.
Nevertheless, cake turned out well. Not very sweet, but faintly so. Moist and a bit on the more lemony side, but I love lemon (one of my favorite smells, especially the zest). So, win win. More for me.
That said, and comparing the lime yogurt cake with blackberry sauce, I prefer the lime yogurt cake. [http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/04/lime-yogurt-cake-with-blackberry-sauce/]
Thanks again.
OMG, OMG, OMG – I am beside myself with excitement. Found your site quite by accident yesterday – I am now addicted – can not stop viewing and printing out your recipes. Haven’t tried any yet (as it was just yesterday I found you) but won’t be able to say the same after this weekend. Found you when I googled raspberry yogurt cake – can not wait to make that and this lemon yogurt anything cake. Thank you!!!
What a cake! Absolutely top class recipe. I tried it with almond essence instead of vanilla, and added 100g of white chocolate- must say the results were stunning. I also attribute a good part of the deliciousness of the cake I made to the top quality whole milk yoghurt I got at our local middle Eastern store. Also, I used sunflower oil, and unbleached caster sugar. As I said, stunning results- possibly the best cake I’ve ever tasted. And one of the easiest! My only negative comment is that this definitely makes too much batter for that size of loaf tin- and would have even without the extra white chocolate I added. I was kicking myself for not having a cupcake tin- I’ve just moved house and still haven’t gotten all my baking supplies on hand!
I just made love to this cake (in muffin format).
My husband was jealous at first, but then he tried one.
WOW. That was the only blueberry baked good I’ve ever eaten that I thought actually did justice to my all-time favourite fruit.
Oh my goodness. This cake is so delicious. I didn’t make any alterations this time, but I think strawberries/maybe pomegranate for the citrus would be delicious. I have had four people say it’s the moistest cake they’ve ever had. One of my friends, a real foodie, tells me the cake is dry, but I think there might be something wrong with him. Personally, I think I have a slice for every slice I give out, meaning I’ve eaten half a cake in a two days. Muffin form sounds interesting.
Deb, I’ve been reading your site for a few months. I’m a self-proclaimed chef and was going through such a busy time I was living vicariously through your food adventures.
I just made this last night and was very disappointed. I found the lemon to be way too subtle and the muffins were rubbery and slightly tough in texture. I followed the recipe to a T though (except for making them into muffins) so I am not sure what went wrong. This was my 2nd blueberry baked recipe from this site and both were not tasty according to my tastes.
I have loved many other things I’ve made from Smitten Kitchen (chili, plum cake, etc.) though and will continue to come back!
My meyer lemon cranberry cake just came out of the oven. It looks and smells DELICIOUS! The crumbs are also outstanding :)–lots of lemon and cranberry flavor with a nice sweet hit from the syrup. The 1.5 cups of fresh cranberries I added to the cake now look like little rubies poking through the top. I am tempted to try the thin cake idea next time for a more elegant presentation. Thanks a million as always for a great recipe!
Delicious-ity! Made this lovely lemon cake this morning with regular lemons and no blueberries. It was still so tasty and moist. Love the tart lemon topping, though I did add in twice as much sugar as called for and it was still plenty tart.
Yummmmm! My 5 year old and I made lemon-mixed berry muffins and I had to hide them from myself. The glazing is a must. Thanks for the great recipe!
I’ve made Ina’s version before, but this blueberry/lemon version was way better. Next time, I’m going to try Morello cherries with almond essence and orange juice and see how that comes out. Then maybe I’ll try raspberries and then blackberries and then choc/orange…… so many cakes to make and eat!
I found this recipe a while ago because we had plain yogurt in the fridge left over from making some sauce for falafel, and we weren’t sure what to do with it. I made it last night at 11pm (I’m an astronomer; I keep pretty late hours). It came out of the oven at around 12:30am and by 12:35 it was half gone. There are only two of us in the house, but it didn’t matter, because this recipe is ridiculously delicious.
Our modifications: we used blueberries and eggs from the farmer’s market. They were exquisite, though it certainly cost me to sacrifice 3 of those beautiful orange yolks. Also we had a lot of whole wheat flour so we used that. And finally, I made more of a lemon syrup by beating as much powdered sugar into the lemon juice as it could hold.
There’s something truly fantastic about the blueberry and lemon combination, and this turned out wonderful. Thanks!
I stumbled across this recipe while searching for a way to use a precious Meyer lemon that was hanging ripe & plump from the much-coddled tree in my living room. I must have read 1000 recipes to find one worthy of such a perfect specimen.
I’ll mention here that I hate to bake. Unlike cooking, baking typically requires a certain scientific method, the accuracy & patience for which I don’t possess. But as it turns out, this recipe is completely foolproof, because I was a complete fool.
I neglected to ensure that I had all of the ingredients before zesting my perfect sweet-sour citrus globe and decided that I would figure out how to make this work anyway. I also had a notion that I would be able to make this a healthy, fruity dessert that would actually taste good. Big hopes for as novice a baker as myself, I know.
But again- foolproof. Here are the changes I made:
1 cup flour, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (will use more whole wheat now that I know it works!)
TINY PINCH kosher salt (will leave this out entirely next time- not needed.)
1 1/4 cups plain fat free Greek yogurt
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg white (simply hadn’t noticed that we only had 2 eggs left!)
Zest of 1 big lemon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons skim milk (had to thin it somehow, since there were only 1 1/2 large eggs & Greek yogurt!)
1/4 cup olive oil (light, not extra virgin)
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 diced mango (just had it to use up & love mango, so I thought, “why the heck not?”)
The “batter” was more like dough, it was so thick, but I spooned it into paper-lined muffin tins & baked for 40 minutes. The “glaze” was more like sweet/tart lemon juice but I think it’s imperative if you really want the Meyer lemon experience. I poked holes with my cake tester & painted it on heavily.
THEY WERE AWESOME. My husband remarked “Howee muvruv prl!”, which is what “Holy mother of pearl!” sounds like with a large bite of lemon-mango-blueberry-yogurt muffin stuffed in one’s mouth. There’s a LOT of fruit- I wasn’t sure they would even set up there’s so much, so I’d probably cut back a little next time, but they set up just fine & are so much fruity deliciousness!)
I’m saving this & may even post my version (proper credit given of course) onto my own blogsite, which isn’t really even ABOUT food… they were that good.
Thank you!
I love this cake and I’ve made it several times since I ran across the recipe, but to mix things up a bit tonight, I baked the cake (skipping the blueberries in favour of the canned spiced pears I put up last summer) in an 8×8 square pan. Delicious!
Hi, Deb. I’m planning on making this for brunch with a friend. Have you ever tried mixing lavendar in the batter? I had a great lemon cake with a hint of lavendar a few years ago and think about it occasionally when I see a recipe like this.
I haven’t. It’s not my favorite flavor, but see no reason why it could not be incorporated.
I was about to make the blood orange olive oil cake, swapping the oranges with lemons, but then I remembered this recipe. I used regular lemons, large eggs, all olive oil, 0% Greek yogurt, and cut back a bit on the sugar in the lemon-sugar mixture since I like a tart lemon flavor. It’s in the oven now and smelling awesome. Thanks!
I made it whith straberries cut into small pieces instead of the blueberries, I´m having some trouble not eating another piece right now, i just ate two slices and it´s been out of the oven for less than 20 minutes!!! help!
I made this cake for my Mum’s birthday and I think it is my new favorite cake!! I used greek yogurt and all organic ingredients including eggs from my very spoiled chookies and it turned out SOO beautiful. Everyone in my family was impressed (apart from my 4 year old who returned from school and informed me this was NOT a birthday cake – apparently they do not come in loaf tin forms, but rather cupcakes or round cakes that can be decorated with brightly coloured sugary things. So we made your mini chocolate yogurt cakes too!) Then i took the remainder to work and everyone was promptly directed to your amazing site after they requested the recipe. Thank you once again for a fantastic recipe!
Excellent cake – I cooked it with my niece last week and today I’m going to make it with strawberries. The only thing I would say is that the lemon drizzle that you spoon on makes your mouth go crazy so my niece spat it straight out – Good for adults though!
I love this website
I’ve had this beauty bookmarked far too long. I finally gathered the ingredients to bake it today…. only to have my toddler “helper” eat all the full-fat yogurt before it made it into the mixing bowl! I resorted to non-fat Greek yogurt we always have on hand. Before I could digest the lack of fat in an Ina-inspired recipe, my little one dumped the lemon juice in the batter! Alas. The cake would be glazeless. Despite our “adjustments,” the flavor of this cake was superb! I look forward to making it again – the way the recipe was written. Thanks for sharing your lovely recipes.
just tried this recipe with olive oil and it is soo good. not too sweet, which is important for those of us with asian parents, relatives, etc.
Just made it with orange, olive oil and pine nuts. A little rosemary would be great next time!
this recipe was fantastic; and the 12 muffins/cupcakes disappeared within minutes from eager friends and family. i used a 0% fat greek yogurt and the 1/2 cup oil as written in a wonderful batch of the classic lemon and blueberry. we can’t wait to try more variations!
Delicious! I used extra lemon zest and raspberries, the most refreshing thing I have eaten in a long time.
Delicious!
On a side note, did you know that the Chobani yogurt website used your picture of this cake to advertise a recipe using their yogurt? I saw the picture and immediately recognized it, and wanted to inform you just in case you didn’t already know. I checked several times and it’s the SAME EXACT PICTURE (the top photo of this post) complete with powdered sugar topping and white plate. Just thought you should be informed if you weren’t already. :)
Katie — No idea, totally uncool! Thanks for letting me know.
this is a lovely-smelling cake. and i almost ate all of the batter when i tasted it. i substituted orange in equal amounts for the lemon, left out the blueberries, and added toasted walnuts. i’m not sure yet how it will taste… but i can’t wait, based on the scent wafting from the kitchen!
Hey Deb, I made this cake the other day and substituted the blueberries with pecans instead and it was really good, that I kept half a loaf for myself and refused to share it with anyone else!
I made this cake on Saturday for a lunch I was hosting. It was a huge hit. I used non-fat Vanilla yogurt (I use Wallaby brand which is very thin/runny) and 1/4c of olive oil. The cake was incredibly moist but not fudgy. I didn’t use the syrup at the end, after reading a bunch of the posts. Instead I made a lemon marscapone frosting that I found on foodandwine.com It was ridiculously simple and delicious. Thank you for the recipe. It was so good that one of the guests when to cake before lunch.
I made this cake twice this weekend to bring to a family Easter party, both with the lemon & blueberry combo. Both with Greek yogurt. The first time used frozen blueberries because the lame grocery store didn’t have fresh ones. About 20 minutes into baking, I realized I forgot to add the oil! Husband offered to go back out for more yogurt and lemons, and he also brought home fresh blueberries, so cake #2 was made properly.
Cake #1 was Very Good. Cake #2 was Outstanding!
For anyone who wants/needs to omit or reduce the oil, you will still have good results.
If anyone reading this tried a lime/coconut version, would you please post your results and suggestions? Thanks!
I also made this cake twice this weekend!!! I made one with lemon and raspberries for Easter, and then, because I couldn’t get the first comment about a lime and coconut version out of my head, I made that one too!!
Jenny K., the lime/dried coconut version was delicious…I was afraid that it wouldn’t be moist enough, but it was this great fluffy consistancy…and a huge hit at the office :) It’s an awesome summer combination!!! I would totally recommend it (I plan to make both again :)).
Adrienne, thanks so much for your post! I can’t get the lime/coconut combination out of my mind either. Think I’ll try it this weekend! Did you use sweetened or unsweetened coconut?
Made this with just blueberries (no lemons around the place) and low fat yogurt (cause I ordered the wrong yogurt for baby on the shop) and I’m not sure how it tastes cooked yet but OMG it’s amazing in batter form :p hehe… lucky it made it into the tin.
Jenny K, I made mine with sweetened coconut, but I’m sure it would taste delicious with either :) Did you make it this past weekend? If you did, which did you use?
I doubled this to make a bundt cake and it’s in the oven right now – looks and smells delicious!
I just made a version with olive oil and sour cream. Silky, bright and wonderful! http://ladystiles.blogspot.com/2011/05/silky-lemon-olive-oil-cake.html
can this cake be made into a layer cake? or will it be too heavy?
You are an amazing food genius! So much so, that it appears people are submitting your recipes as their own to other sites?!? http://www.chobani.com/kitchen/detail/id/16
You’re a constant inspiration.
Stephanie — Aargh. I sent a DMCA Takedown Notice to their host last month and they’ve done nothing. Utterly ridiculous blatant content theft. Nobody buy Chobani! (I’m done ranting now.)
Hi, Deb…Made this last weekend and it is awesome! Instead of using an additional amount of flours to coat the blueberries, I just tossed them lightly in the dry ingredients before mixing in the wet. No sinkers! :0)
Thanx again for a great recipe. Oh, and there is another person using your photo above here:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/61707092/2-large-loaves-of-lemon-blueberry-bread?ref=hp_tt_yt
Monica
Just wanted you to know that I sent Chobani an email and let them know that I won’t be purchasing their products anymore since they think it’s alright to steal your photo. Not the kind of company I want to support.
Thanks, Mary! Unfortunately, once they ignore a DMCA, the only thing left to do to get your work back is to send a Cease and Desist and then start litigation. Uh, obviously this (and there are many other like this) is not something I wish to pay lawyers a gazillion dollars to take care of. I’ll settle for knowing it’s giving them bad press.
Yuuuuuuuuuuum, thanks Deb. I have only just discovered you and your wonderful story telling, in words and meals. I am tucked up inside on a sunny but crisply cold Australian wintry day and have been reading your archives and smiling and plotting over your recipes and just had to take a break to make a variation of this (a kind of jaffa style muffin with an orange from my tree and choc chips. Mmmmm. Have also bought ingredients for the famous white bean dip and plan to make that tomorrow. Thanks for letting me into your world.
I believe this recipe will cover a variety of baking days for me. Gluten free, of course, and otherwise adapted.
Latest notes read: I rarely buy Chobani, and will stick with my new love: Yoplait!
Hey Deb,
I just wanted to let you know that we received Mary’s email and are so glad that we did. We’re huge fans of your blog and would never, ever try to credit your work as our own. We appreciate Mary bringing this to our attention, and have removed the image. I’m not sure where you sent your takedown notice, but I can assure you that Mary’s email was the first we had heard of this issue. Please let me know if there’s anything else I can do.
Sincerely,
Emily, Chobani
I followed your recipe exactly, but used three mini-loaf pans instead of one regular pan. It. Is. Fantastic! Thank you!
Of course, now I have three loaves and nothing to do with them. :) Can I freeze them, or will defrosting the bread dry it out?
I made this today, and it was delicious! You earlier addressed a concern about the blueberries sinking but mine all rose to the top! It was still lovely and moist inside but it would be better if the blueberries were evenly distributed, like yours! What do you think causes this? I live in a really humid climate, could that be it somehow?
Always enjoy your crisp, pretty recipes!
Yum yum yum. Made a double batch a couple of days back. One with blueberries as per your recipe and the other with raspberries. Both gorgeous!!!!! I think the lemon syrup on top is really what takes this cake from lovely to total yumminess.
So yummy!! I made it with olive oil and baked it in a 9-inch round cake pan. Delightful!
We’ve enjoyed several iterations of this cake over the years with whatever produce is overflowing our garden – tonight’s is blackberry lime, and in my humble opinion, it’s sinfully good. I’ve made this cake so many times, but I still have ideas for more variations… This recipe is definitely one to hand down to the grandkids (wow, I feel old just thinking about that). Thanks for yet another SK treasure, Deb!
I just made this cake last night and it’s absolutely delicious. I brought leftovers to work and everyone loved it. Thank you! I also had a question about the end directions:
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.
–When I flipped the cake out onto a cooling rack it was upside down, so I struggled with flipping it back over to poke tiny holes into the top to add the lemon/sugar. Was I suppose to leave it upside down and poke holes through the bottom instead?
Oh, how I love this cake! Last time, I made it with the blueberries but I think using gluten free flour (Bob’s Red Mill all purpose–works great in this recipe) caused the berries to sink. It was still delish and incredibly moist, but left me with a mushy blueberry mess at the bottom. Today I tried it without the blueberries and used poppyseeds instead. I also subbed over a teaspoon of almond extract for the vanilla, the juice of 1 lemon, and used honey greek yogurt. It browned a little more on the bottom without the blueberries. Hopefully this sticks around for more than a day this time…
i made a “pear” version of this today! http://theactorsdiet.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/pear-yogurt-bread/
I used Chobani greek yogurt with peaches and some frozen mixed berries. I also mixed a little lemon juice with fresh squeezed sweet Texas oranges, which made the glaze delicious! This little cake was a piece of Heaven.
