This 4-ingredient Yogurt Cake recipe is a dairy-free, egg-free moist vanilla cake inspired by the classic French yogurt pot recipe. It’s the easiest cake you will ever make, perfect to whip a dessert in no time.
As a kid, the first cake recipe I learned to make was a “gâteau yaourt,” which means, in French, yogurt cake. In this French recipe, all the ingredients were measured from a simple yogurt pot. I created this vegan yogurt cake inspired by this childhood cake recipe, except I used US measuring cups for precision.
The cake is super easy to make in less than 10 minutes, and its batter is moist and sweet, just like my 2-Ingredient No-Bake Chocolate Cake, Vegan Apple Cake, or Vanilla Wacky Cake. The flavor of the cake comes from the choice of yogurt. I like to bake with vanilla cashew yogurt. It adds a lovely vanilla flavor to the crumb. Using lemon yogurt or strawberry yogurt will create a range of yogurt cake flavors using the same recipe.
If you like more French recipes, try my Vegan Almond Croissant Pastry or Almond Croissant Cookies.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Self-Rising Flour is the basic ingredient I love to use to bake cakes quickly. You can swap it for all-purpose flour and add 2 teaspoons of baking powder per cup of flour. I didn’t try all-purpose gluten-free flour in this recipe, so I can’t guarantee the outcome.
- Vanilla Plant-Based Greek Yogurt – I baked the cake with vanilla cashew yogurt or coconut Greek-style yogurt. Any kind of yogurt works in this recipe. You can use any yogurt flavor to flavor the cake. To cut down on calories and added sugar, you can use plain yogurt, but you will need vanilla extract to flavor the cake.
- Sugar – I am using caster sugar, but any granulated sweetener like coconut sugar works.
- Vegetable Oil of Choice – I recommend a light flavor oil to avoid adding an overpowering flavor to the cake crumb. I used avocado oil or light canola oil. You can also use melted plant-based butter.
Flavor Boosters
The cake is not flavorsome without adding any extract. Here are some of my recommendations.
- Vanilla Yogurt Cake – Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and use vanilla Greek yogurt. This is optional, but recommended if your yogurt doesn’t have a strong vanilla taste, or you want to boost the vanilla flavors of the cake.
- Lemon Yogurt Cake – Use lemon yogurt, 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, and 2 teaspoons of lemon zest.
- Yogurt Berry Cake – Fold in 1/2 cup of fresh berries in the batter like raspberries, blueberries, or strawberries.
- Coconut Yogurt Cake – Use coconut yogurt, and fold in 1/4 cup of desiccated coconut in the batter.
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 6-inch round cake pan or 6-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Slightly oil the paper with cooking oil spray.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk yogurt, oil, and sugar. Stir to combine. If you are using unflavored yogurt, you can up the sugar from 2/3 cup to 3/4 cup for a sweeter cake. Also add the vanilla extract now, if your yogurt is unflavored.
- Fold the self-rising flour in the yogurt mixture. Use a rubber spatula to incorporate. The batter should be quite thick.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Let it cool down at room temperature for one hour on a cooling rack before serving.
Serving
I like dusting powdered sugar on top of the cake. But, feel free to first the cake if you prefer using some of my favorite dairy-free frosting recipes below.
- Vegan Vanilla Frosting
- Coconut Frosting
- Cashew Frosting
- Vegan Chocolate Frosting
- Vegan whipped cream
Frequently Asked Questions
You can bake it with any kind of yogurt. I tried the most common dairy-free yogurt: cashew, oat, and coconut, and they all deliver great texture. The best is to choose a vanilla-flavored yogurt if you don’t have vanilla extract at home, so the cake has some flavor.
The cake won’t work with almond or coconut flour. It might work with self-rising gluten-free flour, but I can’t guarantee it because I haven’t tried it yet.
Use a high-protein yogurt like vanilla soy yogurt.
More Easy Cake Recipes
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Yogurt Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup Self-Rising Flour - (note 1)
- 1 cup Vanilla Plant-Based Yogurt - (note 2)
- ⅔ cup Sugar - (note 3)
- ⅓ cup Avocado Oil - or canola oil
Optional – recommended for flavor
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract - or 1 teaspoon of almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 6-inch or 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper. Oil sides and bottom of the pan. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk vanilla yogurt, oil, and sugar. If your yogurt is unflavored, or your yogurt has a light vanilla flavor, stir in some vanilla extract.
- Fold in flour and stir to incorporate until the batter is thick and smooth.
- Pour the batter in the prepared pan.
- Bake the cake at 350°F (180°C) for 45-50 minutes for a 6-inch pan or 35-40 minutes for an 8-inch pan. Check if the cake is ready by inserting a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's ready to remove from the oven. If not, bake longer, in 10-minute increments, until the crumb is set.
- Cool down on a cooling rack before at room temperature for 1 hour before serving.
this was so so yummy and was so happy that my picky 5 year old ate it too!
Cooked this for my vegan friend and added blueberries. It was delicious. Would this be freezer friendly?
Absolutely! Best to freeze it in slices!
Just made this cake! It’s delicious! I used plain yogurt and added 2 top vanilla. It came out perfect! I baked it in an 8 in cake pan. Didn’t rise like I thought, so the next time I’ll use the 6 in pan! My husband loved it too! Definitely a keeper!!
Nice! I’m glad you liked it!!
Do you think this recipe will make a good upside “pinapple/fruit” cake?
It could work, I didn’t try but I am confident it could bake well this way.
Thank you… will let you know how it goes… fingers crossed
Delicious! Easy to make and very fluffy!
An excellent recipe. Simple to make, works well each time and is eaten so quickly I can’t make it enough!
Thank you!
Where can you get the plant based yoghurt and other plant based products?
In most grocery stores! They generally are in the regular yogurt aisle, but there is sometimes a specific vegetarian/vegan/healthy aisle.
Does this freeze well?
Yes it does! I recommend freezing it in slices.
Hello
Thank you for sharing your gifts.
My question is referenced to sourdough starters or discard… can I use starters or discards and will this recipe work with spelt flour?
It’s a great question, and I think sourdough starters might make the cake rise too much. Spelt flour should work fine!
Can you use Greek vanilla yogurt ? And bake in a 8×8 brownie pan ?
Yes, and Yes!!