Warning: That trick with using yogurt instead of buttermilk backfired on me bad

I was at my neighbor's house yesterday and she was bragging about how she swaps yogurt for buttermilk in all her cake recipes with no issues. So I tried it on a batch of lemon layer cakes for a bake sale tomorrow. Big mistake. The batter looked fine going in but after 20 minutes in the oven, the cakes sank in the middle like little craters. I read online that yogurt has a different acidity level and it reacts weird with baking soda if you don't adjust the ratios. Ended up tossing three whole cakes and starting over with real buttermilk at 3 bucks a carton. Has anyone else had this yogurt fail or did I just mess up the math?

1 comments

1 Comment

reese55117h ago

and honestly it's kinda wild how much of a gamble baking can be with substitutions, idk. i tried swapping applesauce for oil once in a brownie recipe and they turned out like these weird spongy discs. i mean i get that yogurt and buttermilk are both tangy but they're not the same chemically at all, from what i've read. maybe the neighbor just got lucky with her recipe or uses a specific type of yogurt, like greek or something.