I just tried making this with blackberries and lemon tonight. It was a spectacular failure. The stick was completely clean when I pulled it out of the oven, and every time I poked it to let the lemon soak in, but when I flipped it out of the baking dish it was completely raw in the center. Like fell apart and oozed everywhere. I’m not really sure what went wrong, everything seemed perfect-golden top, clean toothpick…..and then straight up batter in the center.
this is coming out of the oven right now…can’t wait
I was out of plain yogurt, but I did have some leftover pineapple cinnamon yogurt I had made before… which turned out perfectly! Since the yogurt was already flavored and sweetened, I cut the sugar in half. and MMMHMMM is it yummy!
Thanks for the inspiration!!
Such a good cake! This time I made it with a cara cara orange, blackberries cut in half, olive oil, whole goat yogurt, .5 c whole spelt flour, 1 egg + 2 flax seed/arrowroot powder egg substitutes, sugar reduced by 25%, no glaze. Rich without being too sweet, excellent crumb in a dense but not rubbery texture.
I wonder if it would work with heavy coconut cream sub’d for yogurt?
I made this yesterday evening (choosing to go the lemon and poppyseed route) and it is amazing! My boyfriend and I have seriously had to police ourselves in order not to finish the whole thing today. Yum!
I made your Lemon – raspberry muffins, substituting cranberries for the raspberries. This recipe reminds me of that – delicious and intense! How awesome would it be with that flavor as well?
I regularly make this cake – it is perfect. Today I made it into muffins, with almond extract instead of vanilla, with poppyseeds, and with toasted almond flakes on top. NOTE: I decided to brush the tops of the muffins with the lemon/sugar syrup, and I regret it. That syrup is (meant to be) very tart, and it overwhelms the delicate almond lemon flavor of the muffin itself. Still good, but would have been better without the syrup.
These kinds of have grown wonderful ever again routines by which enables us to relax any back bone and as well sleep correctly without the past experiences with regards to stress with your yet again.
I love this recipe. Makes ridiculously moist cakes! Adding raspberries into the batter and swapping the yogurt for lemon flavored mixed with some mixed berry flavored yogurt (I didn’t have enough lemon yogurt) made it even more awesome!
HELP!!
Hello I am a novice baker and I tried this recipe, but i was sadly disappointed. I don’t know what i did wrong…I followed the recipe to a TEE!! Yet the inside of the cake wasn’t cooked at all. Around it, the bottom and the sides and top were cooked, but the insides were a runny mess.
I used 1 1/2 cups of frozen blue berries. Could that be problem? Is there maybe too much water in frozen fruit? Should I have gone with fresh blue berries?
I also checked the temperature of my oven, and thats not it.
This looks so good, and everyone else seems to have no problem with this recipe so Im trying this again this weekend….Any advice?
Thanks in advance :)
So sorry that you had trouble. The frozen ones do have extra liquid, but it would usually require extra baking time. Did your tester come out clean? If the tester came out clean, it should have been done.
For those of you who are curious, I have made this with non-fat yogurt and 1/4-1/3 cup oil and it was still delicious if you are looking for ways to lighten up. I have also made a blood orange version which looked really pretty. Next up: poppy seeds itching to be used!
Almond Joy Version. Add 1 1/2 Cup toasted coconut,, almond extract for vanilla, 1/2 cup chocolate chips, and top with a chocolate glaze.
Accidentally added the lemon juice directly to the batter. Very lemony! I think it may have affected the texture somewhat, but no one complained. We left out the berries.
I was wondering about mixing the batter. Do you gently stir like a muffin batter or mix well like a typical cake? I aimed for something in between.
I just made it with a big Meyer lemon and some fresh strawberries. Wow!!
I made this yesterday with no juice or zest, subbed almond essence for the vanilla (and doubled the amount) with dried cherries and chocolate chips. OH MY! Very, very good.
Deb, if using poppy seeds, would you recommend soaking them, or is it all right to just add them straight to the batter? Thanks!
Just made this with half coconut oil/half canola oil and adding 1/3 cup poppy seeds like you suggested. Se delicious and easy. Came out to 20 medium muffins. Oh, and I used Greek Yogurt plus milk because I didn’t have regular yogurt at home. Can’t wait to try other versions… like with the blueberries. One question for you: The muffins stuck a lot to their little paper cups. Anything I can do to help that somehow? It doesn’t seem to happen with every dough.
I just made this with orange zest + semisweet chocolate chips…DIVINE!
Things I did differently than the original recipe:
1. Bake at 350 for 75 min.
2. Used non-fat plan yogurt
3. Made orange syrup a bit thicker, poked holes in cake with a fork and drizzled it in.
4. After cooling it by placing in the fridge a bit, it felt moist, almost too moist for me. So I stuck it in the oven at 275 for 30 min, with the fan on as to “air out” the excessive moisture…I don’t know if that’s a standard technique but I did it anyways and now it has the right moisture content :)
This one’s definitely, definitely a keeper…Thank you so much!
This looks delicious, and I plan to make it soon. Also, I just thought I’d let you know that one of your pictures is on pintrest but not linked to your site. I found you by googling “yogurt anything cake”. Just thought I’d you know.
Made this as muffins this morning for my daughters birthday. I did just the lemon and blueberry (since I was specifically looking for lemon and blueberry with yogurt). I omitted the glaze since they were sweet enough. I had less than 1/4 cup of oil, so I used part vegetable oil, part coconut oil, and part melted, cooled butter. I also used turbinado sugar, and cut back slightly on the 1 cup called for. They were deliciously moist and yummy. The best part is that I had enough to wrap up and stick in the freezer for the kiddos to grab in the mornings if they like. Thanks!
Made this cake for my B&B guests. Followed the recipe exactly, the batter tasted excellent and the cake is in the oven so I’m sure it will be outstanding, as everyone else notes. Thank you Deb for another fabulous recipe!
I love the combination of lemon and blueberries and this pound cake hit the spot! Everyone else in my family loved it too. I substituted the whole milk yogurt with non-fat and it turned out just fine. So glad I came across this!
I accidentally brought home a big tub of maple flavored yogurt instead of plain… It was near expiration, so I dusted off this recipe, swapped out some flour for whole grain, some of the sugar for maple syrup, plopped it all in muffin tins, sprinkled the tops with my favorite granola, and voila- delicious maple breakfast muffins. Anything cake, indeed.
Do you have to use the lemon sugar mixture in this?
this is my favorite cake to make! my husband loves it. i have made it previously with lemon and blueberries and also lemon and chocolate chips and both times it was moist and delicious. tonight i decided to do an orange and chocolate chip variety AND reduce the oil to 1/4 cup as some suggested. for some reason the batter seemed a lot smaller and thicker. i couldn’t figure it out and just baked it anyway. it came out beautifully fragrant and perfectly moist, though a lot smaller and slightly more dense than before (though not that much). we each ate a piece and declared it was our favorite version yet. and then suddenly i remembered that i had FORGOTTEN THE EGGS. that’s right, not a single egg went in. i just am amazed at how foolproof this recipe is. you can do so many substitutions AND forget ingredients and it still comes out delicious, though i can’t wait to try the same version with eggs next time!
Thank you for this recipe I bake it almost every other day 1/2 of the recipe we love it and its so easy to make:)
I just got 10 lbs of blueberries from my csa, and this was the first thing I made! If I make it in the evening, what’s the best way to cool it over night? Fridge or counter, wrapped or unwrapped?
I let it cool about 20 minutes, then loosely wrapped it in plastic, then put it in the cake carrier to further protect it. But I’m hoping the condensation doesn’t cause problems.
this cake is absolutely delicious and kind of healthy! however, it took me a lot longer than 50 min and I would recommend not using all the batter because the first time I made the cake it spilled in my oven!
First of all, I love your site! And I love all things Ina Garten so I’m excited to bake this cake tonight for a July 4th picnic tomorrow. I think I am going to use a mixture of fresh blueberries and strawberries and see how it works out. I think both will pair very well with the lemon in the background!
This looks Wonderful, I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind! I was only able to find Meyer Lemons and actually that is how I found you. I live on the Texas Border , and we are really ingredient deprived. The thing is, I didn’t really care for Meyer Lemons at all, Crazy??!! I will be trying this cake with regular lemons an I’m sure it will be fantastic. thank you for the inspiration.
I had the same problem as Jenna and several others: baked for more than 50 minutes, until the tester came out clean. Mine had enough of an outer crust that it even held together when flipped out to cool and then rolled back to be glazed. The first two thin slices cut off tasted great, despite being a little short on blueberries. I discovered the blueberries had mostly gone to the center, which was raw batter oozing out from a surrounding baked cake. I scooped out the raw middle, which was about 2/3 of the cake.
Thoughts: I used frozen blueberries. Has everyone who’s had this problem also used frozen?
I coated them perhaps too thorough with flour in hopes of keeping them from sinking. That may have caused them to clot together in the center, thereby keeping it too moist to cook.
Or this is a judgment on me for baking instead of studying when I’m 36 hours away from the bar exam.
PG – I had problems with my cake not completely baking as well. But I used fresh berries. I cooked mine for over 55 minutes. I was afraid of over baking it, so I took it out with an almost clean tester since it’d been in well over 50 minutes. I did not have the problem of my berries going to the center though.
Although it was under-baked it was DELICIOUS! Can’t wait to make it again (and bake it a bit longer)! I’m about to recommend this recipe to a friend who just asked me for dessert suggestions. I think this is just delightful for summer!
Hannah, thanks for your comment. Did you use fat free yogurt? That’s the only way in which I diverged from the ingredient list. The parts of the cake that did bake were delicious so I don’t think whole fat was necessary, but maybe that makes a difference in the thickness of batter and thus how the cake cooks through.
I’ve browsed your blog a couple times but have never actually made any of your recipes until yesterday. I baked up a lemon blueberry loaf according to your recipe here and WOW! I brought it to my husband family reunion, and no one could keep their hands off it. I did tweak the recipe a bit using whole wheat flour than regular. The fresh picked blueberries I added worked beautifully and were the sweetest I’ve ever tasted! This will most certainly be one of my go-to’s for now on when a need a moist and delicious loaf cake! I can’t wait to try your other recipes on here! ;)
Made this using grapeseed oil instead, and it turned out great! I am not a big fan of vegetable oil for baking, I find I can always taste it, whereas I find grapeseed oil has a more buttery flavour. I will try cutting down the oil to 1/3 cup next time as others suggested, it’s so moist, i don’t think it would impact it much! Thanks for this great recipe.
I just wanted to toss my .02 into the ring – I made this today in cupcake form. Regular lemons, tiny, wild blueberries which were (mostly) thawed before baking for 22 minutes. I also tried half with chopped toasted pecans, and they’re ridiculously light, fluffy, and delicious both ways.
I did, however, have to sub in for the yogurt. I only had 6 oz instead of 8 oz – made up the rest with vanilla ice cream and it’s worked out a charm!
Thank you for providing a wonderful recipe Deb!
When I baked this as a loaf cake, it was fine. Not great, but fine. When I made this as muffins, however, it was fantastic. I have such bad luck with muffins – they are either runny in the middle or dry and crumby – but this recipe made the Perfect Muffin.
I’ve made this cake several times now. With red currants or blueberries and walnut oil or without oil and with more yoghurt – my current favourite is shredded coconut, lime and mango. Sometimes I’m to lazy to cook the syrup, then I add one more spoon lime juice to the batter, wrap the cake in foil and let it stand until the next day; by then the juice has dissolved the sugar and loses it’s sharpness (if you want to give it away, you have to wrap it anyway). Deb, many thanks from Germany for this delicious recipe and idea!
How could I fail to read the recipe so wrong!!! I added the the lemon juice into the batter, and didn’t even bother adding the lemond rinds!! It’s in my oven baking as I type :( aw man!
This cake looks delicious! Mine is in the oven now, and I too made some variations. I used sour cream (and a bit of milk) instead of yogurt, and frozen berries (blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries). Also, I added more lemon zest and less sugar. It’s also taking longer than 50 minutes to bake. Can’t wait to try it!
My loaf turned out beautifully! It took about 25 minutes extra, and though I was skeptical about the glaze at first, I’m so glad I made it! Thanks for another fabulous recipe.
Ohhh..I made this with apples, and it’s soooooo good. Still so moist on Day 2! yum! Gotta try blueberries next. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi, Deb!
I haven’t been able to read all 300+ comments (just the first 100!), so I hope you haven’t answered this before. If you have, I’m sorry!
I have made this cake twice, and though the taste is great, it looks less than good :(
Both times it has sunk after it came out of the oven, and all the blackberries are at the bottom, making a thick blueish paste.
I always measure ingredients carefully, using a kitchen scale, but I did use only olive oil. I also added a litle baking soda. Do you think any of these two might have been the cause?
The first time, I used a rectangular plum cake mold (much like the one in the picture), and since I got bad results, the second time I used a larger mold, a 9x15inch.
Now I’m thinking maybe it’s because of the size of the blueberries… the only ones we get here in Madrid are really fat. Is there any trick to help avoid them sinking (other than the flour)?
Thanks so much!
I love the recipe, but it’s a dissappointent to cut it open and find all the fruit sank! :(
Hi Irene — Sorry, it may not be the best recipe for very large blueberries. I hadn’t considered this when I wrote it! Coating in flour works, but only a little. For large berries not to sink, a thicker batter is needed.
Thanks, deb! I’ll have to try another recipe, then… the taste is really good, though! :)
I’ve made this cake 2 times in a round cake pan, with blueberries on one side, and raspberries on the other side. I used frozen fruit coated with flour and vanilla yoghurt. Delicious mix of sweet and tangy.
Hannah, Jenna, Heather, Anne, and anyone else who found that the cake was browning on the outside without fully cooking through on the inside:
It’s probably our loaf pans. I quote Deb:
“When baking with glass or very dark pans, it’s helpful to bake recipes at 25 degrees less or they brown too quickly on the outside (before cooking in the middle). Sound familiar?”
http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/08/lighter-airy-pound-cake/#comment-3195705
This is a delicious recipe! Took longer than 50 minutes for sure, about an hour. I also had to cover the top with foil for the last 10 minutes to stop it getting too brown. BUT, it was just so yummy and the lemon glaze made it very moist and tangy. Highly recommended…
Deb, could I use clementines as the citrus? I’m just not sure about changing the amount of sugar…
Helen — Of course, but it won’t be as strong of a flavor. Use a bit less sugar. They’re very sweet.
Made this for my Dad’s birthday cake today. Doubled the recipe as written, and used a bundt pan. I thought it wouldn’t fit and would bubble over in the oven, but it worked perfectly. Took just about an hour to bake, and came clean out of the pan. Delicious – everybody loved it!
An additional note, my husband is counting calories (using the LoseIt app, and down 17 pounds since January 1st!), so I’ll post the calorie count here in case it is helpful to anyone else. As a bundt cake, with the powdered sugar glaze, cut into 16 even slices, it is 404 calories per slice. Without the glaze, it is 370 calories per slice. The standard recipe in the 8 1/2 inch loaf pan, cut in 12 approx. 3/4-inch slices, would be 247 calories without glaze.
Yikes! Too much batter! When I poured it in I knew it was too much but decided to trust the recipe, wish I had done more digging in the comments. Luckily I put the bread pan in a rectangle cake pan to catch the extra but there’s no way on earth this would fit in one bread pan. I would recommend making too thinner loaves or using some batter for cupcakes as others have done. I’ll be scooping the spillover into dish for myself.
I had such hopes for this….but something went totally wrong. It cooked up dense instead of fluffy/crumbly. I used full fat yogurt so that is not the problem. Seemed like it needed way more fat than it has, at least from the texture of the one I baked up. Also , no lemon flavor to speak of. Boo =(
Could it be old baking powder? I so want this to work….and I do think my baking powder has been around a while…
Deb, the only baking I’ve ever done has been from your site, all in the last month. I’ve made the jacked up banana bread, the red wine chocolate cake, the strawberry summer cake, but this has got to be the high point of my (fledgling) baking skills. I skipped the blueberries, not being easily available in India, but other than that mostly stuck with your recipe. Upped the quantity of zest, added a healthy splash of dark rum to the batter, and made one loaf and 9 regular muffins. My husband walked in one cue and has pronounced this as one of the few things in life that qualify for the word Perfect. Any liqueur suggestions in case I’d like to sub rum with something else? I love the depth of flavour alcohol can often give the simplest recipes.
Thanks a lot for the recipe :) Made it yesterday and it’s the most awesome lemon cake I’ve ever eaten. It’s just so unbelievably fluffy and soft and moist. (Sadly the cats liked it a lot too…)
Dunno if this has been posted yet, but after making this cake many times, I just swapped a cup of the flour with fine cornmeal, added a 1/2 tsp cardamom as well as a scant 1/4 cup millet. It is DELICIOUS. So breakfasty. I think it’s my favorite version yet. : )
WHOOPS just to clarify, I did not use blueberries with the cornmeal, cardamom, and millet!
