Make a moist and fragrant Lemon Loaf cake that’ll win your heart for sure. This recipe is my favourite thing from the blog and is something I bake ever so often with great results every time.
This post was originally published on December 22, 2013 but has been updated on June 29, 2015.
I lived in London from 2012-14. That’s actually where I had my first lemon cake ever, and fell in love with it in a single bite. It was probably the freshest, moistest cake ever and I couldn’t stop eating it. I would almost all the time buy it when I went grocery shopping, but after coming back to my India I could no longer enjoy my favorite cake because the ones you get here don’t taste like lemons at all. They’re full of fake color and flavour, and that’s not how remember them being. A real lemon cake is something that would make you fall in love with it, it smells divine, is sooo fresh and is definitely the best cake in world (and my favourite). So when I couldn’t find the lemon cake I was looking for, I decided to bake it! To my horror, the first one turned out to be a disaster but the second time around I got it right. Thanks to the community recipe I found at Nigella Lawson’s website.
If you’ve never eaten a lemon cake before, let me tell you that it doesn’t taste sour. Lemon cakes are sweet like any other cake you’ve eaten, except with a perfume of lemons, and taste of the zest. It will (and I’m sure of that) will become your favourite after a single bite. So don’t be afraid to try this one out. I wouldn’t share this recipe if I wasn’t proud of it. To people who already love lemon cakes, this recipe makes the moistest, most tender and the most lemony tasting cake ever. So have a go at it and up your lemon cake game already!
- For the cake
- • All Purpose Flour, 250 grams
- • Baking Powder, 1 teaspoon
- • Baking Soda, ½ teaspoon
- • Light Brown Sugar, 125 grams
- • Butter (At Room Temp.), 125 grams
- • Eggs, 2
- • Lemon Zest, of 1 large lemon or 2 small lemons
- • Lemon Juice, 2 tablespoon
- • Vanilla Essence, 1 teaspoon
- • Milk, 100 ml
- For the lemon glaze
- • Icing Sugar, 1 cup or 110 grams
- • Lemon Juice, 2 -3 tablespoons
- Preheat oven at 180 degrees. Prepare your tin with my miracle cake release mix.
- Sieve flour, baking soda and baking powder and set aside to be used later.
- Whisk together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, this should take about 4-5 minutes with a mixer and longer with a hand whisk.
- In a separate jar, whisk milk and eggs until combined.
- Add the flour mix little by little to the butter+sugar mix. Simultaneously, keep adding the milk+eggs milk little by little too, so that that it forms a batter. By the end of this process, you will have a smooth batter. Make sure you don't use a mixer when mixing, only spatula or a big spoon.
- Add in the lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla essence to the batter. Mix to combine.
- Pour the batter in your prepared tin and bake at 160 degrees for 35 minutes or until just golden on the top. Insert a skewer and if it comes out clean then your cake is ready.
- For your lemon glaze: Mix icing sugar and lemon juice using a spoon until mixed properly. Add in more icing sugar if you think the glaze is still transparent or not as white as in the picture. Don't be afraid to add icing sugar or lemon juice to fit the glaze to your taste. If you think the glaze is too thick add in a little bit of lemon juice, if you think it's runny, add in more icing sugar until you're happy.
- Drizzle the glaze all over your cake and let it run down the sides. This is one reason you should keep your glaze slightly thick, because if it's too runny it'll run down the sides and you won't have any left.
- Let the glaze cool down completely and solidify on the top slightly before slicing it.
- Store the cake covered with cling film in the refrigerator.
Looking for similar recipes? Try these…
Lemon and Blueberry Loaf Cake
Eggless Lemon Drizzle Cake
Eggless Lemon cupcakes with strawberry frosting
Eggless lemon cupcakes with lemon icing
Lemon crepes with tangy lemon glaze
Can I use white sugar instead?
Ofcourse you can 🙂
Hi Radhika, thanks a tonne for this recipe. It was my first attempt at lemon loaf and it turned out awesome. It is so simple and yum. Can’t wait to try out other recipes.
Hi Radhika, thanks a tonne for the recipe. It was my first attempt at lemon loaf and it turned out awesome. I didn’t expect it to be so perfect. Can’t wait to try out your other recipes as well.
Hi Radhika, thanks a tonne for this fabulous recipe. It was a first attempt and it turned out heavenly. Can’t wait to try your other recipes. Keep them coming.
Much Love.
Hi Radhika
I have tried the cake and it turned out awesome.I should say this is the best cake i have ever tasted and made.I am totally addicted to u r blog now and i wanted to try out all the recipes in your blog 🙂