Raspberry Lemon Yogurt Cake: Plus 7 Easy Baking Tips

Today I'm sharing one of my favourite family recipes. This raspberry lemon yogurt cake is light and moist and not overly sweet. It's always a hit when I serve it at dinner parties and leftovers rarely last long. I posted it on instagram and snapchat and several of you inquired about it. So I decided a post was in order. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Erica Cook's Raspberry Lemon Yogurt Cake

9 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, separated
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup lemon yogurt
1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen

Buttercream:
1 cup butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
4 tbsp milk
lemon zest optional

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. grease and line four 6" cake pans or two 8" or 9" cake pans with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing after each. 
3. Add dry ingredients and mix until just moistened. Then fold in the lemon yogurt until combined. 
4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to medium peaks and fold into the cake batter. 
5. Next fold the raspberries into the cake batter. If you freeze them they stay whole in batter.
6. Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bake 25-30 minutes (less for 6" cakes), or until a toothpick comes out clean. 
7. Let the cakes cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
8. To make the icing cream butter until smooth. Gradually add icing sugar a cup at a time until well blended. Add salt and vanilla then slowly beat in a tbsp of milk at a time until combined.
9. Plate bottom layer on a cake stand and start icing each layer until each is completed. Flatten top and ice sides.
10. Serve with fresh raspberries. Enjoy. 

7 Easy Tips To Make Baking Efficient

1. Read through entire recipe before starting. I can't say how many times I've glanced at a recipe and forgotten a key ingredient by not paying attention. Not such a big deal with a salad but something that can make a baking endeavour completely unsuccessful.  
2. Keep all measuring utensils organized in a separate container so you can grab the bin from the drawer rather than fumbling for measuring spoons and cups. 
3. Organize smaller containers of baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the same manner as above. 
4. Clean as you go. I measure out all dry and wet ingredients and put them away before I start blending and combining. It makes the whole process seem less disastrous at the end. 
5. Preheat oven and at the same time pre treat all baking pans. They're fine to sit and wait on the counter and once your batter is mixed there's no fussing with pans. Just pour and pop in the oven. 
6. Use a levelled measuring cup to ensure that you get the exact same amount of batter in each pan. Sometimes eyeballing it yields cakes that are slightly different sizes and the layers look off. Making three layers and only have 2 pans. Set aside the third layer in a bowl.
7. If baked layers come up humped on top cut them off with unflavoured waxed dental floss. Be sure to flip the cut side down before icing so that the crumbs don't stick to your spatula.