Just a lovely, simple Lemon Cake recipe – perfect tea time treat. You’ll love the bright lemon flavour, that it’s so beautifully moist and only requires one bowl and a whisk!
Finished with a lemon glaze, this is a simple cake that you can whip up on short notice. Yoghurt keeps the cake moist so it lasts for days and days! It’s the same batter used in this Blueberry Lemon Cake and Strawberry Cake.
Lemon Cake recipe
This Lemon Cake is one of my emergency quick and easy cake recipes, something I can get in the oven super quickly when I’m short on time. There’s no creaming of butter required, it’s a quick dump-and-mix cake. (When I’m longer on time I might instead plump for this sponge-based Lemon Cake with Fluffy Lemon Frosting …)
The “secret ingredient” in this is yoghurt. Yoghurt is a brilliant baking ingredient because it thickens the batter which means less flour required which = more moist cake. 🙂
I love how golden brown this cake is straight out of the oven. It almost glows!
Lemon Glaze
In the spirit of this being a simple teacake, I keep the frosting simple too. I just use a Glaze or a quick Cream Cheese Frosting.
For the glaze, I like to make the glaze a bit thicker than typical glazes because it adds that extra oomph of sweetness and stickiness to the cake, as opposed to cutting it in half and sandwiching it with something.
Added bonus: I love how the drips look and how the glaze isn’t see through.
If a glaze isn’t your thing or you want more frosting, I’ve also included my quick Cream Cheese Frosting. This is different to the usual Cream Cheese Frosting I use for things like Red Velvet and Carrot Cake which requires a stand mixer and a good 7 minutes of fast beating.
In the spirit of the simplicity of this quick Lemon Cake recipe, I use my shortcut Cream Cheese Frosting which I make simply by mixing spreadable Cream Cheese (comes in tubs, not blocks) with lemon juice and icing sugar. No stand mixer required, no need to even wait to soften the cream cheese. Just mix it up with a wooden spoon, dollop and spread. 🙂
You know that pretty cake decorations aren’t my thing. I’d probably spend more time styling a giant plate of slow cooked meat than I would spend decorating a towering cake! 😂
So in my usual form, I’ve kept it nice and simple – just some lemon slices and a few sprigs of baby’s breath from a bunch I happened to have.
This cake may be simple but in all honesty, it’s probably the cake I made most often last year. I actually intended to share it earlier this year, but then I got all excited because blueberries came into season so I published the Blueberry Lemon Cake instead (same cake, but with blueberries).
So I sat on this Lemon Cake recipe for a couple of months until an adequate amount of time had passed. And finally, I’m sharing it! – Nagi x
More quick, emergency cakes
No creaming butter, no stand mixer for any of these!
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Watch how to make this lemon cake!
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Glazed Lemon Cake recipe
Ingredients
Wet:
- 2/3 cup / 165 ml vegetable or canola oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ tbsp grated lemon rind (1 large or 2 medium lemons)
- ¼ cup / 65 ml fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup / 250g plain yoghurt (Note 1)
- 1.25 cups / 275g caster sugar (superfine sugar, granulated ok too)
Dry:
- 2 cups/300g plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 4 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
Glaze:
- 1 3/4 cup / 210 g icing sugar (powdered sugar)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tbsp plain yogurt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (standard) or 160C/320F (fan/convection). Grease a 20 cm / 8” cake pan with butter.
- Place Wet ingredients in a bowl. Whisk until combined.
- Sprinkle over flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk until smooth – few small lumps is ok.
- Pour into pan – it should be fairly thick but pourable (see video). Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Remove metal ring and cool on rack then glaze.
Glaze:
- Place ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Test down the side of the bowl to get the right thickness, using 1 tsp of yoghurt at a time to thin it out if required. Glaze should drip (slowly, because it’s thick) but not be see through.
- Place rack on a tray or baking paper.
- Pour glaze over the middle of the cake, gently push towards the edges so it drips down the sides.
- Let it set for 1 hour before transferring to a serving plate.
- See note for how I did the lemon slices in the photos, and the alternative quick Cream Cheese Frosting.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
You can just imagine the thoughts running through that furry head:
“Will I make it to the door??”
“How hard would it be to scoff it down on the run??”
“I wonder if she’s going to frost it? 😳 Maybe I should wait…”
Could I use a Bundt pan for this recipe?
This was delicious and was a hit with the family! I added a package of vanilla pudding, an extra tsp of lemon zest (for a tangier cake), and used vanilla low-fat yogurt. I split it into 9 inch pans and baked for 28 mins.
