French Lemon Yoghurt Cake with Blueberries

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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:

1. 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
2. Weigh the caster sugar into a mixing bowl. Grate the lemon zest directly on top of the sugar.
3. 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.
4. Add the yoghurt, eggs, oil and vanilla and use a balloon whisk to thoroughly mix.
5. 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.
6. 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
7. 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.
8. Take out of the oven
9. 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.

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Make the lemon syrup:

1. Whilst the cake bakes, juice the lemons and mix the juice with the icing sugar.
2. 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.

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Made this recipe?

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