Very nice recipe! Can someone please tell me, how many grams is one cup? I want to bake this cake tonight so hopefully someone can help me out..
Deb, if I want to freeze this should I leave the syrup off?
Janice — I would glaze it after you defrost it, before you serve it. The syrup can be done before or after.
How long will this cake last? I wanted to bake it Saturday for a morning tea on Tuesday? Will it be ok or is it best baked 24hrs before serving? It looks amazing!
Emily — This cake keeps well.
Just made this with lime for a festive st. patrick’s day dessert! Also with blackberries. The green flecks from the zest are very pretty in the batter, which was delicious.
I made this cake yesterday. It was delicious. My lemons were so sad that I substituted oranges. It is mostly gone. Thankfully there is enough left for a piece with my coffee this morning.
I am just about to start on a orange blueberry version too!
yum! I just made a coconut blackberry version. The batter tasted delicious, just waiting for the cake to come out of the oven!
Just made this with blood orange in a rectangular baking dish, cake style. Had a pint of berries so pressed them in on top. It was a big hit with coffee after dinner and fo breakfast today. Great recipe for improvisation!
Correction, had a pint of berries so pressed the extra 1/2 cup in on top!
Deb, I don’t even remember how I discovered your blog – it may have been when I was looking for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe and found it on this site in the form of your crispy chewy chocolate chip cookies. I am growing quite dependent on this blog, and I can’t tell you how many compliments I’ve received on everything I make from Smitten Kitchen. I just finished making a double batch of this lemon blueberry cake – in the form of cupcakes for a baby shower this weekend. They turned out wonderfully! The wild blueberries worked like a charm (no sinking, hooray!), the batter rose quite a bit, and the cake is so soft and fluffy! I am going to frost them with a lemon cream cheese frosting. Thank you for inspiring my kitchen endeavors, and for yet another fantastic recipe!
Oh no! My loaf is in the oven right now and it’s been in for over an hour and the middle will not set up. I substituted Greek yogurt for the plain and I’m afraid that was my demise. Anyone else have this problem?
The yogurt substitution should not be a problem. A small oven variance in temperature can make a bigger difference in a loaf pan, because it’s such a deep cake. Just bake it until a tester comes out clean, always.
Great recipe! I’ve been browsing around your website ever since I found it, about 2 weeks ago. :)
For this recipe I used blueberries, lime zest, and some coconut. I followed the recipe using 2tsp of zest, just with lime instead. I was afraid it’d end up with a strong lime flavour but it was actually very subtle which I liked. It played well with the coconut I added.
I think what really made my yogurt cake delicious was the coconut addition. I had about 3/4 cups left of shredded coconut which I slightly toasted and grinded up to smaller pieces. I mixed it into the flour mixture and reduced the sugar since the shredded coconut was already sweetened.
From reading a lot of the comments, I reduced the oil (olive oil) to 1/3 cup and used 3 large eggs (who buys XL? Lol) I also used 2% plain yogurt without a problem. For the sinking issue, I folded half the berries in the mixture and poured it into the pan and poked the rest in hehe. It came out smelling fantastic, moist and fluffy. The coconut also gave it a nice chewy texture, very tasty~
PhotoLink to it: https://www.flickr.com/photos/starrygwee/8696462823/in/photostream
Sorry for posting such a chunky comment, this is my first~ Many thanks!
Deb, it is the season now for Mangoes and Indian alphonso mangoes have to be the most delicious kind. However, I have never yet eaten mangoes in the form of a loaf cake and I decided to try. My first attempt was a bit of a failure, The cake browned outside and had a strong eggy smell and was uncooked on the inside. I made many mistakes- took it out too soon, read your recipe incorrectly and dunked the lemon juice into the uncooked cake batter. Not to be deterred as I normally am with kitchen failures, I tried it again. I reduced the egg to 2 and used a tablespoon of flax seeds and increased the vanilla to 1 tsp. I used a cup of chopped mangos and actually this time to keep it simple I did not add lemon. The cake did not sink. It took an hour and 10 min and for the last 20 min I inserted a metal butter knife in the centre so the center can get cooked. The cake tastes nice but something missing- the texture is like a cake should be and its cooked and looked lovely. But the next time I may add some chocolate chips or lime zest because the mangoes by themselves dont lift it up all that much…
Hi Deb,
I absolutely love your blog and recipes, you are always my go-to when it comes time to cook. I’m looking to make my mom a sweet treat for Mother’s Day–will this cake hold up if packaged and sent via mail? It looks divine! Thanks!
Leigh — I haven’t tried it. It’s on the tender side but it does keep so I suspect if packed well it should be fine.
My husband’s favorite! Thank you for this recipe! :D
I made it with Gluten-Free Flour (Dolch Health Foods) and in cupcake form. They turned out great. I also poured a little stone fruit vodka into the glaze. :) Yummy.
Deb, Ive make this twice and had the same result twice- The texture is not cake like – more like dense pudding, is that how it is supposed to be? It does not have a springiness to it. Am I doing something wrong? Im not able to make out from your photo. I wondered if it was undercooked but the sides were browning. Thanks!
Vaish — This is indeed an extremely moist cake, but a tester inserted into the center should still come out clean (I mean, blueberry smears = normal, wet batter = needs more time) when it is done baking. If yours did and you still found it too damp, it may just not be your kind of cake. You might also add two tablespoons extra flour next time to firm it up a little more so it’s closer to your tastes. One more note: Sometimes dark baking pans and definitely glass ones can brown things on the outside before they’re done cooking on the inside. If you’re using a glass baking pan, you should always reduce the baking temperature by 25 degrees for cakes. If using a dark one and you felt you had to take the cake out because it was getting too dark (but was maybe undercooked in the center), you might make the same oven temperature adjustment next time. Good luck!
I have been using 2 cups of rhubarb and orange zest-yum. Also made one with coconut yogurt and extract, less sugar and mango,also really good.
this is the best recipes. i’ve made it several times, with blueberries and cherries. it is really excellent. thanks for your recipe and the great directions you provided.
OMG this is to die for. Didn’t notice special lemons requirement just bought what I could find in TN. I have a recipe similar in flavor but it made in the crockpot and it’s called pudding.
Amazing recipe!
I added blueberries, chopped red walnuts, and chia seeds.
Also I cut the sugar to 1/2 cup and added 1/4 cup agave nectar.
I also added some coconut oil and cut back on the sugar (and actually greased the pan with coconut oil)! I love Smitten Kitchen recipes and the photos are gorgeous.
Also I find mini loaf pans tend to work better for me than big loaf pans…the overall baking comes out much better.
Cheers!
I baked this today – it tastes good but is a bit dense and oily. Not sure what I did wrong.
Made this last night – it is delicious and easy. Mixed wild blueberries and blackberries since I didn’t have quite enough of either to make the 1 1/2 cup. At the end when I made the lemon juice mixture to put on top, when I was putting on the cake I kind of felt like there was too much of it and the cake would be soggy. But I trusted in Deb, put it all on, and once the cake cooled it was perfectly nice and moist and not too wet. Definitely line teh bottom of the pan with parchment because even with solid greasing and flouring I couldn’t flip the cake out and had to let it cool in the pan. This will go in the brunch repertoire for sure!
I doubled the batter for a bundt pan. It seemed too much, so I also made a thin cake in a loaf pan. The mini loaf turned out well, and cooked in about 40 minutes. The bundt cake cooked for 1 hr 10 mins, and then cooled for 2 hrs. But, when I turned it out, it stuck. After some wrangling it popped out, but looked more like a franken-bundt-cake… missing the top bits. Wet dough? Didn’t cook long enough? Not sure, but I’ve had the loaf pan turn out well on two occasions.
Why does this recipe call for 3 eggs and your lime yogurt cake uses only 2? Otherwise, the recipes seem very similar.
Ellen — They’re different recipes. That one has a smaller volume, I think, and is more of a traditional yogurt cake. This is a pound cake that was “lightened” with yogurt.
I didn’t have work today, but had lots of things to do…too bad, because I was swept into the Smitten Kitchen Vortex. It went like this: Facebook link to Miso Sweet Potato Broccoli Bowl–>”three years ago” link to Single Crust Apple and Plum Pie–>comment 84 (no I didn’t read them all, but somehow read that one!) mentions Lemon Yogurt Anything Cake–>checked it out and am eating it now. At dinnertime. Some interesting substitutions to use what was already in the house on this rainy day – I used an almond milk yogurt (free from Fresh Direct a few weeks ago and nobody would eat it) and the dregs of some sour cream instead of the yogurt, a big regular lemon and lime to make up the juice, only a scant cup of blueberries at the bottom of the freezer. I poked a lot of holes all the way through with my cake tester and added the juice while it was still in the pan. So delicious! My son came in from work and said that it was the best smell EVER (and I bake a lot of good-smelling things.) I have some ‘iffy’ pears on the counter. May need to do a version of this with them. Thanks!
I went to Ina’s original recipe but used your ideas for adaptation. A tablespoon of black sesame seeds and a thin slice of cut banana on top of each muffin. I used nonfat vanilla yogurt too.Smelling pretty delicious from the oven right now.
Bonjour! will try this lemon cake with cranberries and white chocolate. I will let you know how good it was :)
can som1 help me n tel me cn i make it in microwave oven? if yes thn wt shud b tym n temp … plz.. anxiouly waitng 4 response ..thnx
This is an AMAZING cake – I did also the poppyseed-lemon version which is a BIG favourite. I upped the oil by 1 tablespoon.
This will be forever my coffe cake!!!
thanksssssss!!
I doubled this recipe and used plain yogurt that had expired 2 weeks before. Instead of 4 tsp of lemon zest, I used 2 tsp lemon and 2 tsp of orange . It is delicious. Thank you for sharing all of these ideas. I saw this same recipe on other sites and skipped them because of the vegetable oil. You suggested olive oil and pow, it caught my attention. So, yeah, I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil. I don’t care for glaze so I’ve skipped that too. I cannot wait for this batch to get eaten so I can make it again! (The yogurt was low fat in case anyone has any doubts about using it.)
Just made this, sans and fruit(only because I didn’t have any), it was delicious! Very light. I added more zest and extra lemon juice in the sauce just to be extra lemony. I could see making a lemon cream cheese frosting to make it a more sweet, desserty cake. But I loved this recipe. Came out so moist and perfect!
I am going to try this as a layer cake with a buttery lemon curd and blueberry coulis swirl frosting…ooo..I sure hope it turns out!
I had Meyer lemons leftover from these great cookies and I found this cake. Your blog is my “go to” when I want to try something new. I loved this cake as DOD my husband’s co-workers.
I null had large eggs, so I used 4 and it worked great. Also, since Meyer lemons are sweeter than the norm, I just used a little less sugar.
Thx for the recipe…again!
I was looking for a lemon cake recipe for a while. Today I found your blog and I saw this cake! I made this cake exactly what recipe says. OMG! It came out wonderful and so delicious with lemony and fruity taste! Thank you so much for sharing!
Love the lemon part of the cake but I echo the above comments about steering away from larger blueberries (in the Chicago area, we call them “Michigan blueberries”) – I don’t think they’re tart enough to complement the lemon well. Next time I’m going to use raspberries or keep it plain. A wonderful cake all the same.
I pulled my 8″ square pan (350 4 40 minutes) out of the oven about 20 minutes ago. I think that it looks and smells awesome. I guess that it will take another 45 minutes to cool, and then I will be adding the sugar/lemon juice glaze to it. Thanks Deb, for posting this recipe. I found it via yummly.com, which I only found about 2 weeks ago…it’s a great replacement for recipezaar.com. I’ll comment again once the wife, son, and his friend have a go at it.
Doubled it, baked it in a bundt, arranged a layer of fat blackberries between two layers of batter. Wonderful, especially warm — the blackberries went all gooey and incredible.
And — AND — I FORGOT TO ADD THE EGGS! Realized the error while the cake was in the oven and had friends bring extra baked goods to my brunch in case of disaster. But disaster never arrived. Baking is much more flexible than we give it credit for.
I just wanted to say that I have bookmarked your site more than any other cooking blog, ever. It seems that every time I think to myself, “Hmm, I want to try [insert food idea here], I wonder if I can find a recipe to go off of?” and then do a Google search, your blog is almost always the first result. It’s as though we have identical cooking tastes. :) So thank you!
SOOO good!! My hubby typically doesn’t like blueberries, but he wanted seconds of this. :) I didn’t do the glaze your way, because I’m lazy, lol. I just juiced my lemon and added enough powdered sugar for a glaze. It is very moist and dense, and probably had to cook for about an hour and a half. Also used sour cream (no yogurt atm) and apple sauce in place of oil. Just fabulous!
I am so disappointed that I made this to give to someone else…because I want to eat it!! It’s pure torture sitting here and smelling it as it bakes. And once I add the lemon glaze? Oh, this is going to be a real test in self-control…
I’ve been “off my game” in the kitchen for quite awhile, not sure why, but still read everything I can get my hands/computer on, so this recipe screamed “BAKE ME…PLEEZE!”. And I listened. As Mara discussed above re: the baking powder vs. baking soda when using yogurt (or buttermilk or sour cream) I did swap out the baking powder for 1/2 tsp. baking soda and my finished product rose beautifully. And while I love, love, love lemons and blueberries and plan to make THAT version VERY SOON (probably top soon), someone mentioned coconut and lime and I became fixated. My only problem was that I went to 2 grocery stores and could find no coconut extract which I really wanted to use because I love the flavor of coconut but not so much the texture of actual coconut mixed into the batter. So, with no coconut extract, and against my better judgment, I did fold in 1/2 cup of shredded coconut along with 1 tsp grated lime zest and then I made the glaze with lime juice. WELL, this is one yummy cake and my only complaint (and it’s my own darn fault) is I don’t like the texture of the coconut. But the combination of flavors – lime and coconut – are amazing. Oh…I also used non-fat Greek yogurt and this is still one moist cake! While in WFM looking for coconut extract I went coconut crazy and picked up some coconut flour, which is gluten free/high fiber/low glycemic, and coconut nectar, a low glycemic sweetener (unfortunately it doesn’t taste like coconut). I am now in the process of researching how to use those products…I JUST discovered your website and I love it!
And it baked in 40 minutes!
Made this recipe with lemon and serviceberries (aka sugarplums, saskatoonberries, juneberries) that are in season in Ohio right now–and it is lovely!!
Beware of olive oil above 190 degrees. It may release carginogenic substances. Better use sunflower oil for baking…
This recipe is similar to my strawberry yogurt muffin recipe which I like very much, because it is so moist. Instead of making the mufins this time, I might try this recipe with the strawberries. Thanks for suggestions for many different versions. It seems there are endless ways to make this one cake. It may become my “go to” recipe with all it’s variations. If I don’t have enough strawberries, I’ll just add another compatible fruit from what I have on hand as I’m sure it would be very good. I like strawberries & peaches together, or any combination of berries.Thanks for the recipe!
Just wanted to post my results! I used 3 smaller tinfoil loaf pans and it made 3 perfect loaves in baked in about 40 mins at just under 350 degrees. I DIDN’T add any oil at all! I used 3 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup vanilla greek yogurt, lemon zest, 1 teaspoon Vanilla and 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice as my wet ingredients and the loaves came out perfect and I didn’t find that I needed even half of the glaze mixture! I was surprised that I didn’t need the oil to make the cake moist, and will definitely be my regular recipe! Can’t wait to try variations of it! Thanks
Just made this cake and it is delicious! Nice, tender crumb, juicy blueberries and a lovely lemony scent. Yum! I made a few changes, used cream on top, full fat vanilla yogurt (6 oz) and 2 oz whole milk instead of one cup of plain yogurt, and I mixed the liquid into the dry instead of the other way around as stated in the recipe. Highly recommend this recipe. It’s wonderful.
I made just a few changes, for fun — I purposely *didn’t* toss the blueberries with flour, so they *would* sink to the bottom — I unmolded it and am serving it as blueberry upside-down cake. I made the batter in my food processor and it came together so fast and beautifully — dry ingredients pulsed, then I put in all the wet ingredients (save for the blueberries and glaze, of course) at once. ran it for about 20 seconds, scraped down the sides, ran for 10 more seconds and it was perfect. I even pulsed the blueberries in using three incredibly short pulses, but stirring would have worked great, too. after flipping and unmolding, I drizzled it with a simple powdered sugar/lemon juice glaze, topped with a light dusting of powdered sugar, and it’s SO great. thank you for this recipe! excited to have it in my back pocket to play with, and thrilled to know I can put it together in NO time, using NO bowls in the food processor.
