I made you a snack!
In cake form.
I know you just got super excited, right? Surprise, surprise, snack cakes make me jump up and down too. But shhhh, this snack cake is full of secrets. Healthy secrets that will make yo’ abs pop. (Because after eating brownies and cookies and pies for months, I figure that it’s time to lighten it up). This snack cake actually won’t get you a six-pack nor do I suggest you invent a new ‘bundt cake diet’; this recipe just uses minimal butter because I secretly despise Paula Deen.
I’m joking! I’ve got nothing against that woman. I just enjoy giving you healthier alternatives that make it possible to enjoy something a bit indulgent while still being able to button your skinny jeans.
I bring you a snack that you most certainly can eat if you’re having a-stressed-out-of-my-mind-and-I-NEED-CARBS-OR-SOMETHING-SWEET-NOW kind of day. At only about 200 calories per serving, I’d say this might even be a breakfast cake. Or you could turn it into muffins.
I know you’d high-five me if you could right now.
I hate to admit this, but I really lovelovelovelove making bundt cakes. They’re SO pretty and perfect for sharing. Wait… when did I turn 70? Must have been last year when I started drinking tea and obsessively grocery shopping.
Maybe when I’m actually 70, I’ll act like I’m 23. That would be interesting… yet incredibly scary at the same time.
Anyway I’ll give you my full attention and provide you the deets on this lemon and blackberry cake shenanigan that I dreamt up. It began after I stopped by the grocery store (shocker!) after the gym. I’d been wanting to bake something for over a week. I realized that I haven’t made a simple cake in quite sometime and remembered how beautiful my last bundt cake was. (Bragging rights because it won a contest.) I snatched up blackberries; well because they’re like the best berry ever, and picked out a couple of lemons. Once I got home I realized that I had a ton of greek yogurt that needed to be used; this was perfect because putting yogurt in cakes makes them SUPER moist and delightful. I used a combination of whole wheat and regular flour to make the texture dense and divine.
I’ll be honest. It tastes like a muffin cake that I want to live in.
I can’t tell you how excited I am about this cake! It’s pretty, snackable, and definitely worth baking up for Mother’s Day.
I can’t wait to surprise my Mom with this!

Ingredients
- Dry ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Wet ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 cup skim milk (or almond milk)
- 3/4 cup fat-free plain greek yogurt
- 1 pint of blackberries
- zest of 1 lemon
- For the Lemon Cream Cheese Glaze
- 4 ounces reduced fat cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk both flours with baking powder and salt; set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, one at a time, beating well. Set aside.
- In separate bowl mix together milk and lemon juice; add in yogurt and stir to combine.
- Next, combine all wet ingredients together. Turn mixer on low-speed and slowly add flour mixture to wet ingredients; mixing until just combined.
- In a bowl, gently smash blackberries into smaller pieces and mix with the teaspoon of flour. Add your lemon zest and stir again.
- Coat a 12-cup nonstick Bundt pan with cooking spray. Spread 1/4 of batter in prepared pan. Layer with blackberries. Spread another 1/4 of batter on top of blackberries. Continue to do this until all of the blackberries are gone.
- Bake cake on bottom rack of oven until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 40-50 minutes.
- Cool in pan 20 minutes. Invert onto a rack; cool completely, top side up.
- Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving, if desired. Or make the lemon cream cheese glaze.
- To make the lemon cream cheese glaze: Combine lemon zest, cream cheese, 1 tablespoon milk, and powdered sugar in medium bowl. Drizzle over cake.
Recipe Notes
14 comments
I was reviewing your recipe and I did could not find the amount of blackberries to use. Do you just use a pint?
Yes! Thanks Michelle for catching that!
Holy wow. This looks divine. I think I will make it for Mother’s Day 🙂
What are your thoughts about trying it with blueberries instead of blackberries? I bet that would be great too!
Yes of course. Or even better… raspberries!
wow, you are quite the baker! this cake looks scruptious and I love the fact you mentioned ONLY 200 calories. my mom would love this, she’s 70! LOL! She’s an avid tea drinker, as am I, but I’m not 70. Loved reading this post.
🙂 I do enjoy a good baking day.
Oh my goodness…. this cake is gorgeous! It looks sooo moist!
Thanks Emily! It turned out quite dense, which was a surprise, but I loved it!
Hello again …
So, I did try your recipe for Mother’s Day. The cake turned out really dense and moist, like you said. The texture was almost like a pound cake! The flavors were really great. I made the cream cheese glaze that you suggested. It was a little cheesy for my tastes, though, and not quite sweet enough. I think, when I make this next, I will use a basic glaze and skip the cream cheese.
I also wanted to point out two small errors in your recipe. Your instructions say to add salt and vanilla extract, but they’re not included in the ingredients list. Luckily, it was pretty easy for me to guess at those amounts, but I figured you’d appreciate knowing! 🙂
Thank you so much Lizzie for catching that! I think even using a simple lemon frosting from Betty Crocker would be great.
1/2 cup of lemon juice? that much? how many lemons will I need aproximately?
I made with a few substitutes: coconut oil instead of butter, reduced the amount of sugar (and used monkfruit), oat flour, and blueberries. Still DELISH and indulgent while staying healthy!
I’m glad that worked out well!!
Loved this cake – SO moist and light. Highly recommend!