A lighter yogurt pound cake that replaces ½ the butter of your typical pound cake recipe with yogurt. Be sure that your butter and eggs are at room temperature before making this cake batter.
Grease an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment or wax paper, so the pound cake doesn't stick to the bottom when you try to remove it.
Position an oven rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 325F degrees.
In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until soft and light. Beat in 3 of the eggs, one at a time, letting each one get incorporated before adding the next.
Beat in the yogurt until well blended.
Beat in the salt, mace (if using) and vanilla extract.
In a separate small bowl, combine the remaining egg, with the milk.
In third bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder and sift once. (I just shake it through a strainer.)
Beat in ⅓ of the flour. Then beat in half the milk mixture. Then ⅓ of the flour, half the milk and the remaining ⅓ flour - until everything is incorporated.
Fill the pan about ⅚th full. Bake the pound cake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour or until it is well risen and colored, cracked on the surface, and a thin knife inserted in the thickest part of the cake comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool in the pan.
Once completely cool, gently run a sharp knife along the sides of the pan, carefully remove the cake from the pan and remove the paper.
Wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap and store at a cool room temperature in the refrigerator. If refrigerated, bring to room temperature before serving.
It's really important that your butter and eggs are at room temperature or the butter may separate while you are mixing giving the cake a rough, irregular texture, instead of a smooth, tender one.
Recipe Notes
**Mace, the outer covering of a nutmeg, is the traditional flavoring for pound cake. If don't have it, so I used a little Penzeys baking spiceVariations:
Orange Pound Cake: Omit the mace. Add the zest of one medium naval orange and substitute orange extract for the vanilla.
Lemon Pound Cake: Omit the mace. Add the zest of one lemon and substitute 2 teaspoons lemon extract for the vanilla.
Honey Spice Pound Cake: Decrease sugar to ¾ cup and add ¼ cup honey. Omit mace and vanilla. Add ½ teaspoon each ground cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.
Ginger Pound Cake: Substitute 2 teaspoons ground ginger for the spices in the Honey spice Pound Cake variation.
Polenta Pound Cake: Substitute 1 cup polenta for 1 cup flour
Nut Pound Cake: Substitute 1 cup nut meal or flour for 1 cup of flour and use 1 cup all purpose flour for the remaining cup.
Serving size: 1 slice (1/12 recipe)Click here to see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site.11*SmartPoints (Green plan)10*SmartPoints (Blue plan)10*SmartPoints (Purple plan)6*PointsPlus (Old plan)
Nutrition Facts
Lighter Yogurt Pound Cake Recipe
Amount Per Serving (1 slice (1/12 recipe))
Calories 238Calories from Fat 86
% Daily Value*
Fat 9.6g15%
Carbohydrates 34.2g11%
Fiber 0.6g2%
Protein 4g8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.