Loved this Lemon Blueberry loaf. Very moist !♡
Hello, I have somehow tweaked your recipe and published the final version (with a link to your site, of course) on my blog:
http://thelousychef.wordpress.com/2014/08/24/lemon-blueberry-yogurt-cake-cytrynowo-jagodowe-ciasto-jogurtowe/
I really love the outcome, so thank you for sharing this recipe with us! :)
I just made two–the recipe and a kid version–vanilla almond chocolate chunk. No lemon, of course, a cup ¼ chocolate chunks and almond and vanilla extract. Sending it off in a college care package!
This, minus the blueberries, is currently in the last stages of baking. It’s needed another 20 minutes or so which I think may be because I ran out of plain flour and had to sub 1/8 of ground almonds instead (I was a bit anxious about whether I had subbed enough but I think probably the extra cooking time will sort out any excess moisture). It smells absolutely gorgeous. I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for about five years so I’m very excited!
I was wondering why I had never made this before and it turns out I did, in 2014! This time I used home-made yoghurt, olive oil and light brown soft sugar, and the zest of one lemon and one orange. It needed about 110 minutes in the oven at 167C fan. I just brushed the syrup on as soon as it was out of the oven, then left it to cool almost completely in its tin before turning it out. It’s absolutely amazing and I need to give half of it away immediately.
I’ve made the cake a few times and it really is an excellent cake. I hadn’t made it for a while and made it again and each time it hardly rose. It tastes very good but it about 2 inches high! Did anyone have this problem. I had made it before in one of those oven safe plastic baking pans and this time I made it in a load pan very much like the one pictured. I wonder if it could be the flour I used. This time I have an unbleached white flour that appears a little darker. I think when I made it in the past I used bleached flour. What kind of flour is recommended? Not sure why it is hardly rising. Could I have mixed it too much? Thanks for your advice!
Veronica — Sorry that you’ve had trouble. You definitely definitely added the baking powder, right? And definitely not a cake flour with leavener in it? (Because too much can also collapse a cake.) I use all-purpose flour, usually unbleached, but I don’t think it should matter that much with this recipe. I mean, 100% whole wheat could make things seem more coarse/dry, but it shouldn’t effect how much it rises.
this is a great recipe! i used non-fat greek yogurt and frozen berries. i made cupcakes that baked for 20 minutes and came out quite moist. i substituted 1/2c sugar for 1.2 coconut sugar. next time, i would also substitute applesauce for the oil and up the lemon content.
deb– the recipes calls for thawed frozen berries. I didn’t thaw mine before using them and it turned out fine. But out of curiosity, what is the impact of thawing the berries before putting them in the batter?
AP — Ah, I should update that. No need to thaw them, in fact.
Such a delicious cake! I’ve made a blueberry version, blueberry and raspberry version and a lime version. I love how healthy it is too :)
Thanks!
This is cooling on my stovetop as I type and it is taking every ounce of willpower not to sample it before book club. Amazingly, had all of the ingredients onhand except for blueberries so I went with the lemon poppy seed variation (but used chia seeds instead–YOLO!). I also used Greek low fat yogurt and crushed some candied ginger to mix with the glaze. Cannot wait to devour it, thanks for the great recipe!
Made this again for my mothers birthday dinner. It’s one of my go-to’s. It’s perfection!
Hi I was wondering if anyone had converted this recipe into weights yet? I can’t wait to make this recipe but being in the UK I find cups a little tricky and prefer the accuracy of weighing my ingredients. Can’t wait to make this as I have adored everything I have made from smitten kitchen. Thanks for the help xxx
Courtney — I added weights, just for you! Happy baking.
Thank you so much Deb!! I’m going to buy ingredients now and I’m going to make this tonight. I can’t wait. Thank you!! Xxx
This recipe is the best! We have made this recipe several times with changes. The first change is to use sour cream instead of yogurt. Then we add cut up peaches (South Carolina peaches) to the recipe. The peaches, blueberries, and lemon make a delicious combination. It’s like eating summer sunshine! It MAKES this cake! Give it a try.
I made this cake a few times using the lemon & blueberry recipe and it came out perfectly ! I then tried with cranberries & orange and raspberry & white chocolate and both times it didn’t cook through in spite being in the oven for over an hour … what am I doing wrong ?
Louise — What kind of orange did you use — segments or zest?
I have been trying to find a good cranberry orange recipe and I figured it was worth a try with these instructions. I followed the recipe, using orange instead of lemon for both the juice and zest and then used the cranberries instead of blueberries. I added the half cup of walnuts for one and chocolate chips for another one. The one with chocolate in it also had the chocolate ganache added to the top. When they were both done I personally liked the chocolate one better. I really wanted that cranberry orange flavor but the first one (with the walnuts) was just not sweet enough. The cranberry really ‘bit’ you (the walnuts were a good combo though). The second was delicious just not overly cranberry orange. We had some left over chocolate so it will probably be added to the walnut version too :) Thanks for the recipe.
I made this yesterday with leftover cranberries that I had boiled in a simple syrup for a punch recipe for a holiday dinner. I added orange zest instead of lemon. This was DIVINE! I’ve already eaten half the loaf (eep!) and I can’t wait to have the rest of it. I didn’t even need the syrup because it was so moist- I’m sure the softened, boiled cranberries added more moisture. This cake is absolutely perfect!! Thank you Deb!
I accidentally put the 1/3 cup lemon juice IN the batter! I was terrifies I would be serving my dinner guests some lemon pudding instead of the promised cake. It turned out perfectly!
Hi- can you substitute vanilla yogurt instead of plain -and if so- how much would you reduce the sugar? Thanks and apologies if that question has been answered.
Leti — You can, but I don’t know how much the sugar would be reduced unless I know how much sugar is in the yogurt.
Thanks Deb for responding. Trying to use up lg T Joe’s container of yogurt which has 29grams of sugar per cup-thought I would make this cake but have no idea of the formula, if there is one, to reduce the sugar. It sounds like one of my son’s common core math problems!
Deb – sorry for the delay in responding to your response of 2nd Dec ! I used the zest of an orange (replacing the lemon zest).
This is SO delicious!
My sister is celiac, so I made it gluten-free by using this flour mix: http://www.artofglutenfreebaking.com/2009/11/the-story-behind-my-gluten-free-flour-mix/
And it turned out beautifully! One thing I would say is that it is VERY sweet, so I’ll cut back on the sugar next time – I’ll use maybe 150g, I think. I also added some shredded coconut to the cake and a few drops of rum to the glaze – additions I will happily repeat :)
Thank you, Deb, for the wonderful recipe.
Oh gosh, silly me, I forgot to add that I also swapped out a third of the sugar for maple syrup – maybe that’s why it was too sweet for me? Who knows. Either way, it’s a great base recipe and I will continue experimenting with it – I love that I don’t even need an electric mixer, just a whisk!
Just baking this now – and very much looking forward to eating it! I went with the “It could be doubled and baked in a well-greased and floured bundt pan, baking time adjusted” recommendation (as well as sub-ing meyer lemon in for the traditional lemon). But I’m wondering what does “baking time adjusted” mean? I’m going for 50 minutes and assume I will have to check it and it will cook for closer to 60. Is there a rule of thumb around bake time for bundt cakes? Thanks!
Deb,
First of all thank you for such a delicious recipe & photo post. Yes, delicious photos.
Instead of vegetable oil I used sour cream. I also used greek 2% yogurt. This made batter really thick so I added about 1/3 cup lemon juice to thin it some. I substituted blueberries for pomegranate seeds & added 1/2 cup pistachios, also added 1/2 tsp pure lemon extract. Baked about 65 minutes. Poked holes in top of bread before doing your glaze in stages.
I’m in heaven on a fluffy lemon cloud when I eat a piece of this bread. The pomegranate seeds give a juicy burst as your eating it. The texture of the bread is almost pudding like in between the fluffy bread texture pockets. So moist & lemony good!
I live in a high altitude area texture may vary.
Oops used pomagranate seeds insted of blueberries. Next time will use 2 cups I just love the juicy bursts.
I love this adaptation of Ina’s recipe, as her’s is way too rich! I used my homemade yogurt and frozen blueberries. Could that be the reason it took almost 90 minutes to bake? Otherwise, perfect!!
It could be. Homemade yogurt is usually thinner, if I remember correctly, and frozen berries are wetter.
my son turns four tomorrow and he’s requested a lemon cake + lemon frosting + sprinkles + side of lemon ice cream, and i’ve a hunch he’ll be in heaven — this beauty just emerged from the oven. i’m planning to top it with a simple whipped cream, in addition to the glaze — aka ‘frosting’. thank you for your humor and your gorgeous recipes — you’ve helped me become more adventurous in the kitchen (i’m now a pie-maker to boot)!
hi again – by way of an update: the cake, divine, the whipped cream “frosting”, perfect. thank you!
a question for you: could this work as cupcakes? i’m thinking yes of course — just fill cups halfway-ish, drizzle the lemony sugar when they’re warm, bake maybe 15-20 minutes. any suggestions if i’m wanting to give it a try?
mm.
Thanks for this recipe ! I switched out 1/3 of the flour for cornmeal, finely diced tangerine peel in place of lemon zest, and fresh cranberry in place of blueberry. I didn’t have time for the syrup so skipped it. It was a hit !! It also stayed moist for days ! Thank you !!
I made this cake with my girls on the weekend! It’s one of the most delicious cakes I’ve ever eaten! Thank you
Just made this today with some vanilla yogurt I wanted to use up and some rhubarb just in from the garden! Thanks for coming through with a recipe for every occasion!
My sister introduced me to a very good tasting probiotic yougart (that is locally made) however,in my search for a yougart that isn’t soy and tastes good being as I am lactose intolerant..I am still searching..
So,here I was with this excellent yougart and what to do with it?
I used my blueberry yougart put blackberries,blueberries,strawberries in it (coated with flour before adding) and can I say it was 10 minutes out of the oven and two slices were already eaten as soon as my boyfriend came in the door! Haha
This cake is excellent and sooo easy..perfect for sharing which is what I did the next day with my fellow volunteers at the local SPCA
I know it’s an old post but I just wanted to say that I tried this using the lemon & blueberry combo in a rice cooker since I’m in China and have no access to an oven. My friends (4 of us) ate this within seconds it was so good! My friend looked at me with tears in her eyes and said “THIS IS SO AMERICAN… I love you…” we’ve been a bit homesick after being away for a year so it was a nice thing to eat.
A week later my friend begged me to make it again with a different combination so I tried orange + chocolate chunks. Both really yummy.
Love the lemon blueberry loaf. Didn’t think Greek yogurt would work until I read posts after using sour cream instead.Turned out so delicious don’t know if I’ll try yogurt or not. Exceptional layering of flavors when topped with the lemon glaze and a thin sour cream icing sprinkled with lemon zest.Thanks for a summertime favorite!
this is the best! I´ve made it with greek yogurt, raspberries, lemon and coconut oil, as well as with no fruit at all and just with chocolate chips (still with greek yogurt and coconut oil). Such a versatile recipe, but we keep coming back to the lemon raspberry version.
Hi Deb, I made the recipe exactly as written here, using a loaf pan with the exact dimensions noted, and the cake overflowed in the oven (luckily I suspected this would happen and placed a sheet pan underneath!). Next time I’ll use a larger loaf pan, or a bundt pan, to accommodate the addition of the berries — since the size called for here is the same as the original (sans-berries) Ina G recipe.
Nancy — Oh no. Might you be at a higher elevation? I’ve never experienced it (and the pan you see in photos matches the dimensions listed).
I follow this recipe and leave out the lemon and blueberries to make a simple vanilla loaf cake. I top the slices with fresh strawberries and homemade whipped cream and everyone raves about it! Great alternative to a pound cake or strawberry shortcake and so easy to make!
Just made this for a new mom down the street and had a little extra batter so popped that into a few muffin cups so I could try as well. It is SO good!
Switched out the blueberries for 2 diced peaches and a few strawberries. (dropped the peaces into boiling water for a minute to remove skin)
Also switched out veggie oil for coconut since it was on hand and by mistake, added the lemon juice to the batter itself, so decided to nix the glaze.
Seems difficult to mess this up :)
Thanks Deb!
xx
Thanks for your response, Deb! Higher elevation not a factor since I’m in nyc, albeit on the uws :) In retrospect I probably encouraged the overflow by using a piece of parchment that draped over the long sides of the pan, thus enabling the batter to climb right up and over the edges. Next time I’ll only line the bottom as you recommend. At any rate, the cake is absolutely delicious and has become the new favorite around here — as soon as we finish one loaf the hubs requests another.
I love this recipe – I usually make it with cranberries, but we got a ton of strawberries in our farm share so I’ve just made one with them – can’t wait to try it! I always use Greek yogurt and it takes about 55-60min in my oven.
Hi Deb, I am a huge fan of your blog. I am French but live in China so I bake with what I can find on the market. I tried many of your recipes, the salted oatmeal cookies and the espresso chocolate shortbreads are my favorite!
I tried this one ‘lemon yogurt anything cake’ and the ‘poppy seed lemon cake’, made them twice. They always look beautiful after the advised baking time (I check the center with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean) but when I cut a slice, the inside is actually underbaked. So I put it back in the oven, sometimes for 30-45 minutes more, and it’s crazy, but it’s never enough. The inside is not liquid, but really too oily, spongy…
I did not change your recipes much, except I use a loaf pan and peanut oil.
I guess the problem is that the mixture is too liquid so it doesn’t bake well. Could this be because of the peanut oil?
I will have to try again one day (By the way it’s so difficult to get unsweetened yogurt in China – Chinese people just love sugar in everything despite the taste…)
Just made this yesterday and used real sour cream, cardamon, 1/2 cup shredded coconut and only a 1/4 cup Spectrum olive oil. Cake did take 1 hr. 20 min to bake but the texture and taste were wonderful! I only had one lemon but the taste from the liquid that soaked in is divine!
Orange Chocolate version? Like those fabulous orange foil covered things you can get at Walgreens after Thanksgiving?
OMG thank you thank you, I will be MAKING both of these this weekend!!! And yes, nods to Ina too!
I tried to make this and accidentally left out the eggs :( the loaf turned out burnt on top and on the sides. Is it because of the eggs? Or is my temperature wonky? I had to convert it to celsius.
Just ate a slice of mine! I used a mix of frozen wild blueberries and grocery store organic raspberries plus chocolate chips. I subbed lemon juice for the zest since I didn’t have any lemons on hand. It took about 80 minutes to cook through, and I had to cover the top with foil to keep it from browning too much. I think I missed a small bit of the pan when greasing/flouring, but that just meant I got to sample it warm! I brushed the glaze on but didn’t pour the whole 1/3 cup over top. Would definitely make again!
I tried this cake and had to majorly adjust the bake time…but it might be my pan. I started with 50 minutes and then added increments of 5…currently at 67 minutes and the middle is still complete mush :( I will repeat the recipe but probably in a round pan not a loaf.
I just made this cake but it didn’t bake in the middle. Any suggestions?
Katrina — Can you put it back in the oven at a lower temperature until it sets?
I hate commenting that a recipe is great when there are more substitutions than there is original recipe, but this cake is AMAZING. I used what I had on hand: olive oil, Meyer lemons, nonfat Greek yogurt, frozen raspberries and blueberries, and a 9×9 brownie pan (40 min in the oven). This cake is new life.
Very, very tasty! just made this last night in cupcake forms, with frozen raspberries. Yielded 17 smallish cupcakes and in one hour only 12 remained :)
Thanks, Deb!
Just as a word of caution about Nath’s comment at 397: olive oil is perfectly safe for human consumption at 190 C / 374 F. The debate about the toxicities of plant-based oils centers around oxidation and the aldehydes, amongst other byproducts, that process creates. Olive oil, and particularly virgin olive oil stabilized by antioxidants, oxidizes when exposed to air and light less readily than many oils (including sunflower). Likewise, olive oil generates significantly less aldehydes when heated up to its smoke point (207 C / 405 F) when compared to sunflower oil. (And, of course, applying heat to something invariably degrades it and when any material burns or begins to smoke, a toxic substance is created; olive oil is not uniquely “carcinogenic” in this regard and the smoke from it is not exceptional or life-threatening. Not to mention, it’s not going to reach necessary temperatures to smoke in this recipe, so the risk is very minimal.)
(Also, taking a cue from Deb’s exhaustive list of variations, most recently used out of convenience: whole wheat flour, lemon-flavored olive oil, bergamot zest and juice, earl grey tea leaves, orange-soaked dried cranberries, fresh pineapple for the inside and fresh pineapple juice for the soak, a combination of dark brown and white granulated sugars, and crème fraîche. And it still worked just as well as it always does, with a slightly darker, crunchier crust. Ina and Deb are a wonderful team, as usual.)
This was so wonderful, I had to share my variation. I swapped out lemon zest and blueberries for orange zest and mini chocolate chips and made them as muffins with extra mini CC on top, bake for 25 to 30 minutes depending on your oven. OMG!!! So good and light and tender. Next time, I would add more vanilla extract, but that’s a personal preference because I love vanilla flavor. Deb, this is great. :D
This turned out fantastic, I ended up throwing in more lemon zest with the glaze at the end, couldn’t be happier. Enjoying a slice now with yogurt and coffee! Happiness!
