Super quick to whip up, this ultra moist Blueberry Lemon Yoghurt Cake is loaded with fresh blueberries and bright lemon flavours. This is a lovely cake for all occasions!
Sneaking in a quick blueberry recipe before the prices start hiking up again!! I get childishly excited when berries come into season. Specifically, blueberries. Raspberries never seem to be a bargain – or is it just me?? You’ve never seen a raspberry specific recipe on my site for exactly that reason. Also because, to be honest, raspberries sold in shops here in Sydney are not that great. Too tart, no juicy enough and not much flavour. My only memory of truly great fresh raspberries here in Australia was in Tasmania.
So for me, raspberries are typically reserved for decorative purposes only. Used sparsely.
Blueberries, on the other hand…. when they are in season, they are so great! Juicy, sweet, plump, and just begging to be popped into your mouth by the handful.
OR – loading up a cake with them. 🙂
Specifically, this lovely Blueberry Lemon Yoghurt Cake that is astonishingly quick to make. No creaming butter, it’s a dump-and-mix-with-a-wooden-spoon cake.
The “secret ingredient” in this recipe – albeit not so secret because it’s in the recipe name – is yoghurt. That’s what makes this cake so incredibly moist. It’s not the yoghurt itself that makes the cake moist. The reason yoghurt in cake / muffins etc makes the crumb moist is because the more flour in a batter, the drier the cake is (all other things being equal). Yoghurt thickens the batter, meaning less flour is required to make the batter thick enough to allow the baking powder to make the cake rise.
In this particular case, the yoghurt makes the cake moist and the sourness adds to the bright lemony flavours!
This cake is loaded with blueberries. 3 whole punnets (375g/12 oz). It’s as much as I could pack into it without compromising the rise of the cake.
This Blueberry lemon Yoghurt Cake is a complete and utter celebration of blueberries being in season because at no other time of the year will you find me making this with fresh blueberries. But don’t worry! This is great made with frozen too, I made this one in the photos with frozen blueberries, and I’ve included directions in the recipe.
🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺 Australia! Get your blueberry fix while they’re in season and cheap!!
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 America! Are you in a turkey coma?? 😂 – Nagi x
An incredibly moist cake that's bursting with fresh blueberries and bright lemon flavours, this is astonishingly quick to make! This cake is not overly sweet, so if you have a sweet tooth, add an extra 1/4 cup of sugar. Recipe VIDEO below.
- 375 g / 12 oz blueberries, fresh , divided (3 punnets) (Note 1 for frozen)
- 1 tbsp plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 1 1/4 cups / 275g white sugar , preferably caster / superfine
- 2/3 cup / 165ml vegetable or canola oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ tbsp grated lemon rind
- ¼ cup / 65 ml lemon juice
- 1 cup / 250 g plain yoghurt (I use Greek)
- 2 ¼ cups / 335g plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 4 tsp baking powder (Note 2 for baking soda / bi carb)
- Pinch of salt
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Preheat oven to 200C / 390F (standard) or 180C / 350F (fan / convection). Grease a 22 cm / 9” springform pan with butter, line base with baking paper.
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Rinse blueberries, shake off excess water (but don’t pat dry). Set aside about 1/3 of the blueberries (for topping cake). Toss remaining blueberries in flour, set aside.
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Whisk Wet in a large bowl. Add flour and salt, sprinkle over baking powder.
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Whisk until just combined - few small lumps is fine. Stir through blueberries (including loose flour in bowl). Pour into pan, top with remaining blueberries.
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Place in oven, TURN DOWN to 180C/350F (standard) or 160C/320F (fan/convection). Bake 50 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Remove springform pan and cool on a rack.
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Sprinkle with icing sugar (powdered sugar). Serve!
1. FROZEN BLUEBERRIES: Use frozen, do not defrost, they will weep into the batter. Measure the blueberries, break them up if clumped and pop them back into the freezer in a bowl. Get the 1 tbsp of flour ready. Mix up the batter, then take the blueberries out of the freezer, take out 1/3, toss remainder in flour. Stir into batter, then continue with recipe.
2. BI CARB / BAKING SODA: This cake can be made with 1 1/2 tsp baking soda in place of the baking powder. But you need to move fairly quickly once it is mixed into the batter because all that lemon juice and yoghurt activates the baking soda quite aggressively. It looks and tastes the same.
