Healthy Orange Yogurt Cake and Muffins/ Cupcakes Using Airfryer

February 12, 2015 The Hedgehog Knows 0 Comments A⁺ a^-

I have always loved eating cakes, but since I started making my own that I realised how much butter was going into my systems. I heard that butter could be partially replaced by yogurt, so I decided to give the yogurt cake a try. As it was Chinese New Year period where mandarin oranges/ oranges were aplenty, an orange yogurt cake was a natural choice.

I went through quite many recipes and found out that for an average orange butter cake that uses only butter, about 120g of butter would be needed for a cake requiring 2 eggs. In the orange yogurt cake recipe that I eventually used, I only needed 70g of butter for the same portion of eggs! :)

Anyway, as the original recipe was for a larger cake, I managed to make both a cake and some muffins. Hence, you will see 2 timing versions of this recipe - the first is for the cake, and the second is for the muffin. Enjoy!

Recipe (adapted from Happy Home Baking)

Yield: one 6" round cake and seven medium-sized muffins

Ingredients:
(A)

250g top flour/ cake flour

1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

(B)

1 cup plain low/non-fat yogurt (I use Meiji low-fat aloe vera yoghurt)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 tsp vanilla essence)
2 tsp orange juice (equivalent to around 1 orange)

(C)

70g butter, softened at room temperature
zest of 1 orange

180g castor sugar (original recipe calls for 200g of sugar)

(D)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Directions

1. Preheat airfryer at 160 degrees. Grease a 6 inch cake pan.

2. Sieve the dry ingredients in (A).

3. In another bowl, mix the ingredients in (B) together.

4. In another large mixing bowl, beat butter and orange zest with an electric mixer for 1 min. Add in sugar and beat on high speed for about 3 mins. This gives you (C).

Tip: Use a larger mixing bowl for this step, as the rest of the ingredients will be mixed in here.

5. Gradually add the eggs into (C), about 1 tablespoon at a time, and beat constantly for about 2 mins.

6. On low speed, beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture (A) into (C). On medium-high speed, beat in 1/2 of yogurt mixture (B). On low speed, beat in half of the remaining (A). On high speed, beat in the remaining (B). On low speed, beat in the rest of (A).

Tip: Be careful not to overmix, or it will yield a tough cake due to the gluten formed.

7. Pour the batter into the 6 inch cake pan.

8. Bake in airfryer at 150 degrees for 20 min. Test its doneness using a toothpick. If it's ready, the toothpick should come out clean. Otherwise, continue to bake at 140 degrees for another 3 - 5 min.

Afternote: I have since learnt a really good method to better control the temperature for airfry-ing cakes and prevent the cake from getting too dry, and would certainly recommend this!

First, after filling the cake pan with batter, cover it with aluminium foil for about 20 min (actual timing depends on the recipe).
Thereafter, uncover the foil and continue baking it for a nice brown finish.

I will update this page when I re-attempt this recipe using this method!

Muffins:

1. Refer to Steps 1 to 6 above.

2. Pour the batter into muffin cups.

3. Bake in airfryer at 140 degrees for 7 min. Test its doneness using a toothpick. If it's ready, the toothpick should come out clean. Otherwise, continue to airfry at 140 degrees for another 3 - 5 min.

Tip: Muffins get baked much faster, so be careful not to burn them!