French Lemon Yoghurt Cake with Blueberries
Studded with fresh blueberries and oozing with zesty, zingy lemon, this French Lemon Yoghurt Cake with Blueberries has a meltingly soft, light, moist crumb, is bursting with juicy berries and then brushed with a simple, yet luscious, lemon syrup. This classic French recipe is perfectly balanced: neither too sweet, nor too tart, with a fabulous consistent texture throughout and just the right amount of lemon and berries.
This cake has a strong lemon flavour, which is just how I like it. If you prefer a more subtle flavour, simply reduce the lemons to 1 or 1½.
What is French Yoghurt Cake?
Baking at home is not as popular as you might imagine in French households – perhaps because of the abundance of wonderful bakeries and pastry shops in virtually every village and on so many street corners in the cities. The basic French Yoghurt Cake is quintessentially French – in texture, flavour and simplicity. It is the home made cake that French children grow up both eating and baking themselves, often learning how to make it at school.
Based on the classic, this cake simply adds lemon zest and blueberries to the batter as well as brushing it with a lemon syrup. Wonderfully addictive, this cake can also be made in muffin cases. In fact, adding the blueberries to the batter obviously increases the volume of the cake. It will still fit in a 900g/2lb loaf tin, just, but I often take a little out and make 1 or 2 muffins as a little treat just for me! They take around 25 minutes to cook.
How to make French Lemon Yoghurt Cake with Blueberries
Collect all your ingredients together:
For the cake –
- caster sugar
- lemon zest
- natural yoghurt
- eggs
- neutral flavoured oil such as vegetable, sunflower or canola oil
- vanilla extract
- plain/all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- fine salt
- fresh blueberries plus some plain/all-purpose flour
For the lemon syrup –
- icing sugar
- lemon juice
Now make this fabulous, simple cake:
- Halve the blueberries – quarter the large ones. Place 25g chopped blueberries into a small bowl. In another bowl, mix the remaining 125g with 2 teaspoons flour. Set aside
- Weigh the caster sugar into a mixing bowl. Grate the lemon zest directly on top of the sugar.
- Use your finger tips to rub the zest into the sugar. This helps to release the oils from the zest and bring out the lemon flavour.
- Add the yoghurt, eggs, oil and vanilla and use a balloon whisk to thoroughly mix.
- Next add the flour, baking powder and salt and combine with a balloon whisk. Be careful not to over-mix at this stage, but make sure it is smooth and combined.
- Transfer the cake batter and floured blueberries into a 900g/2lb lined cake tin in the following layers –
- ¼ of the cake batter
- ⅓ of the floured blueberries
- ¼ of the cake batter
- ⅓ of the floured blueberries
- ¼ of the cake batter
- ⅓ of the floured blueberries
- ¼ of the cake batter
- finish by sprinkling over the remaining 25g blueberries with no flour
- Bake in the centre of a pre-heated oven for 50 – 55 minutes, or until cooked. It is cooked when:
- the cake has risen and the centre feels springy when lightly touched with your finger and no imprint remains.
- a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- the cake is beginning to come away from the sides of the tin/dish.
- Take out of the oven
- NB – adding the blueberries obviously increases the volume of the cake. It will still fit in a 900g/2lb loaf tin, just, but I often take a little out and make 1 or 2 muffins as a little treat just for me! They take around 25 minutes to cook.
Basic cake ingredients 
Additional ingredients 
1 Blueberries, flour 
2 Sugar and lemon 
3 Rub together 
4 Add wet ingredients 
5 Then dry ingredients … 
… Mix well 
6 Layer cake batter … 
and blueberries 
Layer 
Bake
Make the lemon syrup:
- Whilst the cake bakes, juice the lemons and mix the juice with the icing sugar.
- As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, brush the syrup over the hot cake. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for at least 30 minutes before lifting out to continue cooling ion a wire rack. I leave it in the baking paper until completely cool.
Syrup ingredients 
1 Mix 
2 Brush on cake
Made this recipe?
If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.
French Lemon Yoghurt Cake with Blueberries
Studded with fresh blueberries and oozing with zesty, zingy lemon, this French Lemon Yoghurt Cake with Blueberries has a meltingly soft, light, moist crumb, is bursting with juicy berries and then brushed with a simple, yet luscious, lemon syrup. This classic French recipe is perfectly balanced: neither too sweet, nor too tart, with a fabulous consistent texture throughout and just the right amount of lemon and berries.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 200g caster sugar
- zest from 2 lemons
- 125g natural yoghurt
- 3 eggs
- 110g neutral flavoured oil such as vegetable, sunflower or canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 195g plain/all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- 150g fresh blueberries plus 2 teaspoons plain/all-purpose flour
For the lemon syrup:
- 80g icing sugar
- juice from 2 lemons
Instructions
-
Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
-
Preheat oven to fan oven 160°C/180°C/350°F/Gas 4
-
Make the cake: weigh the caster sugar into a mixing bowl. Grate the lemon zest directly on top of the sugar.
-
Use your finger tips to rub the zest into the sugar. This helps to release the oils from the zest and bring out the lemon flavour.
-
Add the yoghurt, eggs, oil and vanilla and use a balloon whisk to thoroughly mix.
-
Next add the flour, baking powder and salt and combine with a balloon whisk. Be careful not to over-mix at this stage, but make sure it is smooth and combined.
-
Transfer the cake batter and floured blueberries into a 900g/2lb lined cake tin in the following layers:
– ¼ of the cake batter
– ⅓ of the floured blueberries
– ¼ of the cake batter
– ⅓ of the floured blueberries
– ¼ of the cake batter
– ⅓ of the floured blueberries
-¼ of the cake batter
– finish by sprinkling over the remaining 25g blueberries with no flour
-
Bake in the centre of a pre-heated oven for 50 – 55 minutes, or until cooked. It is cooked when:
– the cake has risen and the centre feels springy when lightly touched with your finger and no imprint remains.
– a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
– the cake is beginning to come away from the sides of the tin/dish.
-
Take out of the oven
-
NB – adding the blueberries obviously increases the volume of the cake. It will still fit in a 900g/2lb loaf tin, just, but I often take a little out and make 1 or 2 muffins as a little treat just for me! They take around 25 minutes to cook.
-
Make the lemon syrup: whilst the cake bakes, juice the lemons and mix the juice with the icing sugar.
-
As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, brush the syrup over the hot cake. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for at least 30 minutes before lifting out to continue cooling ion a wire rack. Leave it in the baking paper until completely cool.
Recipe Notes
Equipment:
- kitchen scales and measuring spoons
- mixing bowl and balloon whisk
- small mixing bowl
- grater
- reamer
- 900g/21b loaf tin lined with baking parchment or a loaf tin parchment case
- small mixing bowl
Traditional measurements:
Traditionally made using a yoghurt pot to measure out the ingredients, this adds to the cake’s appeal and simplicity, particularly when making with children – 1 pot of yoghurt, 1 pot of oil, 2 pots of sugar, 3 pots of flour, 3 eggs, some baking powder, a touch of salt and voila! Add other flavours, such as orange, as desired.