3. This Blueberry Lemon Loaf is similar, also made with yoghurt, but the crumb is more dense because it has less flour in it. I prefer that texture for the loaf version of this cake - ideal for slicing.
4. STORAGE: This cake keeps very well for 2 - 3 days, I thought it was still good after 5 days. Store in an airtight container, not in the fridge. Also freezes great - defrost completely and serve at room temp.
5. Nutrition per serving, assuming 12 servings.
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
LIFE OF DOZER
No blueberry cake for Dozer. So he shredded a toy instead. 😂
Delicious & moist cake! I love your recipes, always easy to follow and sooo packed with flavour.
Question: should one increase oven time when using frozen berries? My cake needed about 65, maybe 70 minutes at temp stated – not sure whether my oven is to blame (tends to take some minutes more than most recipes suggest) or the cold batter. After 50 min my cake’s centre still wobbled like a smoothie 😌
HI Renee! So glad you enjoyed this! Sounds like your oven runs a bit weak, try adding 20C to the temp 🙂 N xx
Hi Nagi,
I loved the blueberry yoghurt cake! It was delicious but it stuck to the sides of the springform pan. Can you suggest another type of cake pan that would work just as well? Thanks so much!
Oh dear! And you buttered it? Otherwise, try lining it! N x
Didn’t have a 9 inch spring form pan so I used a 9 inch cake pan. I also used non fat Greek yogurt, and frozen blueberries. The cake looked good out of the oven, but fell shortly after. Did I overmix or what? The flavor is good and the outside tastes great. I will try again with fresh blue berries.
Hi Nagi. I’ve made this cake twice. The first time it was perfect! Not too heavy not too light. Great lemon flavor. The second time it was still tasty but heavier and less lemony! Also my blueberries sank to the bottom. Any idea what might have happened? All ingredients the same except a different brand of yogurt. (Both times Geeek.). Thoughts??
Thanks – Judi
Hi Judie – I’m baffled! I must confess I’ve never had a problem with this. Definitely didn’t use another type of flour accidentally, like bread flour??
Nope. My husband’s guess is that this batch of blueberries (they were plumper and juicier) were heavier and had more liquid in them so the baking powder wasn’t quite able to get the cake to rise as well. Could that be it? Any harm in adding a bit more baking powder next time?
Hmm, how big is big?? Marble size? I must confess I haven’t tried blueberries that large in a cake – I think I would subconsciously make sure they were the ones I reserved to pop straight into my mouth!! Was your batter as thick as what you see in the video?? 🙂 N x
Yes. Batter was thick! Blueberries were big but not that big! I’m making it again today for my daughter. Will see how it goes! Thanks for taking the time to respond.
I’d love to know how it goes! I specifically tested this for blueberry suspension 🙂 N x
Have made this twice in 1 week already. Love it ! I love recipes where you don’t have to cream butter, and have eggs in room temperature. The 2nd time I made it, I substituted a bit of lemon with lime juice and it turned out extra tangy. This will be one of my “go to” recipes. Thank you !!
That’s terrific to hear Alice!! So pleased you enjoyed this – N x
How long would i bake muffins?
I think around 22 – 25 minutes!
I tried this recipe and it was great! It got me thinking about switching chocolate chips for the blueberries, do you think that would work?
YES YES YES!!!!!!!
Nice! Thanks for the reply!
Can I substitute the sugar with raw honey? And how much would I use?
I’m not sure, sorry Debbie! I would be concerned the batter would be too runny 🙂
It’s really delicious. Thanks Nagi. The only little problem is that for some reason the blueberry tend to congregate in one corner. I am so confused why this happened.
Hi Paul, I’m sorry to hear that! When you say in one corner, you mean on one side of the cake pan?? suggesting your oven is not level?? 🙂
I think the oven is ok. nothing happened to other bakings. I wish the site would allow me to send a photo to show you.
Hi Nagi I have made the BLUEBERRY LEMON YOGHURT CAKE and it is just delicious!!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe!!
Terrific to hear Isabela!! So glad you enjoyed this, thanks for letting me know! N x ❤️
Can this cake be frozen?
YES!!
Nagi, this was delicious and so easy to make and I saved some for Dozer!!
He’s waiting for it, where is it???!!! 🐶
Nagi can I use gluten free flour for this recipe?
I’m sorry Gi, I haven’t tried!