Pear and Ginger Yoghurt Cake

This healthy yoghurt cake has long been a go-to cake of mine. It’s a deliciously light and moist treat, made with wholesome ingredients like wholemeal spelt flour, yoghurt and ripe pear. It’s a super versatile recipe that can be easily adapted with other fruits and for various dietary needs, making it perfect for anyone looking for a healthier, homemade cake option.

Seeing as the weather has cooled off a bit, I thought I’d make it with winter fruit and warming ginger. When I made this one to photograph, my daughter said it tastes like a ‘real tea cake’ – ha ha! Compliments are hard to come by from teenagers so I’ll take it as a win.

If you’re not a fan of pear and ginger, don’t despair, it is very easily adapted to other flavours.

Health benefits

The use of full-fat yoghurt provides a good source of calcium and probiotics, supporting gut health. Wholemeal spelt flour adds fibre, aiding digestion, while the ginger and lemon zest provide anti-inflammatory benefits. The pear adds natural sweetness and fibre, making this cake a nutritious choice for a dessert or snack.

Ingredients

This cake is made with melted butter or macadamia nut oil, full-fat yoghurt (or greek yogurt), rice malt syrup or honey as a natural sweetener, and wholemeal spelt flour. Ginger root and lemon zest enhance the flavour, while ripe pear adds a fruity touch. The cake is finished with a sprinkle of coconut sugar or rapadura for a delightful crunch.

How to make this healthy yoghurt cake recipe

Start by preheating your oven and preparing a round cake pan. In a large mixing bowl, whisk or beat together the butter (or macadamia oil), yoghurt, sweetener, eggs, lemon zest, and ginger. Then, gently mix in the dry ingredients: baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sea salt, and spelt flour. Pour the batter into the tin, arrange the pear slices on top, sprinkle with coconut sugar, and bake for around 40 minutes. The cake is ready when a skewer or toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove the cake from the pan once you can handle it and let the cake cool on a wire rack.

You can also make this into muffins, just reduce the cook time to 25-30 minutes. If you don’t have a round cake pan you could use a loaf pan or square pan too. If you own a Thermomix, we’ve also included Thermomix instructions for this recipe.

Serving suggestions and how to store

Serve this yoghurt cake with a dollop of double cream or crème fraîche for added richness. Store any leftovers in an airtight container for a few days at room temperature or freeze the cake for later enjoyment.

Vary this healthy yoghurt cake to suit your dietary needs

For a dairy-free version, substitute the butter with macadamia nut oil and the yoghurt with coconut yoghurt. If you’re avoiding nuts, use olive oil instead. To make it fructose-friendly, use rice malt syrup and swap the pear for berries, skipping the sugar topping. Gluten-free variations haven’t been tested with this recipe, but try experimenting with your favourite gluten-free flour blend (almond flour with a tablespoon of arrowroot or tapioca starch would be my go-to). You can also make this cake egg-free by using chia egg or aquafaba as substitutes.

Other flavour options

This cake recipe is highly adaptable:

• Lemon Yogurt Cake: Double the lemon zest and add thin slices of lemon on top before baking. You could also add a lemon glaze.
• Orange Yoghurt Cake: Use orange zest and top with sliced orange, optionally sprinkling poppy seeds on top.
• Raspberry Yoghurt Cake: Top with fresh or frozen raspberries (or any fresh berries will work too).
• Apple Tea Cake: Add cinnamon to the batter and top with sliced apple and cinnamon sugar.
• Spiced Nectarine Cake: Reduce the ginger and add cinnamon, topping with sliced nectarine for a summery twist.

Take a look at the variations below for all the details as well as suggestions to alter the recipe to suit your specific dietary requirements.

For more delicious, easy to make and healthy cake recipes and sweet treats, click HERE.

Pear and Ginger Healthy Yoghurt Cake

Prep 10 minutes minutes

Cook 40 minutes minutes

Total 50 minutes minutes

Serves: 12

This simple, healthy yoghurt cake is an adaptable basic cake that I know you'll keep coming back to.

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Ingredients

• 100 g butter or macadamia nut oil -melted
• 250 g natural, Greek or coconut yoghurt (1½ cups)
• 170 g rice malt syrup or honey (½ cup)
• 3 egg/s
• 1 lemon/s -zest
• 3 tbsp ginger root -finely grated or 2 tsp ground
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 300 g wholemeal spelt flour (2½ cups)
• 1 ripe pear -cored and thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp coconut sugar or rapadura

Method

• Pre-heat your oven to 170℃/340℉ (fan-forced). Grease and line a spring form pan/ tin with baking paper. I used a 22cm cake tin.
• In a mixing bowl or food processor, beat the butter, yoghurt, sweetener of your choice, eggs, zest and ginger until well combined.
• Add the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and sea salt and blend again for a few seconds to just combine.
• Now gently fold in the spelt flour and mix until the flour is just combined. The more you mix this, the heavier the cake will become, so less is certainly best.
• Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, top with the pear, sprinkle over the sugar and bake for 40 minutes or until the cake is firm in the middle (a skewer inserted into the middle will come out clean). 
• Release the springform tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Thermomix

• Melt your butter 90, 1 min, speed 3. Add the yoghurt, sweetener of your choice, eggs, zest and ginger and blend 1 minute, speed 4.
• Add the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and sea salt mix 5 seconds speed 4.
• Add the spelt flour and mix 5 seconds, lock the lid, on the flour symbol. Scrape down the sides and fold any uncombined flour as much as you can by hand. You really don't want to over process it, less is best.
• Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, top with the pear, sprinkle over the sugar and bake for 40 minutes or until the cake is firm in the middle (a skewer inserted into the middle will come out clean). 
• Release the springform tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Serve

• This is so yum served with double cream, or creme fraiche.

Store

• In an airtight container for a few days. 
• It can also be frozen (also in an airtight container).

Variations

Dairy-free

Replace the butter with macadamia nut oil and the yoghurt with coconut yoghurt. If you need it to be nut-free you can use coconut oil, but it will effect the taste and texture (the cake will toughen as it cools). Another option is olive oil.

Fructose friendly

Choose rice malt syrup as your sweetener and replace the pear with berries and omit the sugar on top. Take a look at the flavour combo's below.

Gluten-free

I haven't tested this with a gluten-free flour as yet. But this Basic Easy Healthy Cake recipe is my all time favourite gluten-free cake (but not nut-free). Another great gluten and nut-free cake is my Vanilla Bean Cupcakes (this recipe also makes one large cake).

White spelt

You can certainly replace the wholemeal spelt with white spelt flour - this will produce a lighter, less dense cake batter.

Egg-free

I also haven't tested this but suspect it will work well with chia egg or aquafaba.

Another flavour

So for all of these - omit the ginger and pear.

• Lemon Yoghurt Cake - double the lemon zest and place very thinly sliced pieces of lemon on top (before baking). This is lovely with the ginger too (your call).
• Orange Yoghurt Cake - add the zest of one orange and place very thinly sliced pieces of orange on top (before baking). This is lovely with poppy seeds sprinkled on top too.
• Raspberry Yoghurt cake - top with fresh or defrosted raspberries.
• Apple Tea Cake - add a tablespoon of cinnamon to the cake batter. Thinly slice one apple and arrange on top. Mix a teaspoon of cinnamon in with the sugar and sprinkle on top.
• Spiced Nectarine Cake - I reduced the ginger to 1 tbsp and added 1 tsp of cinnamon to the batter. Top with a sliced nectarine (I used one large nectarine).

 

I'd love to hear how you enjoy this cake - please post any questions or feedback in the comments below or rate this recipe.

Course: Snack

Author: Georgia Harding

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