I’ve all but given up American-style yogurt; I now favor the thick, tangy Greek variety that is finally available in most supermarkets. It’s largely, but not solely, a taste issue: plain Greek yogurt not only has a more assertive flavor that melds well with fruit, granola, honey, and any number of other accessories, but it lacks the high sugar content, gelatin, and other additives commonly found in typical grocery store brands. Its bewitching texture comes from straining excess water from the mass, leaving a more intense flavor and a consistency similar to cream cheese.
While lovely eaten on its own, what really excites me is using the yogurt in baking, substituting it for cream cheese, sour cream, milk, and buttermilk (it also makes a creamy sauce that is an amazing accompaniment to a variety of meats). For these cupcakes, I began with a basic yellow cake recipe from my old standby, the Gourmet cookbook. I substituted Greek yogurt, in this case, full-fat Fage, for the stipulated sour cream in the cake batter. Although Fage is quite heavy, the resulting cakes were insanely light and fluffy, as if i had folded in beaten egg whites, as in this white cake recipe. For the frosting, I used Fage as if it were cream cheese, and added a bit of lemon juice to heighten the tartness. Together, these produce compulsively edible little cakes, sweet with just a hint of tart.
Fluffy Yogurt Cake (adapted from Gourmet’s Golden Cake)
- 3 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1 tb baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 sticks (16 tb) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups Greek yogurt, such as Fage
Yogurt Frosting
- 1 stick (8 tb) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 muffin tins.
Make cake: sift together first four ingredients into a medium-sized bowl; set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each, then vanilla. Reduce speed to low and mix in half of the flour mixture just until combined, then the yogurt, and end with the rest of the flour mixture. Do not overmix. Pour batter into cupcake tins and bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden and inserted cake tester comes out clean. Let cool in tins for 10 minutes, then remove to baking rack to cool completely.
Make frosting: in the bowl of a standing mixer, beat yogurt and butter on medium speed until well-combined, 1 to 2 minutes; add lemon juice. Mix in confectioner’s sugar, 1/2 cup or so at a time, beating between additions to ensure smoothness.
When cakes are completely cool, spread each with 2 to 3 tablespoons’ worth of frosting.
Makes about 30 cupcakes, or 2 9-inch layers.
Comments 18
After visiting Greece, I too decided to never go back to any other yogurt.
Those look awesome – I’m especially loving that frosting!
Posted 03 May 2008 at 12:12 pm ¶I’m with you on the tangy yogurts -although I have to say – the Danone plain sweetened (slightly) with probiotics is amazing with breakfast granola or bran buds.
Posted 03 May 2008 at 1:18 pm ¶mmm great idea! I too am a fan of greek yogurt and love making yogurt cakes with it. There is one that I posted on my blog that uses it with orange zest and I think it made one of the best cakes I have ever tasted. But I want to makes your little cupcakes because they seem incredibly light with the cake flour and the tasty frosting.
Posted 03 May 2008 at 3:15 pm ¶ooh, these sound delicious, I love using Greek yoghurt in baking. The sweet and tart combo is so special.
Posted 04 May 2008 at 9:33 am ¶I LOVE greek yogurt – what a terrific way to use it. Lovely!
Posted 04 May 2008 at 2:14 pm ¶Just found your blog on Tastespotting. Nice title for the blog, it reminds me of my own situation. Great recipe! I love using greek yogurt in place of ingredients like buttermilk and sourcream.
Posted 04 May 2008 at 2:58 pm ¶these really do sound like winners. i’m also addicted to fage in a big way…
Posted 05 May 2008 at 5:28 am ¶This sounds like a great recipe. I want to try it, but I’ll have to use the plain yogurt I can get here. Will I be disappointed?
Posted 05 May 2008 at 3:07 pm ¶Oh that sounds sooo good!
Posted 06 May 2008 at 11:09 am ¶I’m quite fond of the Greek stuff too. I especially like the full fat kind at Trader Joe’s that comes with a dollop of honey. Heaven!
I sub yogurt a lot for SC in baked goods, but I haven’t tried the Greek. Will do! Sounds like some experimenting is in order for today
Posted 09 May 2008 at 11:47 am ¶Using Fage as a Sour Cream substitute in your cupcakes is brilliant! Yum Yum! I love that stuff, although I only ever allow myself to buy the non-fat or low fat version.
Posted 11 May 2008 at 10:08 am ¶my boyfriend actually makes greek yogurt (full-fat) a couple times a month in our kitchen — really not that difficult, and much cheaper than buying it in the store. i’m looking forward to trying this recipe – thanks for posting it!
Posted 12 May 2008 at 4:04 pm ¶Randomly found this — and so glad because I love Fage! I eat it with honey and fruit, and have thought about using it in baking but so far not yet…just started experimenting with yogurt. To use it as the cream cheese is ingenius! I can’t wait to try it, I have a container in the fridge. Thanks!
Posted 31 May 2008 at 8:23 pm ¶These look fantastic! I can’t wait to try these!I’ll let you know how they come out.
Posted 09 Jun 2008 at 6:23 am ¶I finally made these today after lusting over the recipe forever! the cake(I used a 10in spring form) took an hour to cook and turned out golden and delicious, but the frosting was a liquid mess-more like a glaze than the frosting pictured…did you use more than 4 cups of 10x sugar? Other wise I love this cake recipe-it is the perfect springy moist cake-so fluffy and good-i cant wait to try adding different flavorings like hazelnut or cocoa!
Posted 20 Oct 2008 at 9:18 pm ¶oooooh this cake looks great! have you ever tried using greek yogurt instead of cream cheese for a cheesecake? i really want to try that, but i’m worried it’ll turn out weird!
Posted 23 Nov 2008 at 5:39 pm ¶I made 24 and even with runny icing they are delicious! No specifications were given as to pans being greased or how much to fill cups or how many it would make and all those things would be so helpful to know. Also wondered at the ‘pouring’ the filling as it was way too thick and I had to spoon. Yum!
Posted 01 Jan 2009 at 1:19 pm ¶Wow, I had never thought of topping a cupcake with greek yoghurt. And I am a greek, living in Greece, and married to a cupcake making machine. Thanks for the eye-opener!
http://cupcakesgr.blogspot.com
Posted 04 Jun 2009 at 4:45 am ¶Trackbacks & Pingbacks 5
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