Greek yogurt pound cake is a moist homemade pound cake recipe that uses Greek yogurt in place of sour cream. So easy and so good!
Originally published 7/26/13. Updated with new photos, tips, and recipe tweeks 6/19/18.
I have a list of family recipes that I want to create lighter versions of (like my grandma’s chocolate sheet cake), and I knew that this was the perfect opportunity to create a lighter version of my great aunt’s sour cream pound cake.
I love the original sour cream pound cake, but it’s full of butter, sugar, and full-fat sour cream. All of which make the cake delicious but definitely not light.
After some tinkering, I ended up with a cake that was every bit as moist, tangy, and delicious as the my great aunt’s cake but with considerably better nutritional stats.
Can I use all-purpose flour in place of cake flour?
Can I use all-purpose flour in place of cake flour?You can. I’ve made the cake both ways. I prefer cake flour because it gives the cake a finer crumb and softer interior.
You can make your own cake flour substitute with this tutorion. However, all-purpose flour certainly works.
Could I use fat-free sour cream in place of the Greek yogurt?
I don’t recommend using fat-free sour cream. I’ve never had good luck baking with it.
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Greek Yogurt Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups cake flour¹
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ cups plain, non-fat Greek yogurt² (at room temperature)
- 1/2 cup butter (softened)
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease and flour (or spray with a nonstick spray like Baker’s Joy that has flour in it) a 12-cup bundt pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat yogurt, butter, and sugar together until well-combined.
- Beat in eggs one at a time.
- Stir in extracts.
- Add flour mixture, and stir in until just combined.
- Pour batter into prepared bundt pan.
- Bake 60-80 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. You may need to cover the exposed cake with foil if it starts to brown too much.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Make a cake flour substitute with this easy tutorial.
- If your yogurt has separated (looks watery on top), be sure to stir it before measuring.
- Nutrition facts are estimates.
anon, ye mouse! says
I made this recipe with lemon extract instead of almond, and it turned out amazingly! 10/10 would cake again.
Kate says
Yay!! So glad that it worked out well for you! Thanks for commenting. =)
Mark Browning says
Ran out of eggs! Is there a substitute?
Kate says
Hi! Unfortunately, I don’t know that there would be a good substitute for the eggs.
Meliss says
I made this cake successfully twice. In the past two days I’ve made and have thrown out two cakes. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. It is heavy and gummy in the middle. I did try and reduce the sugar a bit and two of my eggs were double yolks so I didn’t add the 4th egg. Could those changes be the problem? I’m so bummed!! We really like the cake with all the fresh fruit available.
Kate says
Hmmm, that’s frustrating! Let’s see if we can figure this out. Sugar does help to provide structure for the cake. By how much did you reduce the sugar? Also, has anything else changed?
Thom says
Used this recipe for my wife’s “birthday” cake this year. It really tuned out well. I used Gold Medal general purpose flour and Cabot’s Whole milk, plain Greek yogurt. It baked a great crust, nice texture, and had an outstanding flavor. This is our new favorite pound cake recipe. Thanks!
Kate says
Yay!! Happy birthday to your wife, and I’m so glad that the cake worked out well for you! We love it, and it’s great to hear that other people are enjoying it, too. Thanks for commenting!
Alexandra says
Hi there! Can I freeze this pound cake if I want to make one for now and one for later? Thanks!
Kate says
Hi! I haven’t tried to freeze this pound cake, but pound cake usually freezes well. So, I would guess that it would work well.
Tom says
Tried this recipe during Covid-19 quarantine. Halfed the recipe, used the cake flour substitute, and replaced the almond extract with another dose of vanilla extract (because I didn’t have any). Very happy with how it turned out. 4.7/5 would make again.
Kate says
I’m really glad to hear that you liked it! Thanks for commenting!
Thomas Ripley says
Tried this recipe during Covid-19 quarantine. Halfed the recipe, used the cake flour substitute, and replaced the almond extract with another dose of vanilla extract (because I didn’t have any). Very happy with how it turned out. 4.7/5 would make again.
Kate says
Good! I’m glad that you liked the cake. Thanks for commenting!
Mary says
I had some yogurt that was getting near the use by date and came across the pound cake recipe. It was delicious. After reading some of the reviews, I creamed the sugar and butter together, added the eggs and flavoring then the yogurt. I had no problem with it baking. In fact, I thought it was better the day. Will definitely make this again.
Kate says
Thank you so much! I’m so glad that you liked it and that it turned out well for you. =)
Ilene says
Can you use eggbeaters instead of eggs and spread instead of butter?
Kate says
I haven’t tried using eggbeaters and spread instead of butter to say how that would work.
Vanessa says
Yes, I have the same problem that the butter can’t incorporate with yogurt and sugar. I think it is because the yogurt is cold and make the butter freezes again.
Kate says
Hi! Sorry to hear that! I haven’t had that issue, but I appreciate the feedback!
Amanda says
First, let me couch my review by saying I made a couple alterations based on what I had on hand. I used AP instead of cake flour and I used 2% greek yogurt instead of FF. I swapped out the extracts for lemon flavor….I wanted a lemon pound cake that I could top with a berry compote and this turned out wonderfully. I did notice the “shell” that pound cakes get was particularly hard and a bit thicker than normal. Is this how the standard recipe turns out? Or do you believe this could be due to my substitutions?
Kate says
No, it gets a bit of a crust (like normal pound cake), but it shouldn’t be hard and thick. That was likely the result of using AP flour. Using 2% Greek yogurt and lemon flavor shouldn’t have affected it. I hope that helps!
Mike says
I had trouble getting the butter to fully mix. I wondered if I should have creamed the butter/sugar before adding the yogurt. And then the cake turned out perfectly. So good. Was wondering if there was a reason for mixing butter/yogurt/sugar all at once?
Kate says
I’m so glad to hear that the cake came out well for you! =)
I’ve tried it both ways (creaming the butter and sugar and then adding the yogurt and creaming all 3 together). I found that I got the same results either way, and so I wrote it with the more streamlined instructions.
If you feel like you would get better results creaming the butter/sugar and then adding the yogurt, you can absolutely do that instead. Hope that helps!
Kelly says
I want to make this for my sister’s birthday but was hoping to dress it up a little with a drizzle on top or something of that nature. Any suggestions?
Kate says
My favorite thing to serve with this cake is fresh fruit (peaches or berries) and sometimes a little whipped cream. Hope that helps!