This Strawberry Yogurt Cake is made with white whole wheat flour and less sugar and fat than a standard cake. Topped with roasted strawberries and strawberry sauce, this is a simple, healthy (ish) cake you're sure to love!
You know how sometimes you don't learn from your mistakes?
This cake is that.
Well, no. Don't get me wrong, the cake is excellent. It's a simple, tangy yogurt cake made with a blend of all-purpose and white whole wheat flour, just barely sweetened, and studded with Balsamic Baked Strawberries. Ain't nothing the matter with that!
The problem was that I could never leave well enough alone, and always plopped way way way WAY more strawberries on top than the cake can actually handle. As a result it would take forever to bake, burning the top well before the center was done.
When I first posted this recipe back in 2013 I made such a mess of it that I didn't even post a picture of the finished product. I was *such* a good blogger back then.
It took me many years to come back to this cake, and last year when the juicy local strawberries I hit, I made it again. You know what I did? The EXACT same thing.
So I've thoroughly tested what NOT to do when making a Strawberry Yogurt Cake. It's about balance. You've gotta drop down the right amount of strawberries and back away from the pan.
You need to trust that the remaining strawberries will fulfil their destiny as an incredibly good sauce spooned over thick slices of cake.
And you need to know that this one-bowl yogurt cake is well worth the effort, even if you do make a complete mess of it.
What's in this strawberry yogurt cake?
Alrighty, time to gather your ingredients! Go grab some:
- Flour --> We're using a blend of all-purpose and white whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour today.
- Sugar --> Straight up, we are using sugar. It's not very much though, so stay cool.
- Eggs --> Two large ones, please and thanks.
- Butter --> Melted and slightly cooled.
- Yogurt --> Full fat, please.
- Milk --> I prefer whole, but use what you have.
- Vanilla extract --> Try making your own!
- Baking powder --> Aluminium free is best.
- Salt --> Just a smidge.
- Balsamic Baked Strawberries --> This our cake topper AND our serving sauce.
Ready? Let's go!
How do you make the yogurt cake?
We're going to make this Strawberry Yogurt Cake using my patented one-bowl technique for lazy bakers. I'll break it down for you step by step.
Step 1: Butter and flour your baking dish. I used a 9-inch ceramic pie plate that is a little more than 2 inches deep. If you're using a 9-inch round pan that's NOT at least 2 inches deep, you will end up with over flow.
Alternatively you could bake your cake in a large cast iron skillet (great alternative!), or in a 9x11 rectangular cake pan, but you will need to reduce the baking time accordingly.
Step 2: Mix all of your wet ingredients together in a large bowl. That's the eggs, milk, yogurt, melted butter, and vanilla.
Step 3: Using a wire whisk, thoroughly mix the wet ingredients together.
Step 4: Place a mesh sifter (mine is 100% a strainer) over the bowl, and add the all purpose and white whole wheat flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt into the sifter.
Step 5: Gently tap the sifter against your hands to sift the dry ingredients directly on top of the wet. Lazy bakers rejoice, we've saved a bowl!
Step 6: Using a wooden spoon, stir the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
Step 7: Scrape the cake batter into the prepared pan, and spread into an even layer.
Step 8: Spoon NO MORE THAN HALF of a batch of Balsamic Baked Strawberries over the top of the cake. If you get the urge to keep going, put your spoon down and back away from the pan.
You can drizzle a couple of tablespoons of the berry juice over the top of the cake if you wish, but it really is best reserved for the sauce.
Step 9: Bake that cake! It's going to bake for approximately 30 minutes (depending on how deep your pan is) and is ready when a cake tester / toothpick / sharp knife inserted in the middle yields on a few crumbs stuck to the side.
NOTE! This cake has considerably less fat and sugar than a standard cake recipe, so is prone to drying out if over baked. Really do pull it out the second it seems done.
NOTE! If the top of your cake is browning before the center is ready, I recommend you cover it with foil for the remainder of the baking time to prevent the top from burning.
Remove the cake from the oven, and let it cool.
Serve thick wedges with a dollop of vanilla-flecked yogurt and a puddle of Balsamic Roasted Strawberries on the side.
