Birthday Cake Club: Fruit Bowl Cake

Layers of lemon yogurt cake, apricot jam, and a pink strawberry buttercream.

Hi Bakers!

I made the sweetest cake for my youngest daughter last month. It has layers of light, refreshing lemon yogurt cake with apricot jam and strawberry buttercream. Within the first few bites, I knew I wanted to recreate it for January Birthday Cake Club. After all, the whole concept of Birthday Cake Club started with my Christmas baby.

My daughter was born just before Christmas. I made a promise that I would always make sure she felt special on her birthday and to not let her day get overshadowed by the holidays. Come her second birthday, and already her party was disguised as our annual holiday cookie decorating party with extra balloons. Trying to stick to my word, I whipped up this cake just hours before the celebration. 

I had this amazing yet simple yogurt snack cake sitting in my back pocket for a few months. Tired of peppermint and gingerbread at this point, I knew it would be the perfect cake for layering with a simple filling.

Six layers later, we have lemon cake, apricot jam, and a naturally pink strawberry frosting. 

I am calling this the ‘Fruit Bowl’ cake and I like that you can make it any time of year without waiting for certain things to come into season. Lemons are in abundance right now, but always easy to find. Jam and freeze-dried fruit are available year-round.

The cake itself is straightforward. You can stir it together in a large mixing bowl or use a hand mixer. Be sure to use plain Greek yogurt - I recommend 2%. A delicate, fruity olive oil is preferred so it doesn’t overpower the lemon.

You can always use half olive oil and half of another neutral oil, like avocado or canola for a milder taste.

Initially, the cake was decorated with a snowflake inspired by my friend Liz over at Eat Cake Be Merry. For this cake, I piped simple bows using a small star tip. I think they are just so sweet!

No real technique here - just free-hand the two loops and wiggly tails. Finish the top and bottom edges with a simple shell border.