I’m not messing around when I say this blueberry lemon yoghurt cake is absolutely bursting with lemon flavour and plump blueberries. It’s tangy, moist, soft and has a simple lemon glaze that makes it the perfect sweet tea-time treat.
The texture is lusciously soft and moist – no dry cakes around here please and it’s the yoghurt that helps with that.
And when it comes to taste, this lemon loaf is the real deal! It has a big hit of lemon flavour – not just a background hint but a bold, unmistakable lemon tang that comes from both loads of juice and zest in the cake batter itself. Top it off with a simple 2 ingredient lemon icing, and you know the lemon lovers in your life will be very happy, indeed
If you like this, you’ll love my lemon ricotta cake or this lime and coconut cake.
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Ingredients you’ll need
A simple cake batter with loads of lemon and blueberries, there’s nothing out of the ordinary here.
Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.
- Blueberries: Fresh blueberries are best but frozen will work. If using fresh, wash and dry them well. If using frozen, make sure to keep them frozen right up until you add them to the batter.
- Flour: You’ll just need plain flour / all purpose flour. Make sure to measure it correctly. Too much flour will give you a dry cake.
- Baking powder: Baking powder gives this cake it’s lift.
- Salt: Just a touch of salt to intensify flavours.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter here, softened to around room temperature so it beats up easily.
- Sugar: Just white granulated sugar or caster sugar (superfine sugar) is all you need) for the batter.
- Lemon: Roughly 2 medium lemons will get you the right amount of zest and juice.
- Eggs: Use large eggs, free-range if you have the means.
- Greek yoghurt: Full fat Greek yogurt is best here. It keeps the cake moist.
- Vanilla: Use pure vanilla extract. Essence is a synthetic flavouring and just not as good as the real thing.
- Icing sugar: Icing sugar (not pictured), also known as powdered sugar or confectioners’ sugar, is one part of the two ingredient icing.
You could also try any other citrus in place of the lemon here. Limes, grapefruit and oranges would all be wonderful.
Tools you’ll need
- An 8×5 inch loaf pan.
- A stand mixer is helpful but not a requirement.
- Mixing bowls and silicone spatulas.
How to make blueberry lemon yoghurt cake
Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.
- The dry ingredients: Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl until dispersed. Set aside.
- The wet ingredients: In a small jug, combine the yoghurt, lemon juice and vanilla. Set aside.
- The lemon sugar: Blend the lemon zest and sugar together with your fingertips. This releases the oil in the zest and intensifies the lemon flavour.
- Make the batter: Just like a basic cake batter, beat together the sugar and butter until lightened and creamy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating between each until smooth and combined. Now alternate adding the flour mixture and the yoghurt mixture, stirring each time until it’s just combined – don’t overmix.
- Add the blueberries: Now add in those blueberries and gently fold them into the batter, being careful so you don’t break them.
- Bake: Tip the batter into your prepared pan and bake the cake in the middle of a preheated oven for nearly an hour or until a toothpick comes out with just a crumb or two attached.
- The lemon icing: All your lemon yogurt cake needs now is a glaze. Once the cake has cooled, combine the icing sugar and a little lemon juice and mix well. Drizzle the icing all over the top of the cake.
That last bit is if you can even wait for it to cool. Last time I made this cake, I literally ate nearly a full slice, uniced while still warm without even realising it.
Tips and tricks
- Room temp ingredients: Make sure to bring your cold ingredients up to or close to room temperature. The butter should be softened, the yoghurt not too cold, the eggs and lemons room temperature.
- Measure the flour correctly: Too much flour will make your cake dry and dense so use a kitchen scale for the best results. If you don’t have them (order one and while you wait…) fluff up the flour in the container a little, spoon it into your cup measure, then use the back of a knife to level off the top.
- Frozen blueberries: If using frozen berries, keep them frozen right up until you add them to the batter, don’t thaw them first.
- Flouring the blueberries stops the them from all sinking to the bottom of the cake.
- Don’t overmix: Overmixing cake batter can lead to a dense cake so just lightly mix it together until just combined.
- Grease and line your pan: This will make it so much easier to remove the cake from the pan later.
Storage
Store this blueberry lemon yoghurt cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day. After that it will need to be refrigerated for 2-3 days. Bring it to room temperature before serving.
FAQ’s
Yes, you can turn this cake into a bundt cake. You’ll need to double the batter but may not use it all depending on the size of your bundt tin. Just fill to about ⅔ to ¾ full.
If you don’t have or can’t get any Greek yoghurt, a great substitute is sour cream.
IF YOU TRY THIS blueberry lemon yoghurt cake recipe, please take a moment to leave a rating and comment below. I love hearing from you, and it helps other readers too!
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Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- 1 cup fresh blueberries, washed and dried well (150g / 5.3oz)
- 260 g + 1 tablespoon plain (all purp flour) (2 cups + 1 tablespoon / 9.1oz)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup white granulated sugar (200g / 7oz)
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest ,not packed (2 medium lemons)
- 170 g unsalted butter, softened (¾ cup / 6oz)
- 3 large eggs, room temp
- ⅓ cup Greek yoghurt
- ⅓ cup lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
THE ICING
- 1 ½ cups icing sugar (195g / 7oz)
- 1 ½-2 tablespoons lemon juice
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Mixing bowls, spatulas
- stand mixer helpful but not required
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / 160C fan forced. Grease your loaf tin and line with baking paper.
- FOR THE CAKE: Combine the blueberries with 1 tablespoon of the flour and set aside.
- Combine the remaining flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine and disperse everything. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer (paddle attachment), use your fingertips to press and blend the sugar and lemon zest together to release the oils in the zest.
- Add the butter and beat on medium high until light and creamy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating each time until smooth and completely combined.
- Combine the yoghurt, juice and vanilla in a small jug.
- Add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the butter-egg mixture and fold in with a spatula until just combined.
- Add ½ the yoghurt mixture and fold through.
- Continue alternating, 3 more times – flour, yoghurt flour – carefully folding until everything is just incorporated.
- Add the blueberries to the batter and gently fold in until combined.
- Bake 50-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out with a crumb or two attached.
- Let the cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan before using the edges of the baking paper to lift it out of the tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- FOR THE ICING: Once the cake has cooled completely, mix together the icing sugar and lemon juice in a mixing bowl, then pour over the cake.
- Please take a moment to rate this recipe. I really appreciate it and it helps me create more recipes.
Notes
- I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (= 4 teaspoons worldwide)
- For best results you should always weigh ingredients like flour and sugar. Kitchen scales are relatively cheap but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method (don’t scoop).
- Baking time: The baking time will depend on your oven and the exact loaf tin size you’re using and your oven. Check for doneness 5-10 minutes before the recipe suggests.
- Store this blueberry lemon yoghurt cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day. After that it will need to be refrigerated for 2-3 days. Bring it to room temperature before serving.
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4 Comments on “Blueberry Lemon Yoghurt Cake”
I wanted to share this with family so I used a tin with 6 mini bundts sections and it was the perfect amount of batter. Very fluffy and yummy.
So happy you love them.
This is really great recipe! I did feel like there was too much batter on the cake pan when I went to fill it(and I used the cake pan that the recipe calls for), so I scooped out some batter and got 4 little muffins. And both, the loaf and the muffins, were SO delicious! I did use more lemon juice for the icing than the recipe states, probably like 3 tbsp, but that’s a matter of eyeing it for the right consistency anyway. Will definitely make this again!
So happy you loved it, m.f. It isn’t a cake that rises a great deal so it definitely works in the pan suggested but I love that you turned some of the batter into muffins.