Fluffy yogurt cake

Back to basics! The yogurt cake is one of the quickest solutions for any need to have a super fluffy cake and a treat ready in record time. You mix all the ingredients and into the oven. Just like that! And everyone always likes it.

Today we made it with the little one at home; in 5 minutes we had the batter ready. We made it with condensed milk, although normally we would make it with sugar (I leave the traditional version and ideas to modify it in the Notes).

Here’s the recipe we've always followed at home to make yogurt cake (since I was little, my aunt Ana's recipe), and exactly how my children learn it. There's no trick, a classic yogurt cake to which you can add flavorings or change the taste in the simplest ways.

• In the notes at the end of the post, I leave the most classic ideas to make this cake a lemon, orange or chocolate cake. I hope you like it!
• Also in the notes you'll find all the essential tips to always achieve a tall, fluffy cake.

Emile Henry fluted pan

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs
• 1 natural yogurt
• 3/4 yogurt cups olive oil
• 1 yogurt cup condensed milk*
• 1/3 yogurt cup sugar
• 3 yogurt cups flour (very heaped or 3 and a half cups)
• 1 packet of baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract*
• (optional) Chocolate chips or chopped fondant chocolate.

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 170ºC.
2. Put the eggs in a bowl and beat them vigorously to aerate them. From here and without stopping beating, add all the ingredients in the order they appear on the list. Mix between additions. Mix well with a whisk until the lumps disappear and you have a homogeneous and fairly liquid batter.
3. Prepare the pan (I used the Emile Henry fluted pan): grease it with butter, spreading a piece of butter all over the pan with the help of a paper towel.
4. Pour the batter into the pan and place it in the middle/lower third of the oven (at 170 ºC, without fan). Leave it for about 35-40 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean when you poke it or the cake thermometer indicates it is done.
5. Remove from the oven and let cool.
6. Dust with powdered sugar, decorate with zig-zags of chocolate syrup or cover it with a good chocolate coating if you prefer. It will fly off the plate!

Fluted pan and Emile Henry ceramic dessert plates

Notes about the cake

• The traditional recipe does not use condensed milk; instead they then use a total of 2 cups of sugar. You can also replace the sugar with panela to reduce processed sugar and add more nuances to the cake's aroma.
• To make lemon or orange yogurt cake: Today I made it with vanilla extract, but often I use lemon zest and the juice of half a lemon instead to make it lemon-flavored (if you make it lemon, it's interesting that the yogurt is also lemon-flavored instead of plain yogurt, to boost the citrus flavor), or you can make it orange the same way, replacing the vanilla with orange zest and juice. The cakes turn out delicious!
• You can add chocolate chips to the batter, a good handful of them!, as well as chopped hazelnuts.
• Finish by decorating with a chocolate coating or chocolate or caramel syrup. No one will say "no".

Tips for making a super fluffy, moist cake that rises evenly

• Sift the flour and baking powder.
• You can always add a teaspoon of baking soda; it adds fluffiness.
• Remember that the oven must not be opened during baking when making cakes, or they won't rise properly (the oven temperature changes drastically and the cake can collapse immediately).
• If you doubt your oven, cover the cake with parchment paper or aluminum foil, loosely and without touching the batter (remember it will rise!). This way the surface won't set immediately and the batter can rise more easily, achieving a tall, fluffy cake.
• Remember as much as you can to always use ceramic pans for making cakes. Unlike others, it's a moist material, which helps retain moisture in the cake (steel dries them out).
• Never bake cakes with the fan function, if you can avoid it. The fan dries cakes out a lot, besides heating the batter very quickly so it doesn't give them proper time to rise at their own pace.

If you want to see every tip imaginable to achieve a tall, super fluffy cake, along with more recipes with those characteristics, I invite you to see this post here.