Thanks so much for the recipe and tips (particularly in resulting comments) – it was great. The only thing I found was that there was a lot of syrup – perhaps I should have let it simmer longer?
Hi! I made this cake and baked it 15 minutes extra until the top was brown and a toothpick came out clean. Unfortunately, once I took it out of the over, it sunk in the middle and was extremely moist/mushy when I cut into it the next day. I have made dozens of recipes from this blog and never had a problem. I followed the recipe to the letter – any ideas why it was such a disaster? Thanks so much!
Same problem, mine was mushy too! In my case, it might have been the yogurt I used (Balkan-style), maybe it was too liquidy.
I’m curious as to what tossing the berries in flour before folding them in does. Is there a noticeable difference?
How long should I bake these if I’m making muffins, rather than a loaf?
Muffins can run anywhere from 15 to 25, so start on the early end. These are pretty wet, however, and will probably need most of that time range.
I’ve made this but tweaked it a bit to be more breakfast friendly instead of dessert. It’s incredibly fresh and moist! I swapped part of the flour for whole wheat, used apple sauce for oil and cut back on the sugar. It’s a big success! I made it with orange zest and blueberries and it taste as close as summer as possible! The bread is on it’s 4th day and we should finish it on the 5th but is still incredibly moist and flavorful (i keep it wrap in wax paper and linen towel in the fridge). I find it a bit dense but i made it with greek yogurt as its what we had on hand and it’s also intended to be a cake and not a bread. I will definitely make it again and probably try lemon and raspberries next.
I tried making a mango-lime muffin version of this. I used half lime yogurt and half plain whole Greek yogurt. I cut the sugar by 1/4 (to 3/4 cup) because of sugar in the lime yogurt. I diced the mango and then drained it in a strainer for a bit since it was very juicy. The flavor of the muffins was great (I was reminded how much I love lime zest), but the texture was pretty dense and wet. I ended up cooking them for much longer than I’d planned (about 40 minutes in a convection oven), at the end of which the bottoms and sides were slightly overdone and the middle was still eggy and damp, sort of like bread pudding. One of my kids ate them but said kindly, “next time I might prefer a different recipe”. The other took one bite and refused the rest. I might try it as a blueberry loaf at some point…
Hi Deb! I’ve already made this once, and it is amazing, and I love all of the ideas for customization. I added sweetened shredded coconut, which I ground up with the flour.
However, I have a question: what makes this a cake instead of a bread? Is there an agreed-upon definition? Either way, it’s not going to stop me from eating this for breakfast, I’m just curious.
I don’t think anyone agrees. I think all quickbreads are really cake, but we call them bread because of the loaf shape maybe? Glad you enjoyed it.
I’d say that the amt of sweetness makes a cake or a bread. Which in turn is personal, so I guess it’d be up to the person who developed the recipe. Possibly also topping (aka frosting) which adds to the sweetness.
We’re kinda Puritan about breakfast, allowing only a certain amt of sweet vrs dessert. But only kinda ’cause how many times has it been OK to eat leftover dessert for breakfast? But it’s somehow OK because we’re being practical (not wasting) by eating leftovers instead of doing it on PURPOSE. But once again, what’s too sweet to be Officially For Breakfast is so individual.
I swapped the lemon for orange and the bluebs for raspberries. Mixture tasted good and is in the oven now! I used a mix of frozen and fresh berries, and actually find the frozen ones hold their shape better when tossing in the flour /adding to the batter. Just need to tidy up and make the drizzle topping (what you call a glaze) ready for when it comes out.
I like the flexibility of this recipe (& i got lucky because i had exactly 1 cup left of both Greek yoghurt and sugar so didn’t have to nip to the shops)
Thanks for a great recipe and website, i always enjoy reading your posts :-)
Love this cake. Have made it several times with several variations. I’m about to attempt it again–with lime juice/zest, and coconut yogurt instead of plain. Might get crazy and sprinkle a bit of coconut on top…
Firstly – huge fan!!
In my home I have a diabetic husband and I was searching for a flexible recipe we could all have together and serve to company. I am not a fan of sugar substitutes … This was the winner.
I substituted 1/2C honey for sugar. No sugar on top. Added 1/4 tsp baking soda and I used 3 large eggs. 3% yoghurt. (That’s all I had)
I read somewhere to reduce liquid that honey brings and baking soda to balance honey.
I followed the rest to the letter. This was delicious. Thank you so so so much.
Have made this cake twice now: once as described above, and once with vanilla greek yogurt, grapefruit, and poppy seeds. Both times the cake turned out perfectly moist, with a perfect balance of tart and sweet. This cake is a versatile, absolute winner!
I made this recipe two nights ago with orange juice and bittersweet chocolate chips, except I accidentally added the OJ right into the cake instead of saving it for the glaze! I added 2-3 tablespoons of flour into the cake to compensate and baked it 5-10 minutes longer. I hope this helps the next baker who skims all the ingredients but doesn’t see that the juice should be reserved for glaze! It was still delicious, but the orange taste was still subtle. Next time I’ll add some orange extract!
I also failed to read the recipe and dumped the lemon juice into the batter. I didn’t realize until they were in the oven (I made 12 regular and 6 mini muffins/cakes)- thus did nothing to compensate. Turned out great- list and not too dense. I dusted with powdered sugar to serve.
I also used vanilla yogurt and reduced the sugar to compensate. I used a mix of fresh raspberries and blueberries and used equal parts canola and olive oil.
I did the same thing!
The lemon blueberry has been my go to for years after blueberry picking , but tonight I had an orange on hand. So I did orange zest in the batter, did both vanilla and almond extract and added cardemon (maybe 1/2 to 1 teaspoon?). Didn’t pour juice over it, but did an orange juice powdered sugar glaze. Omfg!! Slightly more sophisticated flavor and perfect texture. So, so good. What a great base recipe!
I don’t have whole fat yogurt, just fat free Greek…would that be ok or do I need to add the fat in? Maybe butter?
I’m not the author, obviously, however I just made it and used organic ff Greek yogurt. Still in the oven (bundt cake version), and the flavor and consistency of the batter was absolutely wonderful. I also used gf Pamela’s flour since I had a lot of it, and used coconut oil. Again, the batter was fabulous. I even used frozen organic blueberries. It’s a great recipe. Not fussy at all.
I was going to post a question about whether anyone has tried a gf flour and if so, how did it taste and which brand?
Looks amazing! Does Greek yogurt work in this case?
I made a lovely lemon poppyseed version (AND the blueberry version)! Both are scrumptious. I have 2 teenage boys, so one doesn’t last long around here. Thank you for the reminder that a lemon cake can be so much more! I had a similar recipe that used only 2 eggs, but I love addition of the extra egg. Since I have a Meyer Lemon tree and hens – this shall be a regular in our house.
I greased and floured my loaf pans and it worked just fine without parchment paper.
Oh,my, this just floated across my FB feed. I got right up and made it. That’s an unusual occurrence, but I happened to have *all* of the ingredients. I doubled the recipe and poured into a bundt pan as suggested. It is now baking so no comments on its outcome. However, if the flavor of the batter is any indication, it is absolutely heavenly. Fabulous lemon taste with the gorgeous blueberries dotting the batter…divine. Thank you for this recipe. Looking forward to other variations. Grapefruit next.
Is there a way to reduce the sugar content or can an alternative to caster sugar be used? Would like to ideally put in a kids lunch box…. thank you.
I am gonna try this with red currants from my freezer from my garden with orange zest and juice.
I just made this as cupcakes, with white chocolate chips instead of fruit. Delicious! The only other substitution was coconut oil for the vegetable oil. It gave the edges a slight, delightful crispness. I did not put the syrup on the top. (I have made this many times before as a cake and with various fruit combinations, but thought the white chocolate chips were novel enough to comment upon!)
I made this in a round cake pan with orange zest and juice as well as lemon, because that’s what we had on hand. It was delicious. Thanks, Deb!
What size round pan and for how long?
This recipe is excellent; it was the favourite item at my work potluck. Followed the recipe exactly, used lemon and blueberries. You will not regret it.
In my case it needed to cool in the pan more than 10 min before flipping to the cooling rack 😱 – – I made two loafs, first one I flipped after 10min of cooling (way too hot), it’s so moist the whole thing collapsed and fell apart. Second loaf I left in the pan for an hour before I flipped and it came out great still warm for glazing… followed exact recipe I do live in a high elevation so maybe that’s why the first loaf didn’t hold?
I had exactly the same! I baked it in a ringshaped form so all the batter stayed in the middle. I just put it back in the oven. Next time I’ll just let it rest longer.
Because I cannot make one more loaf of banana bread (this month) – I made this. So so good. So so easy. So so making this again with the variations. Long live baking recipes that don’t call for butter (which I never have enough of or at room temp).
Sincerely, long time reader/first time commenter
I used coconut oil and sour cream instead. It came out delicious. Made muffins instead. My whole family loved them. Once I pulled them out of the oven though, the rise went down. They still tasted great.
We just polished off your blueberry muffins (yum!) so for this cake, I used cava cava orange (and lemon) zest, frozen bing cherries instead of blueberries and almond extract. I also subbed in coconut oil (refined) for the vegetable oil and used a 1/3 less sugar because of the added syrup soak at the end. The cake was nowhere near done at 50 minutes so I gave it another 20. The crumb was perfectly moist, the cherries, orange and almond together melded beautifully!
I would love to make this for my sister and send it off in the mail. Does anyone know if this freezes well?
I just made it. Well, I made two: a very small one in a tiny loaf pan. It was (yes, was) amazing!
The big one took over 100 mins to be done, but it’s on a cooling rack now too.
Hi Deb, this is an oldie but a goodie. I made this with 50:50 melted butter to veg oil (just because I didn’t have enough oil), zest & juice of 1.5 limes & half a lemon & 200g blueberries. I also threw in a 1/4 tsp ground coriander as per the notes in your blueberry muffin recipe. You could safely up this to 1/2 tsp. I think a drizzle of glaze is also on the cards. The lime juice adds some extra zing.
Like a few others I wasn’t sure of my loaf tin being able to hold all the mix without risk, so I made x2 muffins too (who doesn’t love samples) but found it didn’t rise a great deal so this might have been unnecessary caution. It took about 70mins to cook though, seems my tin might have been a bit on the small side. Thanks again for the recipe.
Hi Deb,
I made this recipe exactly as written and it turned out great. Thanks for another great cake!
I used your suggestion for the lemon powdered sugar glaze and really liked the added lemon punch! When I made the glaze, it was lovely and white but after sitting on the cake for a few minutes, it turned sort of clear. I’ve had this happen with lemon glazes before and am not sure why! Any advice on how to get it to stay a pretty white?
This is the cake my non-cake-eating 11 year old asks me to make for his birthday every year (going on 4 years now, maybe more), probably because it’s not too sweet and it has no frosting. I make it in a round cake pan (sometimes two and layered) so we can decorate it with berries and a bit of whipped cream. Since he is a creature of habit in many other ways too, we usually bring it to the same lovely Italian restaurant where he orders the salmon, and where they graciously bring the cake out for candles and singing then slice and plate it for us. So fancy salmon and lemon yogurt cake mean birthday love to my sweet boy. Thought you might like to know.
I made this and it did not turn out well at all! All I can think of is that maybe the yogurt I used was too watery (I use Balkan-style) because the loaf turned out not with a cakey texture but sort of wet and spongey (almost like the texture of cheesecake), despite baking long past the recommended time. I used frozen blueberries and I did drain them before adding.
I found it kind of disappointing flavour-wise. The lemon made it extremely tart (like startlingly tart) and the blueberries were ‘meh’ (that could be their own fault though — I did use frozen, maybe they just weren’t very good).
Overall I’m underwhelmed with this recipe. I might one day try it again, this time with a thicker yogurt, or after straining my yogurt and blueberries very thoroughly…or using a different fruit altogether.
Can’t edit my last comment but ‘mushy’ was the word I was looking for! The texture of my cake was mushy, like another commenter noted above.
Delicious! And I totally butchered the recipe lol, made a double batch to use up eggs and lemons and yogurt on hand, used two thirds whole grain spelt flour to one part AP flour, reduced the sugar since my yogurt was vanilla, used lemon olive oil for half the vegetable oil and dumped in a half cup of sliced almonds and about two tablespoons of poppyseeds since we didn’t have blueberries. And it’s still amazing and delicious!
This cake is currently in my oven and it smells SO good! It’s taking a little longer to bake but I also made some substitutions. I reduced the sugar to half a cup, added a half cup of applesauce (little people will be eating this :) ), and reduced the oil to 1/4 cup of coconut oil. I also don’t have any lemons so subbed clementine oranges… it looks and smells so delicious!
I just made this for Easter, and glazed it with powdered sugar/blueberry & lemon juice, which gave it a pretty light purple top. The only change I made to the recipe was to reduce the sugar to 3/4 cup and didn’t use quite as much lemon syrup. (Was worried it’d be too sweet with the glaze.) Great moistness, and balance of flavors! I’ll definitely try this one again with different combinations. Thanks!
The whole family loved it! I am definitely making this again. As recommended by others, I reduced the sugar to 3/4 cups and it was perfect.
Yum Yum Yum.
Did everything precisely as directed (glazed not soaked) except that I added lemon zest to the glaze. I thought the glaze a bit bland and the zest did the trick. I made it into 3 mini loaves, gave away two, and kept one. Everyone loaves it ;)
Thanks Deb.
Looks delicious!
Can I use dried blueberries instead of fresh/frozen?
I live in a part of the world where the later are unavailable…
Thanks!
You can, absolutely. Or use another berry you like with lemon.
So yes, *technically* I made this. But I did change a few things. Not because I don’t trust all of your wonderful recipes, but mainly because it was what I had on hand. I used low fat Greek yogurt, I used lemon and lime juice and zest. The main change was that I accidentally put the lemon/lime juice in the batter. Whoops. Despite my mistake, it was still delicious! I would definitely make this again.
Made this bad boy with 3/4 cup of white sugar. I subbed coconut oil for all the vegetable oil, and used a plain low-fat yogurt from a local farmer’s market instead of the whole milk yogurt. I skipped the glaze. It was perfect, even though my boyfriend told me he thought the photos online were better than my cake. :( it kept well for a few days, saran-wrapped at room temperature. Baking time was longer than what the recipe called for, by at least 10-15 min.
I doubled the ingredients to make a bundt cake, then fretted about it, but it all worked out perfectly. It fills the pan but doesn’t overflow when baked, and it was done in 70 minutes. I suggest that you use half of the glaze so it doesn’t get too soggy. Also added a thin frosting to pour over the top: 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, 2 Tbl lemon juice, 1/2 tsp lemon zest, 1 tsp. butter. I took it to a church potluck and it was a huge hit. Nothing left on the platter.
Lovely dessert – only recommendation is 1/4C. less blueberries – I thought there were too many.
Finally posting thanks for this recipe after at least 5 years of heavy rotation. It has been used for everyday cakes, birthday cakes, brunch sweet breads, muffins for work, and 100s of mini-muffins for son’s bar mitvzah kiddush. Lemon blueberry is a favorite, but have enjoyed lemon almond (with subs of almond meal and olive oil), lemon poppyseed, orange chocolate, orange rosemary (sub olive oil and marmalade glaze), grapefruit, and strawberry rhubarb with olive oil (today’s cake because that’s what I have). Sometimes I reduce the sugar, often I forget to glaze. It’s a forgiving and wonderful recipe. Thanks!
This recipe rocks! I have made it on & off over the years and it never fails. I urge other bakers to feel the freedom of using different ingredients, as described in the introduction. That, too, I have done for years and though each time the coffee cake comes out slightly differently – it’s always great. And exceptionally EASY.
IT WAS AMAZING! i made this with gluten free flour instead of regular flour and it turned out great! thank you so much for you recipes!
May I ask which gf flour you used? Also, did you change anything else in the recipe?
The lemon yogurt cake came out perfectly; a dense but soft texture. I used large blackberries, which was a big problem. The blackberries did not get evenly distributed and resulted in weak spots in the loaf that made it almost collapse. It also made it seem “jiggly” as if it was still raw. The moisture from the berries made the cake sections around the fruit pretty wet and soggy. Next time I will definitely use a smaller fruit or simply no fruit. The loaf was delicious.
I made this as one of a couple of things to have on hand for breakfast nibbling over Thanksgiving (I have 9 for 4 days). I’ve made it before so know it freezes beautifully. Some changes I made:
-Used a standard-sized loaf pan instead of the smaller one the recipe calls for.
-Substituted white whole wheat flour for the entire amount of AP flour
-Didn’t sift!