Can I make this cake in advance?
You can, with some caveats. As I've already mentioned, this strawberry yogurt cake recipe has less fat and sugar than most standard cake recipes, and as such it is prone to drying out
As such, this cake is really at it's best the day of baking. Wrapped tightly in plastic it will do ok for another 2-ish days at room temperature. Beyond that it gets pretty dry.
Can I freeze this cake?
You sure can! Swedges (<-- a slice? a wedge? something in between?) of cake can be individually wrapped in plastic and then frozen. Frozen cake will last you up to three months.
Do I have to use baked strawberries on top?
It's your cake, you do what you want. You could change it up with thinly sliced fresh strawberries, a handful of scattered blueberries, or maybe peach slices?
Please note I have only tested this recipe with Balsamic Baked Strawberries.
Other recipes you might enjoy:
Healthy Cherry Muffins
Roasted Strawberry Yogurt Popsicles
Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread with Quinoa
Whole Wheat Muffins with Cinnamon Roasted Apples
Chocolate Yogurt Cake
Strawberry Yogurt Cake
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup plain yoghurt full fat
- ½ cup milk whole
- ¼ cup butter melted and slightly cooled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 batch Balsamic Baked Strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200°C / 400°F. Butter and flour a deep dish 9-inch pie plate.
- In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup yogurt, ½ cup milk, 2 eggs, and ¼ cup melted butter. Whisk in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
- Place a mesh sifter over the wet ingredients and add 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour, 1 cup all purpose flour, ½ cup granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, and half a teaspoon of salt.
- Gently tap the sifter against your hand or the side of the bowl, and sift the dry ingredients directly over top of the wet ingredients.
- Using a wooden spoon, stir the wet and dry mixture until just combined.
- Spoon batter into the prepared baking dish. Top the cake batter with half a bath of balsamic baked strawberries, reserving the rest of the strawberries and their juices for serving.
- Bake for 30-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool to room temperature before slicing, and then serve with the remaining roasted strawberries.
Notes
- Nutrition values are an estimate only
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published June 29, 2013. It was retested, rephotographed, and updated on June 13, 2019.
HeatHer
This cake is perfect now that our local strawberries are available.
Katie Trant
Yes indeed!
HeatHer
This cake is perfect now that our local strawberries are available.
Lynne
After roasting, I have quite a bit of berry juice/ooze with my strawberries. Does half of that go into the cake with half the berries, or should I save the liquid with the topping berries? Don’t want my cake to be soggy!
Katie Trant
Hi Lynne, I hope your cake turned out ok. I made this recipe again recently and realized that the recipe needs re-testing and editing! Personally I'd save the liquid as my cake, although not soggy, did take quite some time to cook through.
Deena Kakaya
It seems like I missed this one, why did I miss this one?! WOW x
Katie Trant
It's a super old recipe, totally buried in the archives! But I've been changing what shows up in the side bar from week to week, so there you go! Book mark it for strawberry season!
Laura T (@TheSpicedLife)
I totally would have done that also. I always want more of the good stuff! Love this cake, am pinning now!
mytanfeet
Yum!! This cake looks amazing and I looove strawberries in cake. I'm not a great baker but this actually looks doable (or I'll pass it along to my brother haha)
themuffinmyth
You can do it! It's not a hard cake to make 🙂
Leanne
Congratulations on three years! Yours is definitely and by far my favorite blog out there ... even when life gets in the way! My son is a yogurt and a strawberry fanatic, I feel like I couldn't, in good conscience, know that this cake exists and NOT make it for him sometime.
themuffinmyth
Thanks Leanne! That is high praise coming from you, and I really appreciate it. I hope you do give the cake a try, it's super delish!
Tessa
I could not help laughing at the craziness, humility and then...redemption, in your story and picture. Even more, I WANT to make this dessert.
It is a great blog.
themuffinmyth
Thank you! It is a really great dessert, you should definitely try making it. Just don't quadruple the strawberries on the cake!
