Yogurt in Spruced Up Vanilla Cake

Asked by tonton94. Answered on 23rd October 2015

Full question

Hi Team Nigella, I was wondering if it will make a big difference to the Spruced Up Vanilla Cake if I were to use full fat yogurt? I have a tub in the fridge and would really like to use it for this particular recipe, I just want to make sure I can. Thanks so much in advance! Best, Tonia

Our answer

Nigella's Spruced Up Vanilla Cake (from Christmas and on the Nigella website) uses fat-free (non-fat) natural (plain) yogurt. This adds moisture to the cake and the acidity of the yogurt also helps to make the cake tender. Fat-free yogurt contains only trace amounts of fat (usually about 0.1%). Regular natural yogurt typically contains 1.5% to 3% fat (Greek yogurt will be higher), depending on whether it is made with semi-skimmed (reduced fat) or whiole milk.

The cake contains 250g (1 cup) of yogurt so the amount of fat added from using a regular natural yogurt is small and the regular yogurt should work in the cake. Buttermilk is also low fat and could be considered as another alternative.