-Used French Vanilla low-fat yogurt so reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup and eliminated the vanilla extract.
-Added a healthy squeeze of fresh lemon juice to the batter.
Perfection!!!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Addendum to my previous comment – in either size pan mine took at least 60 minutes. Since I’m adding some fresh lemon juice, might increase flour by a tablespoon next time to see if that changes baking time.
What is the adjusted time for the bundt version?
Online it says 35-40 minutes for a bundt, but double the recipe and less time doesn’t make sense to me…
Thanks
Made this yesterday and my boyfriend loved it! Used frozen berries (strawberries, currants, blackberries) and omitted the vanilla as I didnt have any. My boyfriend said it was probably the best cake I’ve ever made. Very versatile and so moist (probably due to the yoghurt!)
I made this over the weekend using frozen cranberries and subbing about 25% with whole wheat flour. Very easy and tasty. I made it in a loaf pan and it took closer to 65 min in the oven.
A friend gave me a couple fresh grapefruits from her yard, and immediately I thought of this cake! It is sooo easy, and sooo delicious every time I make it. Added poppy seeds for the first time tonight, and can’t wait for it to come out of the oven. Have previously tried it with oranges, and swapped in a blood orange infused olive oil. I also use Greek yogurt, and it comes out perfectly.
Made this tonight with Ellenos lemon curd Greek yogurt, 1 Meyer and 1 regular lemon. No berries or other additions. Served this with barely sweetened whipped cream. This was, simply, amazing. Thank you for your recipes!
I don’t usually have extra large eggs. Could I use one more large egg instead?
1/2 teaspoon of salt is way too much. I recommend a small pinch of salt would be enough.
I have made so many of your delicious recipes. I’ve noticed on some of your cake recipes that you have started to include the amount by cup-fulls of batter. This is so helpful as I have started a collection of beautiful loaf type pans and some are 3 cup, some are 6 etc. It is really helpful, thanks. But is there an easy way to figure out what the volume of batter might be in recipes that don’t have it listed?
It tastes yum but unfortunately all the blueberries live on the bottom of the cake that I produced… Flouring them didn’t help. They were frozen, does that make a difference? Over on Serious Eats in an article on blueberry muffins, it is recommended to first put a layer of batter without blueberries on the bottom of the tin and then fold in the blueberries in the rest of the batter and add on top. I might try this next time because I this tastes good! I’m sure it would taste better if blueberries were throughout whole loaf, all on the bottom is a bit sour.
The base layer of plain batter works! Definitely try it next time.
what did I do wrong? I couldn’t resist this cake with the extra lemons I had that needed to be used up, although I didn’t have any blueberries. It was a beautiful cake and the two ends tasted wonderful. The middle was still wet after one hour. but I was afraid to leave it in any longer as I figured the rest of it would burn. I used 2% greek yogurt since that’s what I had. What would cause this because I want to make it again !
Hi Margot. Apologies if this is not the case, but did you put the lemon juice in with the batter, instead of leaving it to drizzle on at the end? I did that the first time and had the issue you are describing.
Thanks for the idea Julie. While I’m perfectly capable of doing something like that ;) I am certain that I didn’t make that mistake this time, but thanks for chiming in. I am thinking my oven is running hot. I bought a new thermometer and it cycles between 350 and 375 when set at 350! I hope to make the cake again soon and will try to bake it at 325. I’m traveling soon so not much time for baking but if I have better luck when I return home, I’ll comment again.
Finally made this for the husband. He used to love my mother’s lemon bundt cake but found out 8 years ago he has celiac and every time Mom would make hers he would pout cuz he couldn’t have it. Made it gluten free with a huge lemon from our very own potted lemon tree, no berries, only used 1/4 cup sugar, accidentally put the lemon juice in the batter, then also poured the lemon/sugar syrup on but dare I say it wasn’t lemony enough? does that sound crazy? Husband loved it! I swear he was near tears he was so happy!
Hi! Which gf flour did you use? Did you change anything else?
I make this cake about every two weeks in many forms and flavours. Its my go to cake when cheri sofly says….darling we’re out of dessert. … so… I make this again….and it is so easy & delicious.
Subbed applesauce for oil. Tasty!
Please give approximate times for various pan sizes
I love this recipe. If you’re looking for Meyer Lemons check out lrmon Ladies Orchard. From my orchard, to your kitchen. All natural, no waxes, pesticides. Ever. http://Www.lemonladies.com
And Deb, I’d love to send you a box!💕🍋💛
Hi Deb, Do you think this recipe would work if I substituted whole milk for the yogurt instead?
I just made this and it is fantastic. Thanks for another great recipe!
I used non-fat plain greek yogurt, poppy seeds, and Meyer lemons. Delish!
This was my first SK flop. The only thing I can think of is I didn’t have extra large eggs. I used large eggs. Would this really make that big of difference with the texture? It was like bread pudding.
Hi Deb!
I made this tonight using vegetable oil and I can’t seem to get past the taste of the vegetable oil seeming really prominent in my cake! Am I just super sensitive or is they a more subtle/ neutral oil that could be swapped for this?
Madeleine – you could try coconut oil – it has a farily neutral taste and is delicious in most baked goods. :)
This was lemony, delicious, and easy to make. Instead of blueberries I added 1/4 cup of slivered almonds and 2/3 cup of diced strawberries. The yogurt and oil in the batter and lemon syrup soaking made it very moist, but not soggy. I didn’t put parchment in the bottom of my loaf pan and a thin piece of the center bottom stuck. I scraped it out of the pan, put it back on the cake, and proceeded with the syrup before wrapping the cooled cake tightly in plastic and refrigerating. When I cut it this morning the piece had glued itself back to the cake. By that time, I had been looking forward to snacking on a trimming or a few crumbles from the damaged area…
I am very likely to make this again. The flavoring possibilities are vast and I almost always have yogurt in the fridge. Next time I will follow the directions and use parchment in the pan and also probably try piercing the cake with a skewer or toothpick so the syrup soaks in deeper. All of my syrup absorbed, but it stayed in the top third of the cake which resulted in a very lemony top and a less flavored (but still tasty) bottom layer.
So bummed. I followed the recipe exactly (went back over the recipe to make sure), but after an hour in the oven (middle rack), the top of my cake is way too dark and a toothpick is still coming out very wet. I’m confused. Any thoughts?
I had the same outcome and was disappointed. The end thirds were fine, the middle was inedible, i.e. wet and not properly baked. The middle third was wet even after a full hour. I have googled this problem and what I’ve read suggested this can happen if the temperature is too high, if it’s even slightly over the 350 F, despite what the oven is set to. I plan to buy a new oven thermometer and try the cake again, making sure the temperature doesn’t go above the 350. I hope this will work. I’ll post again when I get around to rebaking , if this solves the problem.
Bake it longer. Is it at all possible that your oven runs warm? Too dark on the outside while underbaked inside is usually a sign a cake needs less heat. Things also darken faster in darker baking pans. Finally, since this cake has many variables — what “anythings” did you use, btw? — it can affect baking time. More wet ingredients definitely increase the baking time.
Absolutely loved. I used a bag of Trader Joes mixed frozen fruit with blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Was great warm but put it in fridge and it was even better the next day. Will keep this one!!
I am happy to see that I am not the only one obsessed with this recipe! I just finished my third round, which was orange with whole cranberries and walnuts. I took a minute to rub the zest into the sugar as I’ve heard this helps bring out the citrus flavor. I think it worked, there’s good orange flavor. I boldly halved the amount of sugar and regret it. It’s not quite sweet enough, even with the glaze, though it does taste quite suitable for breakfast now. I doubled the recipe and made 4 mini-loaves which turned out beautifully!
Previously I did a lemon one with 1/2 olive oil and coconut yogurt (what I had on hand) and almond extract. It was perfect!!! Next I did full olive oil, whole milk yogurt, orange, almond extract and spice (cinnamon, cardamom, ginger). The flavor and texture were outstanding, though I think the spices were a bit out of place in this cake. I’d keep it simpler next time.
Also, since investing in an oven thermometer, I”ve learned that my oven temperature is way off, and there are hot spots. Knowing this has really helped me hone in on proper baking times and positioning in the oven.
Wow, I want to try this recipe. Perfect for a picnic :)
I’ve made this twice in the last couple weeks. The first time I forgot the eggs. Doh! But it was actually not a complete disaster. Tasted fine. Just didn’t rise as much. It requires the full 50 minutes baking time in my oven, which runs warm. The second time I made it, I baked it (with eggs!) for more than an hour but it still came out not-quite-done in the middle, and quite dark on the outside. From reading the comments above, I think next time I’ll turn the oven down and bake even longer.
Is this supposed to be split between two pans? It’s been in for 55 minutes and is still completely raw in the middle…
No, it’s not, but with extra berries and mix-ins, it can definitely take longer to bake.
Made a cranberry-orange version of this…with frozen cranberry sauce I still have in my freezer… from the surplus I made at Thanksgiving (oops….). Delicious!! Just replaced all lemon with orange zest/orange juice and swirled in my cranberry sauce instead of blueberries.
Could you substitute whole milk ricotta for the yogurt?
Here I’d think it’s fine.
I cut the sugar by half but think it could be even less, I skipped the glaze. I used 1/4 cup cornflour in place of equal amount of white for the texture. The olive oil gives it a good flavor instead of vegetable. I used homemade yogurt and brown sugar.
This cake looks amazing ! I have been trying to get my 3 year old to eat more fruit and vegetables and sadly are having to resort to hiding them in cakes lol. I never quite understand vegetable oil in cake recipes, is this what makes the cake extra gooey ? Do you think it would still taste ok if you halved the oil and added more yoghurt ? or would this be a disaster ? I guess if I add olive oil instead like you suggest it will be healthy.
Beware substituting buttermilk if you’re also adding berries. Made the batter kinda thin and all my berries sank. Probably would have been fine if I had, ya know, followed the recipe. Otherwise it was perfectly delicious
I baked this and it totally collapsed once out of the oven. Not really sure where I went wrong. When you say ‘whisk’ the batter do you mean electric whisk or just combine it using a hand whisk? I’m wondering if I incorporated too much air with an electric whisk?
Thanks!
Hello – when you say ‘whisk’ do you mean electric whisk or just combine the batter with a gentle hand whisking? I made he cake and cooked it a little longer than stated but it collapsed once out of the oven. I’m wondering if I either over mixed or didn’t incorporate enough air in the batter.
Thanks!
I say whisk because you can whisk by hand or with an electric mixer, however, there’s no need to pull out the latter for a batter like this. What kind of additions did you make? They can add baking time, of course.
I love this loaf – I’ve made it several times but I cannot remember how to store it. Maybe we ate it all in one sitting. In the fridge? I don’t want to leave it out if it will mold quickly.
It’s fine at room temperature but will keep longest in the fridge, especially if your kitchen is warm.
I don’t think I have ever commented on any recipe that I’ve gotten off the internet, but since I am about to make this cake for about the 20th time, I thought I should. This cake is fantastic. I’ve been making cakes with yogurt instead of butter for awhile now. They are healthier and last a lot longer (in theory, because a good cake doesn’t last long around my house). This is a brilliant recipe. I have tried many of the alternative suggestions and they all taste great. Thank you smitten kitten.
I have fallen in love with this Yogurt Lemon Anything Cake recipe, though I use it to make muffins, rather than cake. So easy to keep a supply of assorted muffins individually wrapped in the freezer. I have found that it pays to be gentle with the yogurt, gently folding it into wet ingredients and then into flour. I found out the hard way that just whipping it with a wisk makes it runnier and causes the fruit to sink more to the bottom. I have made Blueberry Orange, Triple Berry (blueberry, blackberry, and chopped strawberries), Lime (just lime), Blueberry Lemon (with lemon extract in place of vanilla). I had a not fully ripe nectarine so I made Blueberry Nectarine (using orange as the citrus) and cut the nectarines into little cubes the size of blueberries. Now, anytime I want a muffin, I just go to the freezer.
I’ve made this cake a few times before with great results. This time I wanted to unload all the end-of-season blackberries in my fridge. So I doubled the recipe and made it into a bundt cake. I greased the pan well with oil & flour and used about 1 and 2/3 cups sugar, 3 heaping cups of blackberries, 4 eggs, not enough lemon zest (I used 2 teaspoons, should definitely have doubled that!), and a scant cup of olive oil. I also accidentally added 2 additional tablespoons of flour to the batter directly, and didn’t coat the berries, and it all turned out wonderfully. I didn’t ice it and it still tasted just as sweet as a yummy, moist breakfast cake should be.
Made this yesterday. I cut down on the sugar (to 3/4 cup) as was suggested in some comments. I used poppy seeds in place of the fruit. It came out lovely and not too sweet, which is exactly how I wanted it. I baked it in four small loaf pans, and I will bring one to a friend to have with tea. Perfect for the occasion!
I’ve made the blueberry yogurt cake in a bundt pan.
For the yogurt,I didn’t have plain,so I used one chobini honey,and a banana one. I also used dry blueberries in the mix. Everything was perfect.
The blueberries rehydrated,and the cake is moist and delish.
Family greatly enjoyed this for Christmas brunch.
I really love this recipe. So simple and the variations are endless. I’ve made it as listed and then made a cranberry orange version with olive oil (because the vegetable oil had turned rancid 😝). I always need to cook it significantly longer than 50 min (have tried it in two different ovens). It took about 70+ min to cook through this last time and turned quite toasty on the outside, but did not burn. Thank goodness! Thank you for the recipe!
Ina always uses extra large eggs. I use large eggs, do I need to add another yolk to make up for the discrepancy?
No, I made it with three large eggs and it was perfect. I don’t know why Ina always specifies extra-large eggs, so annoying!
Can you swap almond flour for the white flour? If so what are the measurements? Thanks!!!!
After surviving the Polar Vortex, I ran into the kitchen and made what I had on hand: Paramount Lemon Driscoll Raspberry Fage Yogurt Olive Oil Cake. It is amazing! I read 3 times to make sure I wasn’t adding the juice to the batter. But I was in such a hurry I somehow read to melt 1/3 cup lemon juice with 1TBL sugar and I poured that over the top – it tasted great. Tell the truth Deb How annoying are we that we don’t take the time to read directions??? This is great because it’s not sweet. It’s bursting with flavor and so moist.
This seems similar to your triple berry buttermilk bundt cake i made not too long ago (delicious, btw). Do you have a preference?
Can buttermilk be sub’d for the yogurt?
Lee Rosenthal, did you use buttermilk, and if so how did it go? I have the same question, thanks much!
Hi Deb, what do you think about using greek yogurt rather than regular yogurt? Would I need to thin it with a little milk? I always have 2% greek yogurt on hand.
Thanks!
I made an orange chocolate version of this cake for our Super Bowl party today, and let’s just say everyone enjoyed it way more than the game. I used one cup of chocolate chips, the zest from two Cara Cara oranges (probably about a tablespoon total), and the juice of one of the oranges (about half a cup) plus 1.5 tablespoons sugar to make the syrup. The cake was still VERY wet inside after baking for 50 minutes, so I reduced the temperature by 25 degrees and baked it for another 15 minutes — at which point it was perfect. I was worried the orange flavor would fade into the background but it was upfront and delicious. Will definitely try this again, using half a cup of oil (maybe olive oil!) based on the comments here.
Fantastically dense and divine citrus loaf. I made mine with fat-free Greek yogurt (skyr was all I had on hand), replaced 1/2 c of white AP flour with white whole wheat flour, and left out the blueberries and it turned out wonderfully. Not too sweet, just lemony enough, and very moist. My only issue was with the glaze…I followed the measurements exactly and it was painfully sour!! Not even bearable on top of the sweet cake! I don’t know what is wrong there, but I would avoid that glaze.
How long does this keep at room temperature? Assuming you don’t inhale it in one sitting :) thank you! It’s delicious. X
Hi there! I want to adapt this recipe to make a bundt cake similar to a Persian love cake, with lemon, cardomom, and rosewater flavours. Do you think it would work? Swap out the vanilla for rosewater, add a pinch of cardamom, and omit the berries?
What if I creamed a stick of butter and sugar and then added the other wet ingredients and then dry? How would it affect the texture?
Made this multiple times, and for me turned out best by increasing flour to 2 cups while keeping all other ingredients the same as in recipe. Made with lemon poppyseed blueberries most recently and turned out excellent!
Hi … I just made this lovely cake and I thought I’d read something about storing it in the fridge but now I can’t seem to find that comment. Please advise as I’m not serving it until tomorrow. Thanks!
I just made this in an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan that is called for, and it took over 30 min more than the 50 min stated in the recipe. I suspect if I’d used a 9×5 inch loaf pan, this would have been done much closer to the 50 min timeframe. I also find that Ina Garten’s insistence on using the extra large eggs annoying, as I always have large eggs on hand because those are standard in most recipes.
