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 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!
One reader, Christina, commented: “Made this the other day and it was incredible! I used vanilla Greek yogurt. The texture and flavors were simply amazing! Definitely a keeper. THANK YOU! ★★★★★“
One reader, Marsha, commented: “This cake is, in my opinion, 100% delish! I bought a bag of organic mixed fruit that contained blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries. The whole recipe was so much fun to make and turned out so delicious. The very next time I’m to take a share-me dish, this cake will be my choice. I bet it’s gone quickly! ★★★★★“
One reader, LP, commented: “Wow! Made this yesterday and it was amazing! Everyone at work gobbled it up! Everything I make from Sally is delicious, but this was unique and really an absolutely great cake. Will definitely be making this again and again. ★★★★★“
Video Tutorial
How to Make Lemon Berry Yogurt Cake
This doesn’t get any easier—from the mixing bowl to the oven in 15 minutes.
- Mix dry ingredients together.
- Whisk yogurt, lemon juice, and lemon zest together.
- Cream butter and sugar together. Then add the vanilla and eggs.
- Combine all ingredients.
- Fold in the berries.
- Spoon batter into Bundt cake pan.
- Bake. The cake takes about 1 hour, but check with a toothpick.
- Cool for at least 1 hour in the pan. Then invert onto your serving platter and cool completely before icing.
- Drizzle with icing.
Expect the creamiest, silkiest cake batter in the entire world:
Ingredients You Need
- 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.
- 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.
- Butter: Butter is the base of this cake. You need 2 sticks of properly softened room temperature butter.
- Sugar: This is a very large cake, so a lot of sugar is required to sweeten the cake and sufficiently cream the butter.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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. It’s a powerhouse ingredient in this grapefruit Greek yogurt cake, too.
- 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, lemon blueberry cupcakes, and lemon blueberry muffins, 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!
Before You Bundt
- Bundt Pan: I have two Bundt cake pans that I swear by. I love this one and this one. Both are nonstick, but I generously grease them with nonstick spray to be safe. The yogurt cake releases so easily. The size and design of Bundt cake pans is imperative because intricate designs don’t always translate well into a baked cake. Likewise, Bundt pans can be deceptively small. Use a 9.5-10-inch pan that holds at least 10-12 cups of batter. This batter doesn’t yield quite that much, but it rises up.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: All refrigerated items, except for the berries, should be at room temperature so the batter mixes together easily and evenly. Read here for more information.
More Lemon + Berry Recipes
- Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes
- Lemon Blueberry Tart
- Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
- Blueberry Lemon Icebox Cake
- Lemon Cupcakes with Blackberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Lemon Berry Yogurt Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 4 hours, 15 minutes
- Yield: serves 12
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
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!
Ingredients
- 3 cups (354g) cake flour* (spooned & 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 (16 Tbsp; 226g) 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
Instructions
- Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Generously grease a 10-12 cup Bundt pan with butter or nonstick spray.
- Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk the yogurt, lemon zest, and lemon juice together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- 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 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a silicone 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.
- 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 silicone spatula, fold in the berries. The batter will be a little thick and very creamy.
- 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.
- Remove cake from the oven and allow to cool for 1 hour inside the pan. Then invert the slightly cooled cake onto a wire cooling rack or serving dish. Allow to cool completely before glazing, slicing, and serving.
- 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.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- 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.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 10- to 12-cup Bundt Pan (I love this one and this one) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Citrus Juicer | Citrus Zester | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack
- 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.)
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Made this didn’t have yogurt so comprmised…used 1 cup heavy cream and 2TBLS vinegar =Butter milk ! So Delish also added 8 oz pkg cream chees to glaze to thicken !!! Loved it !
This is a wonderful cake. Made it twice and it was fun and delicious. I would be interested in the nutrition info but couldn’t find it in the online recipe. Thank you for this marvelous recipe
Hi Wanda, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp So happy to hear you enjoyed this cake!
I’ve made this cake 3 times since spring
A really great recipe, Thank you for sharing.
works well adding small sour berry’s to the mix too.
Saw the cake flour notes so I’m guessing gluten free flour won’t work? 🙁
Hi JoJo, for best results we recommend using cake flour. We haven’t tested it with gluten-free flour so we’re unsure of the results, but you could try using our homemade cake flour substitute with gluten-free flour. If you do decide to give it a try, we’d love to know how it turns out for you.
