Lemon Berry Yogurt Cake

Unlike any other cake I’ve baked, this incomparably moist lemon berry yogurt cake has a soft, creamy, and buttery crumb. Lightly flavored with fresh lemon and bursting with Greek yogurt and mixed berries, it’s a generous drop of sunshine in a bundt cake pan. It’s been dubbed one of the best desserts I’ve ever made.

Chocolate? Who needs it. Caramel swirls? Nope. Peanut butter brownie swirl chunks mixed with cookie dough pieces? Yum, but not today.

When one of my assistants, Hilari, and I were testing this recipe, she turned to me and said “this is the best thing we’ve ever made.” Out of 1,200 recipes both on my website and in my cookbooks, garnering a description like that is no easy accomplishment. I replied with a simple “agreed.” In other words, today’s cake should not be overlooked.

Why You’ll Love This Lemon Berry Yogurt Cake

• Supremely moist (other cakes don’t even compare)
• Soft and almost creamy-tasting crumb
• Made with 1 cup of Greek yogurt
• Fresh flavors
• Filled with tart lemon and sweet berries
• Convenient– use fresh or frozen berries

And as a welcome bonus, there’s no complicated decorating required. Let the cake cool and drizzle with lemon glaze. She’s a natural beauty!

How to Make Lemon Berry Yogurt Cake

This doesn’t get any easier– from the mixing bowl to the oven in 15 minutes.

1. Mix dry ingredients together.
2. Whisk yogurt, lemon juice, and lemon zest together.
3. Beat butter and sugar together. Then add the vanilla and eggs.
4. Combine all ingredients.
5. Fold in the berries.
6. Spoon batter into bundt cake pan.
7. Bake. The cake takes about 1 hour, but check with a toothpick.
8. Cool for at least 1 hour in the pan. Then invert onto your serving platter and cool completely before icing.
9. Drizzle with icing.

Expect the creamiest, silkiest cake batter in the entire world:

Ingredients You Need

1. Cake Flour: Cake flour is lighter than all-purpose flour and, depending on the recipe, produces the best cakes. I tested this recipe with both cake flour and all-purpose flour (varying amounts, too) and 3 cups of cake flour won by a landslide. All-purpose flour was simply too heavy. If needed, use this homemade cake flour substitute.
2. Baking Powder & Baking Soda: With so many wet ingredients, we need both baking powder and soda to help lift this cake so it’s not overly heavy and flat.
3. Butter: Butter is the base of this cake. You need 2 sticks of properly softened butter.
4. Sugar: This is a very large cake, so a lot of sugar is required to sweeten the cake and sufficiently cream the butter.
5. Eggs: Eggs provide structure, stability, richness, and flavor. I based this recipe off of my cranberry orange bundt cake and reduced the amount of eggs since we are using so much Greek yogurt and lighter cake flour.
6. Lemon Zest & Juice: Grab a large fresh lemon and use its zest (around 2 teaspoons, give or take) and lemon juice. You may need a 2nd lemon to yield enough juice. Fresh juice is best. Here is a wonderful inexpensive juicer if you don’t have one.
7. Greek Yogurt: You’ll notice that I use yogurt or sour cream in a lot of my cake recipes. Both bring a slight tang (very mild) and brilliantly creamy moisture. I tested this cake with nonfat and low fat Greek yogurt, regular yogurt, and sour cream– all were excellent. Greek yogurt added a little more tang and structure, though. It was our favorite.
8. Vanilla Extract & Salt: Both are used for flavor.

Each ingredient is important and has a very specific job.

Describe the Taste & Texture

This yogurt cake tastes creamy. I’m not even sure how that’s possible, but the crumb is so luxuriously soft, silky, and buttery. You’ll get a lovely preview of its texture when you experience the massive creaminess of the cake batter. Greek yogurt is a workhorse and when paired with cake flour and butter, it truly takes cakes to a whole other level. The cake is a little dense like pound cake, but the crumb isn’t quite as tight. Like my lemon blueberry cake, berries add more moisture and a pop of juiciness to each bite.