Jess
Happy summer, Katie - you captured it beautifully. And a VERY happy anniversary to three years of blogging - so glad we've found one another through this crazy crazy blogging world!
themuffinmyth
Thanks Jess! Me too - I'm constantly inspired by what you manage to produce out of your little Bangkok apartment! Glad this world brought us together 🙂
erika
Ahh! So many wonderful-sounding summer cakes floating around! You have me really intrigued with this roasted strawberry business. Do you have ANY photos of the cake?? I'm so curious to see it! The way you described it sounds absolutely amazing (I'm so impressed you were able to bike with it!)
And yay 🙂 Congrats on three years! I know what you mean about feeling like a small fish in a big pond, but you should definitely feel proud of the quality content you put up. I learned about date paste from you first, in your banana branners post, and it's been a great ingredient to have in the kitchen! So thank you 🙂
themuffinmyth
I honestly didn't take any photos of the finished cake. I was having a particularly self-deprecating afternoon, and was so disappointed with the burnt edges and ugly looking middle that I put my camera away. I thought of taking a new pictures later, when it was sliced and garnished, thinking that would distract from the edges, but by the time it was served we were several bottles of rose in, and it just didn't occur to me to take the camera out. But it was amazingly good, and the burnt edges didn't even taste burnt. Everyone had seconds. Success!
lidipiri
Oh my goodness this just sounds divine!!! And thank YOU for giving us so much yummy ideas to make.
themuffinmyth
You're welcome!
Kathryn
Happy 3 years! I'm so glad to have got to meet you and connect with you through this space. As I've said before, I so love your approach to food and eating and you're such a great role model. I totally understand why you added four times the amount of strawberries to this cake too - I can't resist roasted strawberries especially with a touch of balsamic.
themuffinmyth
Thanks Kathryn! I'm so glad to have met you in the 'real world' as well. And thank you for the kind words - it's feedback like that that keeps me going 🙂 Yes, roasted strawberries are quite something, aren't they - though I must caution you, adding all of the berries and juices was a mistake. Reserve half for serving!
kellie@foodtoglow
First of all congratulations. I'm so glad to have met you at FBC last last year or I probably wouldn't have found your fantastic blog on my own. Because, as you say, it is a bonkers big pond. I am so pleased that you have got where you are not only in blogging but also professionally. You are such a great advocate for healthy eating, and not like the other so-called experts who come across as totally perfect (how wonderful that you have blogged a cake without showing the cake - genius! Now we all want to make it as we don't have a vision of perfection to try and match!). and your information is balanced, which is so needed on the internet. Keep up the sterling work. Enjoy your new job and keep us up to date with it. All best, Kellie x
themuffinmyth
Same here, Kellie! I'm thrilled to have met you, and super bummed to not be going back to FBC this year. Oh well... we'll always have next year, right? Thanks for the kind words about the work I do here, it means a lot, especially from a fellow health nut!
emuseats
This looks delicious! I love yogurt in absolutely everything. It's funny how much the blogging world changes. There are so many social networks, photo sights and probably other things I do not even know exist! Congrats on 3 years 🙂
themuffinmyth
Thank you!
andmorefood
those roasted strawberries look so good!!
Jodie
I found your blog a little over a year ago, it's the only blog I follow. As much as I wish you would post more recipes because they are so amazingly great, I get that life happens. Thank you so much for your posts!
themuffinmyth
Thanks Jodie! Such kind words 🙂 I wish I could post more often too, and hopefully I'm on track to figuring that out. It's definitely my favourite thing!
Sandra @ Kitchen Apparel
Wow...Congrats on 3 years!!! Your blog is a beautiful inspiration to everyone who find it and your authenticity really shows through. The yogurt cake sounds so interesting....and topped with roasted strawberries....Perfection. Hope you continue sharing all your knowledge and recipes for many more years to come 🙂
themuffinmyth
Thanks Sandra! It really is a great combo, this tangy cake and the roasted strawberries. Though the photos would never compete with yours, the taste can speak for it's self 🙂
Ben Gaiarin
This is a fantastic, and healthy, strawberry yogurt recipe! It will be tomorrow's breakfast! Thanks!
themuffinmyth
It would make a good weekend treat breakfast!