This Lemon Yogurt Cake without butter has a perfect moist texture and an amazing lemon flavor. Lemon Pound cake from Starbucks inspired me to try out this easy and delicious recipe from Ina Garten (foodnetwork.com). Hope you will like it 🙂
For more pound cake recipes check out
Orange Pound Cake
Vanilla Pound Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsps baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup Plain Whole Milk Yogurt
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 3 Extra Large Egg
- 2 tsps lemon zest (grated)
- ½ teaspoon Pure Vanilla extract
- ½ cup vegetable oil
Lemon Syrup
- ⅓ cup Granulated Sugar
- ⅓ cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
Glaze (optional)
- 1 cup Confectioner's Sugar
- ⅓ cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F or 180C. Grease a 8 ½ x 4 ¼ x 2 ½-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. You can also use a 8 inch round pan.
- To prepare cake - Sift together the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder and salt into one bowl.
- In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Make sure that lemon zest is cut into small pieces. Refer the notes for the measurement of eggs.
- Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for around 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
- While the cakes bake, prepare the lemon syrup. Cook granulated sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves. ** Never miss this step. It adds a lot on to the flavor. Also, adjust the sugar in the syrup based on your taste.
- When the cake is done, let them cool for 10 minutes. Poke holes in the cake and spoon the lemon syrup over the cake. Allow the cake to cool completely.
- To prepare the glaze (optional) - combine sugar and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth.
- Pour over the top of cakes and allow the glaze to dry. Enjoy 🙂
Notes
- A large egg equals 3-½ tablespoons of beaten egg. An extra large egg equals 4 tablespoons. In this recipe, it calls for 3 extra large eggs. I used 3 large eggs plus 1-½ tablespoon beaten egg.
- If you do not have a sweet tooth and do not wanna make the cake too sweet, avoid the glaze.
Questions & Answers
Is it alright to find the cake batter overflowing on the sides of the pan?
Whenever it is about baking, every step is very crucial to the final look of the cake. A missed calculation on the ingredients can significantly affect the baking process, and the same goes for the baking equipment used. Use the pan as per what the recipe says. If you don’t have the exact pan, choose a pan of another shape with the same volume. The reason why the cake batter overflowed on the sides of the pan is that the tin is small. Keep in mind that you need to choose your baking equipment wisely.
For you, what would be the great cake pans? What would be the best for beginners? Can you give me some suggestions, please?
The cake pan or cake tin that are best to use for any cakes would be the sturdy one which is also single-wall aluminum pans, with or without nonstick coating. And of course, check the sizes as well as the shapes. The standard size and shape would be around 8x1½-inch or 9x1½-inch round pans. Recommended pan in this recipe is 8 ½ x 4 ¼ x 2 ½-inch loaf pan. You can refer https://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html for different substitutions.
I forgot to prepare the pan properly. Can I still fix the cake?
Greasing, lining or flouring the pan is essential so that the cake won’t stick to the pan. Lining with parchment paper is the best option. But in your case, it would be bit difficult to remove the cake so it can potentially ruin the shape or the overall structure of your cake. You will need a little magic with frosting the cake to add a lovely look 🙂
When prepping the pan or cake tin, can I use pastry brush? Or is there any alternative tool I can use?
Yes, a pastry brush is the best tool you can use when you’re going to grease or flour the cake tin. But you can also try using the paper towel to evenly spread the shortening or butter all over the inside of the cake tin.
How can I avoid a dry cake?
Use ingredients as instructed. Make sure that you check the cake’s doneness and avoid overbaking it.
What can I use to check if my cake is done or properly baked?
Simply by using a wooden toothpick. Insert it at the center of the cake, and when it comes out clean, then the cake is done.
Is there a trick to easily remove the cake from the pan?
Once the cake is completely cooled, use a knife or spatula to run around the edges. It will loosen the cake so you can easily remove it from the pan. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert the pan and the rack together to release the cake over to the rack.
hello Jane, Can I use coconut oil as opposed to vegetable oil? what do you think?
I haven't tried. But I think you cannot.
Hello all! Was your lemon loaf airy & light?
Made this today. Yummy! Texture is just like Starbuck's Lemon loaf. Taste is AMAZING! Thank you for sharing. I did have a bit left over Lemon Zest and I put in in the glazing.
Thanks for trying it out! Great to hear that you loved it :)
Can i use greek yogurt in place of whole milk?
Cheri, I haven't tried with greek yogurt. But I think it will work but may not give exactly same texture as Whole milk yogurt.
The best lemon cake recipe! I was worried because of it not having butter but the yogurt keeps it beautifully moist. I just found your recipe last week and have made this twice so far. It's amazingly refreshing. My family (and neighbors, because they came over for dinner and dessert yesterday) raved about it! I didn't substitute anything, I followed all instructions and it's been perfect both times. The only thing I did the second time was to cut back on the lemon juice for the icing. I made the icing a little thicker but still pourable. Thanks so much for this!
Thanks a lot Danielle! I'm really happy to hear that your family loved it.Thanks for trying out my recipe.
Great recipe !. Baking my second cake now with a few tweaks as using a larger round tin and found the first one a bit flat. Finger crossed that I get it right. Found I didn’t have enough syrup the first time round and as this gives the cake a delicious kick I will definitely make more this time.
Can I double this recipe and use a bundt cake pan instead of the loaf pan? What other adjustments are needed? What about baking time?
I have tried the same measurements with loaf pan and 8 inch round pan. Haven’t tried with double quantity.
But usually if the batter takes just 2/3 rd of any pan, cake comes out fine for me. That’s the only rule I follow. And can’t comment on exact baking time. I would definitely check at 50 minutes in this case and then based on how much the cake is done at that time, I would bake for extra time.