Used chopped strawberries as recommended and the cake was a hopelessly wet disaster area, despite following the recipe to the letter. What a waste of time and ingredients! The bits of sponge which were dry enough to salvage tasted delicious, so doubly disappointing.
Omg ! What a delicious flavorful cake … Home run !
This just might be my new favorite cake. It turned out fantastic. I ended up baking it for 65 mins and it was perfectly cooked. So moist and the combination of the lemon with the sweetness from the variety of berries, is amazing. I will definitely make this many more times.
Delicious! I am glad I made the effort to use DIY cake flour – it was a noticeable texture difference and was easy to do. I subbed sour cream and skipped the glaze for lack of time, and it was devoured by all. Be sure to leave plenty of time to cool in the pan – it really does need a full hour. Sally, thank you for your trustworthy recipes. Your work testing them gives me a no-fail winner ever time.
This was amazing! Did not need the glaze at all. The cake was so moist and flavorful! I am bookmarking this one as an all-time favorite!
Thank you!
I have made this cake a couple of times now, and each time it has gotten RAVE reviews! In fact, my friends and family love it so much, I have been asked to make it for several upcoming family events! With that said, I am planning to make and freeze a couple cakes to have on hand. The recipe instructions say that I should freeze the cakes without the glaze, but I am wondering if the glaze can be made ahead of time and frozen (separately) as well. I will not be able to attend one of these events, but I do hope to be able to have the cake and glaze done in advance to give to the party host if possible. Any thoughts on whether or not the glaze will freeze well? Thanks!
Hi Christy! It’s great to hear that you and your family have been enjoying this cake. The glaze isn’t the best candidate for freezing, but how about whipping up a batch right before you give the cake to the hosts? You could even have the confectioners’ sugar already measured out, so all you have to do it add the lemon juice and vanilla extract. Hopefully this is helpful!
Hi Lexi! Thanks so much for your feedback….that sounds like a great solution!
Hi sally
Do u use a fan oven for this or just the regular? Also should both the elements be one while baking?
Thanks
Hi Rabea, All of the recipes on this site are written for conventional settings. Convection ovens are fantastic for cooking and roasting. If you have the choice, we recommend conventional settings when baking cakes, breads, etc. The flow of air from convection heat can cause baked goods to rise and bake unevenly and it also pulls moisture out of the oven. If you do use convection settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake. Hope this helps!
Thanks a lot! So you do not recommend using the fan in the oven. Also, should i use the lower element only while baking a cake or should both the elements be turned on?
Recipe sounds fun to try 🙂 Is it possible to substitute flour to a almond flour? What would be the ratio in that case? Thank you!
Hi Evy! Almond flour has very different baking properties than all purpose flour does and we do not recommend making that swap. Best to find a recipe specially formulated for almond flour for best results!
Hi Sally
I made this in a bundt and it was FANTASTIC!
Please tell me if I can use muffin tins instead of a bundt pan?
Thank you so much
Hi Nargess, we can’t see why not! They will be on the denser side, of course. I’m unsure of the exact bake time.
Amazing cake! The only ingredient change I made was to use lemon extract instead of vanilla because I love lemon that much. Fresh blueberries only, plus the lemon juice and zest as directed. (I won’t bake with frozen fruit as it has caused uneven cooking.)
Convection oven: baked in my electric range using convection at 325 F. It took 75 min to bake using a 9.75” x 3.38” Wilton silicone Bundt pan sitting on top of a cookie sheet. I did tent with foil half way through and the site with silicone baking instructions recommended letting cake cool completely in pan. I let get pretty much cooled off, and it flipped easily out of the Bundt pan, which had been generously greased with ghee via pastry brush. It browned nicely on the sides.
This was my first time using cake flour! Oh my goodness, what a difference. Everyone at work devoured it for a special treat.
Thank you again…..Will be making it for my family tomorrow.
This is probably one of my favourite top 3 recipe’s by Sally. Just amazingly good.
HI SALLY,
I finally received my Bundt pan and could not wait to try this recipe. I took everything out my cupboard, except I only had one cup of granulated sugar, and no cake flour.
I substituted with one cup of brown sugar with the one cub of white sugar and used all purpose flour instead of cake flour. I followed the recipe exactly otherwise. The cake turned out beautiful, moist and the texture was very good. Light and not too dense surprisingly. The cake was adequately sweet (maybe from the brown sugar) and did not need the icing glaze, which made it too sweet.
I will make this again using the correct ingredients to compare.
Hello, thank you for the recipe. I have a couple of questions. Is cake flour the same as self raising flour? I live in the UK and that is what we normally use for cake baking.