The lemon flavor is bright, but it’s a little light, so I recommend topping the cake with lemon glaze to really amp up that flavor. The lemon glaze is just lemon juice, a splash of vanilla, and confectioners’ sugar. Easy!

I can see this yogurt cake becoming the base of many other flavors like strawberry yogurt cake (swap the lemon juice for milk and use only chopped strawberries) or lemon coconut yogurt cake (skip the berries, add 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, and 1 teaspoon coconut extract). Those are just 2 initial ideas. Get creative!

Lemon Berry Yogurt Cake

★★★★★ 5 from 47 reviews

• Author: Sally
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Total Time: 4 hours, 15 minutes
• Yield: serves 12
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American

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Description

Sweet, studded with berries, and flavored with fresh lemon, vanilla, and butter, this supremely moist yogurt cake will soon become your favorite “anytime” cake. We love it!

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Ingredients

• 3 cups (345g) cake flour* (spoon & leveled)
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (240g) plain Greek yogurt, at room temperature*
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1/3 cup (80ml) fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup (230g; 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups (325g) mixed berries, fresh or frozen (do not thaw)*

Lemon Glaze

• 1 cup (120g) confectioner’s sugar
• 3 Tablespoons (45ml) fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

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Instructions

1. Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Generously grease a 10-12 cup bundt pan with butter or nonstick spray.
2. Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
3. Whisk the yogurt, lemon zest, and lemon juice together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
4. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. On medium speed, beat in the vanilla extract. On low speed, beat the eggs in 1 at a time allowing each to fully mix in before adding the next. After the 3rd egg is added, be careful not to over-mix. Stop the mixer once all eggs are incorporated.
5. Pour the dry ingredients into the butter/eggs. Pour the yogurt mixture on top. Turn the mixer onto medium speed and beat everything together *just* until combined. Do not over-mix. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the berries. The batter will be a little thick and very creamy.
6. Pour/spoon batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake for 55-70 minutes. Loosely tent the baking cake with aluminum foil halfway through bake time to ensure the surface does not over-brown. Use a toothpick to test for doneness and begin checking at 55 minutes. Once the toothpick comes out completely clean, the cake is done. This is a large cake so don’t be alarmed if it takes longer in your oven.
7. Remove cake from the oven and allow to cool for 1 hour inside the pan. Then invert the slightly cooled cake onto a wire rack or serving dish. Allow to cool completely before glazing, slicing, and serving.
8. Make the glaze: Whisk the glaze ingredients together. If desired, add more confectioners’ sugar to thicken or more lemon juice to thin out. Drizzle on top of cooled cake. Icing will set after a few hours, making this cake convenient for storing and/or transporting.
9. Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

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Notes

1. Freezing Instructions: Wrap unglazed baked and cooled cake in 1-2 layers of plastic wrap, then a layer of aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw in the plastic wrap & foil overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature before glazing, slicing, and serving.
2. Loaf Pan: Pour the batter into two greased 9×5 inch loaf pans. Bake each at 350°F (163°C) for about 45 minutes or until baked through. Use a toothpick to test for doneness. Or halve all of the ingredients to make one loaf. (Use 1 egg + 1 egg yolk.)
3. Cake Flour: For the best results, I strongly recommend cake flour. You can find it in the baking aisle and I have many more recipes using it. If you cannot get your hands on cake flour, you can make a DIY cake flour substitute.
4. Yogurt: You can use plain Greek yogurt, plain yogurt, or even sour cream. I recommend low-fat,  non-fat, or full fat yogurt. If using sour cream, use full fat.
5. Lemons: 2 medium/large lemons will be enough for the cake and glaze. If you’re looking for a plain yogurt cake (no lemon flavor), simply leave out the lemon zest and replace the lemon juice with milk (dairy or nondairy) in both the cake and glaze.
6. Berries: I recommend sticking with mostly blueberries and chopped strawberries. Some raspberries and/or blackberries are OK, but they become a little wet and mushy and can impact the color and consistency of the baked cake. I use 3/4 cup blueberries, 3/4 cup chopped strawberries, and 1/4 cup each raspberries and blackberries. You can use frozen berries if needed. Do not thaw.

Keywords: lemon berry yogurt cake, yogurt cake, mixed berries