The cake is currently cooling, so I’ve not had the chance to slice into it yet, but the crumbs I picked off were yummy & it smells really good.
Mine came out rubbery. What did i do wrong?
Used sour cream (didn’t have yogurt) and added cardamom. Delicious! I have also used maple glaze in prior batches.
Maple glaze! That sounds amazing. Could you share your recipe?
This is a simple and delicious loaf. I had extra batter and I made a few mini muffins.
I’m out of yogurt. Is there anything I can sub in? In the meantime, I’m off to search your recipes for a lemon cake for which I actually have all the ingredients!
Sour cream!
It has been ELEVEN years since you posted this recipe, so I doubt anyone will see this comment. Nevertheless…I was prepared for my cake to be a disaster since I substituted liberally to use up ingredients prior to a trip. I used large eggs in place of the extra large called for. I subbed raw sugar for the granulated white sugar. I used a combo of lemon & orange zest in the cake, and lemon/orange juice for the soak. Worse, I was inattentive and baked the cake at 400F for TWENTY minutes before realizing the error & turning the oven to 350F. And guess what?! It was perfect. Either the errors cancelled themselves out or the recipe is just that good. We’re going to eat cake for dinner and for tomorrow’s breakfast too. Thank you for a delicious & forgiving recipe!
This was great! I made a couple of small tweaks and it still turned out amazing.
I did 3/4 cup of all purpose flour and 3/4 cup of almond flour. I used grapefruit zest instead of lemon. I used avocado oil in place of vegetable oil. I used 1/4 of sugar instead of 1 cup. I upped the quantities of cinnamon and vanilla extract. Didn’t do the sugar glaze on top.
Everything else stayed the same and this came out incredibly moist and wonderful!
Is it necessary to line the pan with parchment paper if you’re using a bundt pan?
No.
Great recipe, easy to prepare and produced a lovely moist loaf cake that was a big hit in this house. I doubled the recipe to make two, which was just as well as the first loaf disappeared in a matter of hours. For once, I actually had all the ingredients in the house and didn’t have to make substitutions. I’m very guilty of that, not because I think I know better but because I’m working around what’s in the pantry and fridge. I did cut the sugar back by a 1/4, as it makes me feel a little virtuous and added 2 tsps of Grand Marnier as I had it to use up and it fits with my “a bit of booze is better” philosophy of cooking. Couldn’t distinguish the specific liqueur in the finished product but I do think it amped up the citrus notes nicely. Adding this recipe to my baking rotation. Next up, I’ll be trying your new recipe for Zucchini bread.
I lied. Totally lied. I said I’d try the Zucchini bread next, but turns out I had extra strawberries and blueberries to use up, so tally-ho, I had another crack at a variation of this recipe. Had everything in the house I needed, except the whole milk yogurt, so I winged it with some 0% Greek mixed-berry flavored stuff and added a tbsp of melted butter. Not exactly scientific, but I figured it might add the missing fat/flavor back in? Last time I cut the sugar back by a 1/4, but this time I reduced by 1/2, as the berries were ripe and sweet and this is destined to be a breakfast item. The sweetness level at the 1/2 way mark is spot on for us, and the reduction in sugar didn’t hurt the texture at all. The mix of blueberries and strawberries plus the flavored berry yogurt is also a winner, and 55 mins in the oven, tented with foil at the 30 min mark works like a charm. Last time the bottom was a slightly browner than I like, so this time I put an empty cookie sheet on the oven shelf below the tins and it cured the over-browning. If any one else is having that issue with their oven this is a good solution. just a fantastic recipe Deb. Two thumbs way, way up.
Love this recipe! I’ve made it twice, exactly as described, and it was a smash hit with requests for the recipe. Super easy, moist, an incredible blend of flavors. I used frozen wild blueberries, covered it with tin foil at 50 minutes so as not to burn, and baked for 70 until the taster came out clean. I’m looking forward to the orange chunk in the fall, but lemon blueberry is perfect for summer. Just yum!!
How should this be stored after cooling?
Room temp is fine for a few days; I like to keep it only loosely wrapped. Longer, in the fridge.
I made this yesterday! Turned out really well. I followed the original recipe and plan to try out variations in the future. The cake is super soft and not too dense with a good balance of sweet and tangy/tart. Make this cake!!
Huckleberry lime for a win!
Hi- any idea if I can use buttermilk instead? And if so, how much? (Buttermilk’s what I have in the fridge)-
Yes, but it makes for a slightly thinner batter, and the thinner the batter, the more likely any added fruit is to sink.
Can buttermilk be substituted for yogurt?
This is the most forgiving recipe, ever. I forgot to mix the wet ingredients separately, so had to just add them and use an electric mixer. I only had Greek yogurt. Then I accidentally dumped 2 cups of raspberries in and forgot to save some for the top. I used the entire 15 oz container of ricotta. It came out perfectly and was a smash hit. I’ve made it a few times, always with success. It’s now my go-to cake for potlucks. Fabulous recipe. Try the buttermilk!
Yes, but it makes for a slightly thinner batter, and the thinner the batter, the more likely any added fruit is to sink.
Love this recipe. Easy to make and comes out beautifully every time. I use frozen wild blueberries and have shared the recipe with several friends. Powdered sugar on top just before serving is a nice touch.
I used a loaf pan that is the exact size suggested (I measured to be sure!), and the batter came almost to the very top. In the oven now and it is overflowing the pan a bit. I used full fat yogurt that is more runny than most and wonder if that is part of the problem? It smells fantastic though!
I just put this lemon loaf in the oven and I realized I made a mistake. I put the 1/3 cup of lemon juice in the batter along with the 1 TBS of sugar. I added the extra 1 TBS of flour to try to balance the juice. Will it be ruined? 😭
I ran out of sugar so I only used half of the amount you recommended and it still was delicious! Such a beautiful crunchy crust.
Baked at 325 convection for 76 minutes, doubled the recipe to make 2 loaves but did cut back on sugar by about 1/4 c. total, used frozen wild boreal blueberries and maybe a bit more flour w/ which to toss them (because my scale decided to go battery-dead mid-flour addition) and about 2 Tbs. of zest. Used whole fat Greek plain yogurt and a bit of low-fat sour cream (didn’t have enough yogurt) and very slightly larger pans than called for (I don’t know? Do you measure the bottom part or the top?). They were VERY jiggly early on but I’m so glad I decided to bake them convection. They’re beautiful and, though they were beautifully puffy initially, they did fall a bit. I omitted the glaze and am glad I did, only because they’re SO moist that the glaze might make them SO moist that each piece might fall apart. The office loved the loaf they got and, kept in an airtight container, the home loaf has stayed beautifully moist for 3 days. This is a great springboard for whatever flavors you choose. Will absolutely make again.
I think I bit off more than I should have. I am having 28 people for a Christmas brunch at 12:30 and don’t know if I should make breakfast food or something else. I know for sure I will make a ham. Can you help me with ideas. I am doing this alone at my home
Thank you
This is a great recipe but would be great to mention that the extra tablespoon of sugar is for the glaze and not the cake (obviously I’m a menace and read only until the section I need) — when I see a funny amount, I assume it’s because you start w recipe written in metric measurements (yay) that’s been converted.
Made this to thank a friend who had done something nice for me recently. Since this was my first time making this recipe I made 3 mini cakes so I could taste test before giving the other 2 to my friend. I made the lemon blueberry version according to the recipe (but with the addition of a light sprinkle of powdered sugar on top) and it was delicious. My friend texted me and then thanked me in person several times saying how moist and flavorful the cake is.
I realize that coating the blueberries with flour is to prevent them from sinking to the bottom but that didn’t work for me this time.
I have this in the oven right now – everytime I use this recipe, I read “Cool.” as an observation instead of an instruction and it makes me laugh.
Cool.
I made this recipe twice now, using orange and cranberry as a combination. I give a rough chop to the cranberries, and I use only 200gr (instead of the 255gr), and it is plenty! In addiction of tossing the fruit in the flour, I also add a tab of sugar (I take some of the recipe, I don’t add more sugar) to cut the tartness of the cranberry. Finally, I made the (happy) mistake to read too quickly and put the 1/3 cup of juice in the batter, instead of making a syrup out of it. No biggy, the cake just take about 20min more to bake, but let me tell you, I have never made a cake that moist!! (Event better the days after the baking, with a little rest!)
Can someone help a very new baker with a mass breakdown of how many grams of sugar would be in the 1 cup and how many grams would be in the extra tbsp for the syrup? Thank you!!
p.s. also a dumb question but can the syrup get overcooked? I don’t know if I pulled it too early from the heat (it seemed clear/dissolved) but wasn’t sure if I should thicken it more.
I made this gluten-free AND dairy-free and you’d never know the difference! Whaaat? What magic recipe is this? (used Bob’s GF flour mix and cashew yoghurt, BTW)
Just made your lemon cake with blueberries for my wife’s birthday. There are only two of us. The cake will not last until morning.
Thank you.
Can I substitute sour cream for the yogurt? (Recipes in the time of Corona…)
Yes
I made this for a surprise breakfast we planned to celebrate a coworker’s pregnancy. I took the recommendation to consider it an “anything loaf” to heart and used what I had: some very cherry frozen fruit from trader joe’s and blood orange juice and zest for the loaf and syrup. I will warn everyone that as a loaf it did take FOREVER to bake and I was almost late to work, but it was outstanding! Absolutely delicious and tender, and still extremely moist despite some scorch marks on the bottom of the tin (when I went to check it and it was complete soup still, I cranked that heat up).
Would European style whole milk yogurt work?
I use non-fat Greek yogurt and it works perfectly. It’s a very forgiving recipe.
Sooo, what are thoughts on doing a matcha loaf?!?!?!?!
My Corona-induced dilemma is trying to use the self rising flour (the only thing left in the store) along with baking powder. Do I need to use less powder? More acid to balance out the baking soda or less? I don’t want a metallic taste.
The texture of this cake was interesting – more of a custardy cake than a cakey one, if that makes sense. The three eggs?? In any case, while I found it just a bit odd at first, it very quickly grew on me. I loved the moistness that seemed to persist over the short time the cake lasted. I also loved that it wasn’t overly sweet. And I’m making it for the second time this week 😬
Could I use butter instead of oil? If so how much? If you think the oil is better then I may try the olive idea.
Delicious … BUT what on earth is the trick to stopping the blueberries from all falling to the bottom of the cake??? I followed recipe exactly and it still happened. It tastes great but yours looks so pretty speckled with blue.
Hi there! What is the difference between this recipe and this one: https://smittenkitchen.com/2006/10/lemon-cake/ ?
This is a yogurt loaf with more of a heavy, moist, quickbread crumb. The lemon cake is a classic pound cake with an assertive lemon flavor.
I have made this about four times since I discovered it. It is fantastic! Being a lover all things lemon, this is a winner for me. Today I reduce the sugar to make it more breakfast friendly. The reduction in sugar didn’t hurt the end result at all. Yum! Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe. It’s in my top 5!!!
Loooong time smitten kitchen fan, first time posting because this is SO GOOD! I made a gluten-free version of this and the following substitutions and it was perfectly most, light, not-too-sweet, and delish:
— Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Flour
— 2% greek yogurt instead of whole milk
— 1/2 cup coconut sugar (I like mine less sweet) instead of regular sugar
— olive oil instead of veggie oil
— Just 3 large eggs since I didn’t have extra-large
Cooked in an 8 inch loaf pan for 50 minutes perfectly. I also didn’t opt to include any berries or the glaze, and it was still so good (but I like things on the not-so-sweet side).
Can I substitute sour cream tie yogurt?
Delicious! I made this vegan using using yogurt and an egg replacement and it was delicious. I have also used many different flavor combinations and they’re all wonderful.
Love anything that has lemon zest in it. I made this, following the measurement of blueberries. They were frozen and I didn’t thaw them as per the recipe however, they seemed to sink to one area of the batter. The batter in that area was soft/runny, I think from the juice of the blueberries, this was even after baking for 70 minutes, at which point I had to take the loaf out as the top was getting very golden. Even the areas of loaf that did cook through seemed to fall apart. Although that happened, I removed the runny parts and the rest was tasty. If I was to remake it, I would cut down the portion of blueberries or not add them at all.
Oh this was really very good. It was the perfect amount of blueberries to cake ratio. So yummy and a great dessert if you have a lot of blueberries! I used just low-fat Greek yogurt (vs whole milk yogurt), large eggs (vs extra-large), I added some crushed lavender, olive oil (vs vegetable oil), lime juice (vs lemon zest) … and it still tasted great. Maybe it would taste even yummier if I followed everything in the recipe? Thank you!
I’ve made this many many times and I love it. Just weighing in to say that today I tried the turbinado-sugar-on-top method that SK uses for banana bread and zucchini bread. It was great! I skipped the lemon/sugar syrup step and left the top crunchy. Yum.
Has anyone tried adding zucchini to this, or have any ideas about what mods I should do if I wanted to try that as an add instead of fruit? Or would any mod be required?
Ok, for anyone wanting to know: I added about a cup of shredded zucchini, drained with a towel to some extent, and used my slightly larger 9×5 loaf pan to avoid spillage. Baked for an hour and 5 minutes, and took it out; my tester came out clean, but when I cut it an hour later, it was still either slightly underdone or just still very moist from the zucchini. I had a feeling it needed a little more time and wish I’d trusted my instinct. I like the zucchini addition, but next time I’ll bake it longer.
As several others I also made some ‘healthier’ substitutions, which were surprisingly unnoticable (and I am generally not a healthy baker). I used only whole wheat flour, halved the sugar and oil and instead added one large microwaved and then mashed apple. Texture and sweetness turned out well. I did turn the cake upside down and put it in the oven for another ten minutes after I removed it from the pan, the bottom was a bit soggy. I also poured the syrup over the bottom (the cake was upside down anyway) so the top remained nice and crackly.
Great combination with the blueberries, lemon and yoghurt!
Just pulled this out of the oven. Took an additional 25 minutes beyond the 50 min baking time.
I’ve been eyeing this recipe for a while. Thinking of swapping out oranges for the lemons, and fresh cranberries for the blueberries, for a Thanksgiving breakfast treat. Do you think this’ll work?? Do you think I need to increase the sugar? Thanks!
I started to make this cake and found that my yogurt was mouldy. So I substituted cottage cheese instead. I used an immersion blender in the liquid ingredients to make them creamy. I also substituted frozen black currants from my garden for the blueberries. We’ll see how it turns out as it is in the oven now.
It needed an additional 20 minutes baking.
Hi Deb! Could I freeze this without negative affect?
Yes
Should I do the lemon sugar syrup after baking if I intend to do a glaze on top?
For anyone else who wants to lower the sugar (I was adding a sweetened whipped cream topping), King Arthur Flour offers a great guide:
How to reduce sugar in cake
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2017/04/26/reduce-sugar-in-cake
For this type of cake, which I believe they’d categorize as a ‘blended cake’, they note that you can reduce sugar up to 50% without affecting the volume/texture (with the exception of cocoa cakes, which they note has an extreme bitterness which needs the sugar to balance it out).
For my version, I cut the sugar to roughly somewhere between 50% and 75%, and I doubled the lemon zest and also used a greek-style yogurt. Then, I finished it with a sweetened whipped cream. It’s a marvelously flexible recipe!
This ended up being really moist and delicious, but as many other commenters have noted, it took a lot longer to bake than indicated. In a regular loaf tin mine needed 75 minutes – at 50 minutes the batter literally sloshed around when I pulled out the oven rack to test it.
I make this with low fat yoghurt and it sunk at the bottom. So the next time I added 1/3 cup more flour. It turned out fine.
I made this pretty much as written. The only change I made was that I used Kite Hill almond milk yogurt and I am pleased to report it still came out great! (I try to avoid dairy as much as possible.) I think I may have had a sour lemon, because the glaze seemed bitter, but I added some honey and confectionery sugar and it was yummy!
This is such a good, forgiving recipe. The first time I made it, I (like some other reviewers) did not read the recipe closely enough and dumped the lemon juice in with the other wet ingredients… it needed about 15 minutes extra baking time, but otherwise turned out wonderfully (I have repeated this “mistake” in subsequent batches). I always omit the glaze at the end. I also use full-fat Greek yogurt, saskatoons (aka juneberries/serviceberries) instead of blueberries, and 1/3 less sugar (and don’t miss it).
Great recipe I keep coming back to. Today I made upside down cupcakes with blood oranges based on this recipe, they’re beautiful :)
I finally made this in a round cake pan, using 1/2 olive oil- 1/2 vegetable oil, 1/2 full fat-1/2 0% Greek Yogurt, based on your suggestions! It took the full amount of bake time & I covered it with lemon curd after the glaze & decorated with raspberries around the edge.
