Recipe: Apple Yogurt Cake with a Cinnamon-Sugar Streak (2024)

FAQs

What does yogurt do in baking cake? ›

“It adds moisture and tenderness.” The fermentation element of yogurt, too, “takes flavor to another level,” says Maureen Abood, who authored Rose Water and Orange Blossoms: Fresh & Classic Recipes from My Lebanese Kitchen.

You can use the same amount of plain yogurt to replace oil in any cake mix.

And of course, one of Greek yogurt's main selling points is the crave-worthy, slightly tangy flavor it brings to finished baked goods. Plus, it can help cakes, cookies, and quick breads attain a light and fluffy texture while maintaining a perfectly moist crumb.

Apples and yogurt make a healthy snack. Sliced apples topped with vanilla yogurt create more than just a good flavor combination. They complement one another, with yogurt providing nutrients you won't get from apples, and apples filling in with the fiber and vitamin C that yogurt lacks.

Whole milk yogurt works best and brings a big reduction in fat, plus more protein and calcium. Baked goods made with yogurt as a straight substitute for sour cream will turn out less tender, lighter in texture and have a tangier, less buttery flavor.

While sour cream sets the stage for a denser, more traditional cake, the inclusion of Greek yogurt can often lead to a lighter, health-conscious choice with a subtler finish, perfect for those who enjoy a less heavy dessert.

Sour cream is one of the fattiest dairy products; the extra fat content (for example, adding sour cream to a cake instead of milk) will make the cake moister and richer, says Wilk. "Fat, in any form (butter, lard, cream, etc.) shortens gluten strands, which essentially leads to the most tender baked goods," she adds.

Here are a few substitution ratios to keep in mind: Try cutting the oil in your recipe back by substituting ½ of the amount of oil with ¾ the amount of yogurt. For example, if your recipe lists 1 Cup of Oil, try replacing ½ cup of Oil with ¾ cup of yogurt. Try substituting the butter in your recipe with yogurt.

All this means that adding mayonnaise to the cake batter boosts the moisture of the final product—and leaves none of its characteristic taste. Testing showed that using oil or butter instead of mayo made for a drier cake, but keeping the eggs in addition to the mayonnaise improved richness and springiness.

Lactose content: Greek yogurt is lower in lactose than sour cream, making it a popular choice for lactose-free diets. Protein content: Greek yogurt contains more protein per serving than sour cream, which is ideal for those trying to build muscle or improve their immune system or bone strength.

What is the difference between yogurt and Greek yogurt? ›

Yogurt is milk that goes through a culturing process with a starter culture to convert its lactose to lactic acid. Greek yogurt is regular yogurt that has a thicker, more dense consistency due to a filtering process that removes whey and liquids or through the addition of whey protein and milk protein concentrates.

Sour cream will give you a similar texture and tanginess, and swapping sour cream for yogurt is a simple 1-to-1 ratio. Where it gets tricky is if you're using a fat-free variety: In that case, the substitution only works for cold recipes, like dips.

Popping the top of a container of low-fat yogurt ensures you'll enjoy a tasty, healthy afternoon pick-me-up (while also helping fulfill that important daily dairy requirement). But if you just add a dash of cinnamon--1/2 teaspoon of the copper-colored spice--to plain yogurt, you can reap some fantastic health benefits.

“Fruits, especially citrus fruits such as strawberries, grapes, oranges, amla, etc, should not be taken with milk or yoghurt. This is because this combination can lead to gastritis and a host of other gut health issues,” she said.

Yes, yogurt and apples can be eaten together. In fact, combining yogurt with fruit, such as apples, is a common and healthy snack or breakfast option.

Yogurt contributes to the texture of baked goods. Substitutes like sour cream, buttermilk, or silken tofu can help maintain or approximate the desired texture. However, when using an ingredient like cottage cheese or heavy cream, the texture can chance.

But yogurt is also an excellent dairy to bake with. Because of its acidity, yogurt reacts with baking soda to encourage leavening. It also adds nice, tangy flavor that hardly overpowers, but instead keeps everything in balance.

Although the batter made with milk instead of yogurt did produce a cake, it was a very messy-looking one, because milk has a lot more moisture than yogurt, which made the batter much more runny. It also lacked that tangy flavor yogurt lends to baked goods.

Greek yogurt may be primarily a wholesome breakfast staple, but it's also an incredible tool when it comes to baking. It can be used, just like other dairy products, to make moist and tender cakes, biscuits, breads, and more.