Perfect Jennifer! N x
Can we use greek yogurt for this cake? Thanks for sharing! I’m looking forward to making this 🙂
Hi Lilly, yes that’s what I often use 🙂 N x
can i use butter instead of oil?
Hi Divya, the oil is what keeps this cake super moist, you just wont get the same effect replacing with butter unfortunately. N x
Hi Nagi thanks for this recipe -quick, easy, delicious 😋 Thanks to the hoarders I had to use 1/2 SR 1/2 plain flour, adjusting baking powder accordingly but it seemed to work fine. I loved using oil instead of butter. Will this work with most cakes? And could I use this same recipe for banana cake, to use up ripe bananas? Many thanks, Marg
Hi Marg, I’m so glad it worked out for you! I prefer oil depending the cake as it keeps it moist. I haven’t tried this with bananas sorry, would love to know if it works!
Hi Mark can I use 2 baking pans to have 2 layers if so what is the cooking temperature? Thanks!
Hi Nagi can i use 2 baking pans to have a 2 layer cake if so what is the right cooking temperature? Thanks!
Beautiful cake will definitely make again
Thanks Nagi
You’re so welcome Teresa!
Have already made this 2 times, the perfect addition for an afternoon cup of tea 🙂
Hi Nagi, I have made this cake several times now and has become a family favourite. I wonder if I could double the recipe to make a larger quantity for an upcoming family Birthday gathering ? Any advice appreciated. 😄
Hi Nagi
I wonder can i replace yogurt to cream. Please advise
Haven’t yet but have lots of ripe Meyer lemons – so will this weekend!! Doggie cthoughts got me 🥰😆. But he/she looks healthy so must remain bad treat free mostly
Thank you Nagi, love this recipe! Super simple to make and always delicious, I’ve also tried it with orange instead, equally tasty.
Fabulous Brin!
Another 5 star recipe and so easy to make! My icing was more of a translucent drizzle, possibly due to slightly different powdered sugar here in Holland, although not as pretty it tasted fantastic and so moist. It also was enough for 10 servings (9 for me and 1 for the rest of my family to fight over 😉).
I love this!! 😂
I have a bag of lemons and am saturated with lemon infused water so I am sourcing different recipes with lemon. I baked this cake yesterday and it came out perfectly! needless to say, it did not last long enough for me to take a pic son I could post and show off. Thank you Nagi for another amazing recipe.
Hi Nagi, I have made this cake several times now and has become a family favourite. I wonder if I could double the recipe to make a larger quantity for an upcoming family Birthday gathering ? Any advice appreciated.
Hi Nagi,
Is there anything I’d need to change to make this recipe into cupcakes?
Thanks
Sophie
Like all of your dishes that I have cooked, just delicious and so easy. Thank you Nagi
Thanks so much Michelle!
I just love how fluffy and moist this cake is, and have made it many times! Its my favourite recipe of yours 😉 so now I’m thinking of modifications..
Do you think I could add dessicated coconut to it? Let’s say, 1 cup. Would I need to change anything else?
Hi Linda, I imagine you would need to adjust the liquid ratio to compensate for the coconut – I haven’t tested it so can’t give you the exact amount – N x
Hi Nagi. I am planning to try this cake for my birthday. Can I use rice flour + corn starch instead of plain flour? And I am using a very small oven, one you can carry around with heaters in top and bottom.(Like this: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/f9wAAOSwbX5cYXYu/s-l400.jpg) Can you give a prediction in how this will influence the heat and baking time?
Hi Olive, the cake will have a different texture if you use rice and cornflour unfortunately. I haven’t tried cooking with an oven like that either so wouldn’t be able to give you an accurate recommendation – N x
Hi Nagi, this is another fantastic recipe. So lemony and incredibly soft and fluffy! Have made it several times already. However the cake always sinks a little in the middle as soon as I take it out of the oven. Happened to the Persian Love Cake too. What do you think could be causing it?
Hi Linda, there could be a number of reasons for it, what kind of oven are you using? – N x
Hi Nagi, I’m using a fan forced oven, at 160 degrees….Is it too hot? Thanks!
Hi Nagi, can I substitute lime for lemon in this recipe? Do I need to tweak anything else like sugar?
I haven’t tried to be honest Linda!
Hi Nagi ! Can orange be substituted for lemon in this recipe for making orange cake ?
Perfect idea Elizabeth!!