* Yummy and perfect for brunch:)
Great cake! I used Meyer lemons and nearly-dead blueberries, raspberries and blackberries that would have been thrown away – so I gave myself points for that! I poured the syrup over while it was still in the pan so it soaked every little bit of it up. So glad to finally have a lemon cake that was truly lemony….Making a poppyseed version tonight! Thanks again Deb for making me the baking hero of my family!!
I made this as written but weighed all of the ingredients rather than using the volume measures. It ended up filling a round bundt pan and taking 30+ minutes to cook. The blueberries fell to the bottom despite being coated with flour (Trader Joe’s frozen wild blueberries). I think there is something wrong with the weights given…
The upper part of the cake (without the blueberries) was really good but the part with the blueberries was way too moist. I’ll try it again but use volumes rather than weights.
Delicious. Made this with 1/2 cup sugar. Still had a nice sweetness, more of a breakfast bread than a dessert. Will definitely make this again!
I make this a lot! so much that I’ve memorized the recipe. Today’s version had fresh cherries, almond extract, and orange zest. I find that it takes 5-12 minutes longer to bake when I add fruit.
This recipe does not disappoint! Very moist and dense and flavorful. I used Fage 5% fat yogurt and baked for 70 minutes (350 for 60 minutes plus 10 more minutes at 325) to get to the point where it was done in the middle. Nice lemony combination with the blueberries.
Holy crap this cake is good!! Such an easy recipe and makes the lemon cake of my dreams! Already imagining making it into cupcakes or the like… spongy and moist and tart and sweet. I used big, tart blueberries that we had picked and frozen, and 1 1/2 cups didn’t look like enough so I dumped maybe an additional cup in there. I knew it would need additional baking time and it definitely did, maybe an extra 1/2 hour, and I did cover it with foil at the end to prevent the top from browning too much. And the heavy blueberries sank to the bottom, giving it a blue & “marbled” look on the bottom, and once out, the cake was a wee bit unstable at the bottom and sides. Yet! It cut beautifully and held its (slightly collapsed) shape perfectly and tasted divine. I may use slightly less blueberries next time… or maybe not. Every bite was delicious. Thanks for this recipe!
This may be my first smitten kitchen miss, but to be fair I think I picked the wrong fruit. I had a bunch of raspberries and blackberries so I used a mixture with a bit of extra flour tossed in due to the general wetness. The texture ended up being off, kind of dense and wet. And despite the flour all the berries sunk. I’d recommend steering clear of raspberries for this one! If I were to try this again, I think I’d sub melted butter for the oil, or pick something other than canola oil which was just sort of meh.
This was a hit for me. Easy to make and tasty to eat. Thank you, Deb!
Has anyone tried making this in a bundt pan? Thank you!
Depending on the size of your Bundt pan, you might need to 1.5 or 2x the recipe. I think it would work well otherwise, although I have not personally tried it.
So I’m about to make a recipe… can you tell me the differences between these recipes? Blueberry boy bait, blueberry crumb bars, blueberry crumb cake and the lemon yogurt cake with berries? What is the taste difference? Which is more like a cake or not dessert?
I’d nudge you towards this loaf for a more lemony tea cake and the blueberry crumb cake for a really classic, excellent coffee cake. Crumb bars are cookie bars. Boy bait is a thinner, simpler cake; great for snacking.
how would you recommend preventing the blueberries from sinking to the bottom? mine sunk which caused part of the bottom not to cook
Toss them in a tablespoon of flour!
This was great! Replaced 2/3 of the flour with white whole wheat flour and reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup to make me feel slightly better about having it for breakfast 🤣 Still plenty sweet and the wheat flour did not make it too dense. Will definitely make again.
I’m a nervous baker so I didn’t try this but wanted to know if instead of topping with lemon juice and sugar, I could use fresh lemon juice and simple syrup I’d already made and had handy (mostly for whiskey sours).
hi! hope all is well 🙂 taste wise, what’s the difference really between this lemon cake & the lemon poundcake? & which one do you prefer? thx!
I split the batter in two and added poppy seeds to one half and cranberries to the other half (cranberries halved and mixed with 1/2 tbsp flour and 1 tbsp sugar). I then baked 6 muffins each (25 min bake time) and soaked them with lemon syrup as directed. Both flavors came out amazing, and the muffins disappeared quickly, but the cranberry version was my favorite. What a great and versatile recipe!
I made this first with blueberries, (frozen wild are a must) almond extract, and olive oil. The family gobbled it up. Then made it with almond extract, olive oil, and sliced almonds in the cake and sprinkled on top. Both wonderful.
I made this recipe as cupcakes to pair with an Earl Grey frosting. The cupcakes are delicious! The only adjustment I made was using lactose-free yogurt (it was an accident!). Next time I might switch. to regular salt because the kosher salt I used (the grocery store’s brand) didn’t absorb/melt so there are crunchy bits of salt.
Earl! Grey! Frosting! Do tell!
I’m writing to say that I’ve been using this recipe of yours since at least 2014 and have adapted it all kinds of ways because it’s such a wonderful moist base cake. Tonight I doubled the recipe and divided the batter between 3 8” square pans. I usually decrease the sugar and did so tonight, using 3/4 cup instead of the full cup. This time I experimented with half sour cream and half Greek yogurt (the 10% milk fat kind) and it was just as tasty as usual.
I wonder, if I had shared a comment each time I made this cake, how many would that have been over all these years!
Well, this still is good even if you are an idiot like me and add the lemon juice to the raw batter. It took longer to bake and had more of the consistency of a steamed pudding but still is very tasty!
I noticed that you often use XL eggs. I very seldom buy them and wonder what the swap is for L eggs. 4 instead of 3?
I use large eggs 99% of the time but this was originally adapted from Ina Garten, who prefers XL. I use large instead without a problem. There is a swap for eggs but it’s “4 to 5 extra-large = 5 large,” i.e. I wouldn’t add another large egg unless the recipe called for many XL ones. You can find more cooking conversions on this page, if needed.
My daughter is asking for a lemon unicorn cake for her birthday, and I came here straightaway! How do you think this would work in a Wilton-esque mold?
(Also considering using sprinkles instead of blueberries..)
Can I use flavored yogurt ( I have an excess) but omit half the sugar, maybe?
I made this in a ceramic loaf pan and it was raw in the center after 50 minutes. Wonder if it was the pan? First time I’ve used it. But it’s yummy with a mix of blood orange and lemon and more blueberries than called for! As my father used to say, “it will fall apart in your stomach anyway!”
This cake is delicious! I added fresh raspberries from my garden, coated in a bit of flour. However, next time if I need to double the recipe, I’ll make it in two loaf pans instead of one bundt pan. It nearly overflowed, took nearly 80 min to bake, and then took FOREVER to cool and come out of the pan. I cooled it on a rack for two hours and the pan was still warm (I have a heavy duty pan) and then put it in the fridge with ice packs on top for another 30 min before I could finally shake it out of the pan! And while very tasty, it was quite dense and weighed a TON (which was very noticeable because I was carrying it to a potluck). I will definitely make it again, but will stick with the original pan size. p.s. I’m always amazed that even the recipes you posted over a decade ago are still perfect!
I don’t remember if I commented before, but can’t hurt to say- amazing bread! I used raspberries instead of blueberries, used low fat plain greek yogurt, used 3/4 c. sugar,and used fiori di sicilia instead of the vanilla and lemon zest. It needed about an hour to fully bake. It’s moist and delicious! I drizzled a simple confectioner sugar glaze over the top. This is such a versatile recipe!
I just made this again for the second time in a week. This time I was confident it would turn out better because I didn’t double the recipe; I made it exactly as written and baked in a loaf pan. After 55 min the tester came out clean, but upon cooling and turning it out of the pan, it was clearly VERY underbaked. Total disaster, not sure how to fix it now. The taste is absolutely delicious but there’s something really off with the way this bakes up. It comes out extremely dense and is very hard to bake all the way through. I’m going to keep trying to figure it out because it tastes so good.
FWIW, I almost always make recipes for loaf-shaped quick breads in an 8×8 pan, because they don’t take as long to bake, and I don’t have to worry as much about the edges being overbaked. Might be worth trying with this recipe? I haven’t made this one, so I can’t recommend a time for it, but I’d guess it will take at least 40 minutes.
This is delicious! I made a double recipe to use some of the gorgeous blackberries I foraged; it took 60 minutes to bake, the second half of which I covered the cake with aluminium foil so that it didn’t brown too much. It mostly filled my 9×13 pan, but didn’t rise very much, so thankfully there was no spillover.
I did use the lemon glaze, to which I added a bit of honey to make the flavour more interesting. I think that it added a lot of lovely lemon flavour (and I didn’t have another use for the lemon juice anyway, so waste not want not). I will definitely use this again with various combinations – I love a cake that is versatile.
Deb do you think I can swap 80% extraction Frederick Cake Flour from Janie’s Mill for the AP? It is a soft flour (I have 25 lb from Xmas baking and need to use it up. Guessing this loaf cake freezes well too?
I haven’t worked with this flour before so I cannot be sure; it’s worth keeping in mind, however, that this is a tender and very moist cake as written, I’m not sure if the flour will make it too much. It freezes well; notes at the end of the recipe.
Thank you Deb! I was thinking it might not be strong enough too.
Thank you! Looks delicious. Do you think I can use almond flour instead of all purpose, and erythritol instead of sugar to make it more diabetes friendly.
I haven’t tested this with almond flour but I’m concerned the cake will be too wet with it. Here are a few comments that mention almond flour:
https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/lemon-yogurt-anything-cake/#comment-1415170
https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/lemon-yogurt-anything-cake/#comment-626108
https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/lemon-yogurt-anything-cake/#comment-937634
Ditto for the sugar swap; I haven’t tested it here but I am less worried if it will work.
Hi! I made this when I lived in NY and we loved it…wanted to make now but live in Denver – do you have adjustments for high altitude? Thanks!
I love ginger and lemon. Could,I use ginger sheep’s milk yoghurt-it has pieces of real ginger in it. Also if you IX the berries with the flour before adding, does it keep them from sinking a bit?
I am sure other yogurts will work here!
The berries are put on top of the flour before mixing, which does the same as coating them. However, I have not found in my cooking that flour keeps berries from sinking. Only thicker batters do (like my blueberry muffins), and this isn’t very thick.
Has anyone tried this with any gluten free flour?
Thanks!
I just made this with KAF measure for measure flour. I added 2 tbsp of yogurt and let the batter sit for 30 minutes before baking. I used the pullman loaf pan from KAF which also works well for GF breads. Turned out quite nice.
How long would the baking time be for muffins and mini muffins? Will be making this weekend!
This was a FANTASTIC clean-out-my-fridge option because I had eggs, lemons, white chocolate chips and random portions of dairy to use up. But I only had sour cream and cottage cheese, which I whizzed into the batter with an immersion blender to get rid of the lumps…. hopefully it works out! The batter was tasty.
I made this with lemon and wild blueberries, adding fiori di Sicilia for the vanilla. It was absolutely gorgeous. Fiori di Sicilia, if you’re not familiar, is citrus/floral/vanilla and suits this cake perfectly.
Im going to make it in my smaller bundt pan. Dessert will be delicious!
I made this cake in a nine inch round pan and it came out perfect after 60 minutes. It got big compliments! thanks once again!
I made this with KAF Gluten-Free measure for measure flour. When modifying a recipe to be GF, I add either an extra egg or other type of moisture and let the batter sit for 30 minutes before baking. In this recipe, I added about 2 tbsp extra yogurt (full fat greek yogurt). Turned out quite nice and the berries were surprisingly well dispersed and not all sunk to the bottom. I used almond extract which I think detracted from any lemony flavor, but it was still a nice flavor overall.
Hello!
Do you ever bake with Almond flour for those that need to stay away from too many carbs due to a medical restriction?
Thank you.
This cake has almond flour in it. :)
I made these over the weekend as lemon blueberry muffins (per the notes). I had a bit of leftover lemon infused olive oil from a trip to California so add about a tablespoon of that. Simply delicious! Very light, airy and full of flavour. Much thanks for yet another delicious recipe that was easy to make.
Baked this today with the following changes. Used Blood Orange Infused Olive Oil and orange zest in place of lemon zest. Also, skipped the glaze.
WONDERFUL!!
Just made this — came out AMAZING. I used olive oil and (not so) fresh blueberries. Blueberries are perfectly dispersed, the cake really soaked up the lemon syrup, it has the perfect consistency… you always have the best recipes!
Very moist and lovely lemony flavor. I cross referenced and saw that Ina’s version calls for melted butter in lieu of the oil. Wondering why you decided to use oil? I know you always have a plan. :)
I’ve made this twice in the last two weeks. The first time I followed the recipe as you wrote it except I used Lilly Pillies as the berry fruit (I have a tree). They are about as big as a cherry and are native to Australia. Anyway the cake turned out very dense (one of the answers I saw above described it as “gummy”). However it was nice to eat. Today I tried again. I used self raising flour this time and dried cranberries which I soaked overnight.The texture of the cake was much improved – light and spongey. I think that was because of the self raising flour.
I will try it with lily pillies again – but did not have time today to remove the hard little seeds
I’m pretty sure the adaptation erased all of the flour, et al from your recipe instructions! :)
The flour is added at the end of the second paragraph.
1/3 cup of the lemon juice / 1 tablespoon sugar sounds like a lot to put on top of the loaf pan. Is all of it meant to be used? Isn’t it too sour? Currently baking in the oven.
Delicious!
I changed it up a bit by leaving out the vanilla, adding half a squeezed lemon to the batter and 1/3 cup poppy seeds. I didn’t not add the glaze and made it in a 8 count mini loaf pan, baked at 350 for 25 min. Came out perfectly!
I made a gluten free version with the following mods:
– a combo of “Gluten Free on a Shoestring” flour mix and Bob’s Red Mill GF flour blend
– 1/4 cup oil
– almond extract instead of vanilla
– 2 limes and one lemon
– 2/3 plain Greek yogurt and 1/3 sour cream
– blackberries instead of blueberries.
It’s a bit dense (as are most GF bakes) but very tasty! I used a 9″ round pan and baked for about 40 minutes. Next time, might bump up the baking powder a bit. I’m happy to hear any other suggestions!
Still my go to lemon syrup cake. Easy and delicious. Always a crowd pleaser. Have been making it for years – loved seeing your 2023 update when I came here to make it today (for a picnic in Kew Gardens with my girls).
Was great! Might see if I can cram a few more blueberries in next time.
Not a typical complaint, but the cake was almost too moist. It was cooked through but was too oily which made it feel a little dense.
I’ll stick with the Summer cake and swap out available fruits.
Just had to comment how great this recipe is. I have made it four times over the past few weeks never deviating from the basic blueberry loaf version. My grandchildren LOVE it! My husband LOVES it and what is so special is that it is a one bowl recipe. No need to drag out the heavy mixer. So yummy!
Actually a question. How do you think this recipe would do gluten-free?
Thanks
I made some notes about this in a comment on 8/6/23.
Here are comments from people who have made this gluten-free and offer tips/advice:
https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/lemon-yogurt-anything-cake/#comment-2607722
https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/lemon-yogurt-anything-cake/#comment-2600699
https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/lemon-yogurt-anything-cake/#comment-1611512
https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/lemon-yogurt-anything-cake/#comment-1530656
https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/lemon-yogurt-anything-cake/#comment-1020390
https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/lemon-yogurt-anything-cake/#comment-626352
https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/lemon-yogurt-anything-cake/#comment-626292
https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/lemon-yogurt-anything-cake/#comment-626209
Thanks so much.
Very generous with your replies!
Can no calorie sweetener be substituted for the sugar…all or partial? Will bake this, anyway, but like to cut sugar, when possible. You are truly amazing ! Just 2 in the household, now, so read more than cook. Thank you. Catherine
Can I substitute sour cream for the yogurt?
I wanted to make this in 4×2.5×2 inch mini loaf pans for holiday gifts. Any idea how many loaves I could get out of one batch of batter? Thanks.
how can I adjust the cooking time for this to make in mini loaf pans?
Mini loaf pans come in different sizes so there isn’t a one-size-fits-all baking time. I’d start checking at 25 minutes, and every 5 minutes thereafter.
Happily made this on a snowy day and used lemon, orange, and grapefruit zests together, because I am a citrus maniac! I added the batter in thirds, swirling in lingonberry preserves after each add. It was fabulous!!
My first SK fail. :( Followed the recipe to a T, baked for 80 minutes bc it was still a bit wet at 75…tester came out clean at 80. The whole thing collapsed within minutes. I’m not sure what went wrong!
I made this — the lemon poppy version, as written — in a well-calibrated oven and when I checked it at 50 minutes, it was definitely done (maybe even bit over-baked, though the syrup helped). If making a “dryer” version such as this (ie vs one full of juicy berries or other wet fruit), recommend checking for doneness at the 40-45 minute mark!