Lemon Yogurt Cake

Soft and tender Lemon Yogurt Cake with a crunchy crumb and a zesty lemon glaze. This easy cake comes together in minutes – no mixer needed.

My, my, my.

This gorgeous Lemon Yogurt Cake is the cake of my dreams. It’s light and fluffy in the middle, with a crunchy crumb baked into the top, all finished with a zesty two ingredient glaze.

It’s a quick and easy one layer cake that’ll become one of your go-to bakes.

If you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen the many tears that went into perfecting this cake recipe. Even though I have so many cake recipes to learn from, it still took 8 tries to get this cake just right.

But it’s ok, because it was worth it. I’ve now had my fair share of average lemon cakes to know THIS IS THE ONE.

It’s deliciously soft, bursting with lemon flavour and easy to make. Win, win, win.

Recipe testing

When I started recipe testing, I knew exactly what I wanted. This Lemon Yogurt Cake had to be soft and tender (no dry cake here please), it had to be undeniably lemony, and yogurt had to be a core ingredient. I also wanted to elevate my cake with a buttery lemon crumb. Yes please!

I started with an oil based cake, similar to my popular Cinnamon Apple Cake and my Pistachio Cake. It also uses yogurt to produce a moist crumb, just like my Passionfruit Cake.

The first few attempts were lovely but the cake kept sinking in the middle. The cake was too light and soft to hold my crumb – and I realised that the baking soda was reacting with the lemon juice too early.

I halved the crumb, while also playing with the amounts of baking soda and baking powder. By attempt five, my cake had gotten progressively worse.

So I went back closer to the original recipe, but used only baking powder and reduced the amount of yogurt. I went heavy on the lemon zest just like I do in my Lemon Coconut Cake. And finally, I stumbled on the perfect Lemon Yogurt Cake. We’ve been eating it every day since.

you will love it because

• It’s super easy to throw together (no mixer needed)
• It’s light and lemony
• The crumb and glaze make it look extra special
• It’s ready in under an hour

How to make a lemon yogurt cake

1. We start by making that delicious lemon crumb 💛 Simply mix together melted butter, caster sugar, plain flour and lemon zest. Done!
2. To make the lemon cake, start by adding plain flour, baking powder, caster sugar, lemon zest and salt to a large bowl. Give it a little whisk.
3. In a separate bowl, add oil, eggs, vanilla and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Give it a whisk with a fork just to break up the egg yolks.
4. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, along with the yogurt, and gently mix until combined. Cake batter will be nice and thick.
5. Pour cake batter into baking pan and then sprinkle over lemon crumbs. Bake until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
6. Once cake is completely cooled, drizzle with a two ingredient glaze for an extra pop of lemon. Cut into thick slices and enjoy!

commonly asked questions

More lemony bakes to try

• Lemon Bundt Cake (so buttery)
• Lemon Cupcakes (perfect for parties)
• Lemon Ricotta Cake (magical)
• Lemon Cookies (soft and chewy)

Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for more amazing recipe ideas.

Let’s Bake

Lemon Yogurt Cake

Yield Serves 8–10 1x

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 29 reviews

Prep: 30 minutesCook: 35 minutesTotal: 1 hour 5 minutes

Soft and tender Lemon Yogurt Cake with a crunchy lemon crumb.

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Ingredients

Lemon crumb

• 20 grams butter, melted
• 35 grams (1/4 cup) plain flour or all purpose flour
• 35 grams (2 tablespoons) caster sugar or granulated sugar
• Zest of one large lemon

Lemon yogurt cake

• 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour, sifted
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 150 grams (3/4 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
• Zest of one large lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) full fat Greek yogurt

Lemon glaze

• 30 grams (1/4 cup) icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted
• 1–2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease and line an 8-inch round cake pan with baking or parchment paper.
2. First, make the lemon crumb. In a small bowl, combine melted butter, flour, sugar and lemon zest until soft crumble forms. It will look like wet sand. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, sugar, lemon zest and salt. Stir briefly to combine.
4. In a separate bowl, add oil, eggs, vanilla and lemon juice. Whisk briefly just to break up the egg yolks.
5. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, as well as the yogurt, and gently mix using a spatula until combined – but be careful not to over mix. Batter will be fairly thick. Spoon batter into prepared tin.
6. Sprinkle the lemon crumbs evenly over the top of the cake. Bake cake for approximately 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. To make the glaze, mix together sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Stir until smooth. If the glaze is too thick, add an extra tablespoon of lemon juice. Drizzle glaze all over the cooled cake.

Notes

This cake is best eaten fresh on the day it is made. It is even better when it is still a little warm from the oven. 

Watch How To Make It

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: 1 slice Calories: 315 Sugar: 22.3 g Sodium: 80.3 mg Fat: 14.6 g Carbohydrates: 42.4 g Protein: 5.1 g Cholesterol: 43.4 mg

Nutrition information is a guide only.

Author: Jessica HolmesCategory: CakeCuisine: American

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