Also I am worried it will not be enough mixture for my bundt pan, can we double the recipe?
Hi Samina! Cake Flour is not the same as self raising flour. It is lighter in texture and produces fluffy cakes – here’s instructions for making a homemade version if you can’t find cake flour. We don’t recommend using self raising flour. This recipe is written for a 10-12 cup Bundt pan. We would advise you check the capacity of your bundt pan before increasing the recipe to avoid overfilling. Hope you love this cake!
Great recipe that is very easy to follow! I used whole fat plain yogurt with a mix of blueberries and strawberries and the cake was delicious.
Hi Sally, I love the flavor of this cake! I’m using frozen berries tho and need to bake my cake longer. The resulting cake doesn’t feel too dry but crumbles when sliced. Any suggestions?
Thank you!
Hi Carmela, was the cake warm when sliced? This is an extremely moist cake and will lose its shape if you cut into it while it’s still warm. (Assuming it was fully cooked!) Large Bundt cakes need a few hours to cool before completely room temperature.
Hi Sally,
Can I make this with one cup of buttermilk in lieu of sour cream? I have some leftover buttermilk that I want to use up.
Thank you,
Brenda
Hi Brenda, it’s best to stick with yogurt in this cake, buttermilk will be too thin. Here’s all our recipes that use buttermilk!
Perfectly moist and delicious! Adding to the list of my favorite recipes. Thanks for sharing this! We are obsessed.
This easy recipe turned out to be amazingly moist and tasty. It was even better the next day. I recieved raves from young and old.
I read through all the comments and didn’t find my question, I’d love to make this but I only have a flute pan. that fits in my 6 qt. Instant Pot. Would it work and if so, would I have to change the time?
Hi Sue! How may cups of batter does your pan hold? It may be too small for this full recipe. You could cut the recipe in half for a 5-6 cup Bundt or flute pan. Baking time will be shorter, so keep an eye on it and use a toothpick to test for doneness. You could also halve the recipe and bake it in a 9×4 inch loaf pan. Hope this helps!
I just made it using goat yogurt and gluten free flour because of intolerances and it turned out great! I also used canola oil as a substitute for butter also and it worked out! My fiancé loves it as well 🙂
Sally, you’re my go to site. First the strawberry cake, now this! I made as directed, but used lemon extract rather than vanilla in the cake, vanilla in the glaze. and maybe some extra blueberries. So delicious, great crumb. Took about 70 minutes to cook through in a bundt ban.
This was absolutely delicious! Unfortunately the blueberries all sank to the bottom of the cake, though that didn’t take away from the fantastic taste and yummy consistency of the batter. I had some oven troubles and ended up having to bake the cake for way too long, could the fact that it cooked really slowly be the reason why the blueberries ended up sinking? Otherwise I’m thinking it could be something to do with the flour I used – I’m not in the US and can’t easily find cake flour, and the batter wasn’t as thick as I expected with the four I ended up using. I’m going to be making it again very, very soon, and hopefully it’ll come out better!
Hi Ella! The most likely culprit to the berries falling is the thinner texture of your batter – a thick batter can support the weight of the berries without them sinking. Let us know if you give it another try!
That makes sense! I tried the cake flour / all purpose flour swap with cornstarch, but I think the flour I was working with (Italian “00” flour, 240 w) might have been fine enough that it came out too tender after sifting. Next time I’m going to try swapping 1 tablespoons for cup of flour instead of two, and see if it works better.
Hi Sally!
I made it for my 10 year old daughter who loves lemon flavored cakes and deserts. Great texture, moist and creamy. I reduced sugar to 350gr (1 and 3/4 cup) because I used dried blueberries. I baked at 170°C (approximately 340 F) for one hour. Great result. My daughter loved it.
Thanks!!!
I just made this recipe today and used the Wilton 18-cavity “perfect results” pan and it worked. I baked them for 20 min at 350 degrees and they came out perfect.
It’s only my husband and I at home now (with all the kids gone) and I am adapting most of my recipes to smaller portions and/or items I can freeze or share with friends. So the mini-loaves work well for us. I also cut the sugar down by a 1/2 cup without any ill effects and the cake is still just as sweet as we’d like it to be.
Hi Sally!
Love love love this recipe!!!
I’ve noticed the last 2 times I’ve made this cake when turned out onto the plate the top is VERY dark with the bottom lumpy and almost appearing too light in color. Any suggestions?
Thanks!!