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Lemon Cake

Author:
is a chef, food photographer, cookbook author and blogger.
Here he shares recipes, answers cooking questions and helps with cooking.

You can find my simple lemon cake recipe in this post.

Baking the cake takes about 60 minutes.

You can use a loaf pan or a Bundt pan.

You can optionally add a fine lemon glaze or serve the cake sprinkled with powdered sugar.

I wish you good luck!

1. Recipe Lemon Cake

Get the ingredients, get the cake pan ready, get the mixer and baking bowl ready and off you go.

Follow the clear step-by-step instructions.

You can send me questions about this baking recipe using the comment function at the bottom of the page.

Lemon Cake

Baked, photographed and written down by chef Thomas Sixt

Servings 12
Calories 298
Preparation Time 30 Min.
Cook Time 0 Min.
Total Time 60 Min.

Simple instructions for preparing juicy lemon cake.

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Lemon Cake recipe image
Lemon Cake Recipe Image © Thomas Sixt

Ingredients

Lemon cake dough

250 g brown cane sugar
2 Packet vanilla sugar
3 Piece Lemon
1 Pinches primal salt
5 Piece eggs
250 g yoghurt
350 g flour
1 tbsp. Baking Powder
100 g butter (for the cake pan)

Lemon frosting

150 g icing sugar
2 tbsp. fresh lemon (juice)

Decoration

2 tbsp. Pistachios chopped

Instruction

Preparation step 1
Lemon Cake Ingredients
Lemon Cake Ingredients

Prepare ingredients

Have the ingredients ready at room temperature 30 minutes before preparing the dough.

Preparation step 2
cake baking tins
cake baking tins

Cake Tin

Choosing a cake pan:

-> Deep baking tray

-> box shape

-> Gugelhupf form

-> Muffin paper cups

Preparation step 3
cake baking pans
cake baking pans

Detail

I chose a special baking pan that draws a beautiful pattern on the cake after baking.

Preparation step 4
cracked eggs
cracked eggs

Prepare eggs

Crack the eggs into a clean bowl.

Preparation step 5
Sugar and vanilla sugar in baking bowl
Sugar and vanilla sugar in baking bowl

Prepare sugar

Place the sugar and vanilla sugar in a clean and dry bowl.

Preparation step 6
butter and sugar in the bowl
butter and sugar in the bowl

Add butter

Add the softened butter to the sugar and vanilla sugar.

Preparation step 7
Lemon for lemon zest or lemon zest
Lemon for lemon zest or lemon zest

Provide lemons

Provide lemons and grater. I got myself a Microplane grater, it’s worth buying.

Preparation step 8
Add lemon zest and zest
Add lemon zest and zest

Lemon zest

Grate the lemons carefully and precisely. Only grate the skin finely, because the white skin tastes bitter.

Preparation step 9
Lemon peel with butter, sugar and vanilla sugar
Lemon peel with butter, sugar and vanilla sugar in the baking bowl

Add salt

Add some salt to the butter, sugar and lemon zest.

Preparation step 10
Squeeze lemon juice
Squeeze lemon juice

Prepare juice

Squeeze the juice from a grated lemon and set aside.

Preparation step 11
Buttered cake tins
Buttered cake tins

Butter cake pan

Grease the cake tin generously with softened butter.

Preparation step 12
stir cake batter
stir cake batter

Stir dough

Mix butter with sugar and lemon zest for 2-3 minutes.

Preparation step 13
Mix the cake batter and add the eggs
Mix the cake batter and add the eggs

Add eggs

Set aside the eggs to stir into the batter

Preparation step 14
Cake batter when adding the eggs
Cake batter when adding the eggs

Add eggs

Gradually stir in the eggs.

Preparation step 15
Mix the cake batter and add the flour
Mix the cake batter, add the flour, use the flour sieve!

Add flour

Sift in the flour and stir the dough.

Preparation step 16
Stir cake batter, flour while stirring
Stir cake batter, flour while stirring

Remaining flour

Gradually stir in the remaining flour.

Preparation step 17
Add yoghurt to cake batter
Add yoghurt to cake batter

Add yoghurt

Add the yoghurt and stir in.

Preparation step 18
Add lemon juice to the cake batter
Add lemon juice to the cake batter

Add lemon juice

Add the lemon juice.

Preparation step 19
Add the remaining flour to the cake batter
Add the remaining flour to the cake batter

Check ingredients

Check again that all the prepared ingredients have found their way into the mixing bowl.

Preparation step 20
Finish stirring the cake batter
Finish stirring the cake batter

Mix dough

Finally mix the batter and prepare it for filling.

Preparation step 21
Pour in the cake batter for the lemon cake
Pour in the cake batter for the lemon cake

Fill in dough

Pour the cake batter into the cake pan(s).

Preparation step 22
Cake dough filled in form
Cake dough filled in form

Smooth out

Smooth out the batter in the cake pan.

Preparation step 23
Put the cake in the baking pan in the oven
Put the cake in the baking pan in the oven

Bake cake

Place the cake in the preheated oven at 180°C top and bottom heat.

Preparation step 24
baking time cake
baking time cake

Baking time

Bake the lemon cake for 25 minutes.

Preparation step 25
Lemon cake baked in the oven
Lemon cake baked in the oven

Watching cake

Observe the cake towards the end of the baking time and note the browning.

Do not open the oven until your cake shows a color comparable to that in the picture.

Preparation step 26
Lemon Cake Chopsticks Sample
Lemon Cake Chopsticks Sample

Chopstick sample

Pierce the cake with a wooden skewer.

No cake crumbs should stick to the wooden skewer.

Depending on the size of the dish, increase the baking time and repeat the test.

Preparation step 27
Lemon cake before toppling
Lemon cake before toppling

Remove cake

Remove the cake from the mold and let it cool down on a suitable surface.

Preparation step 28
Topple lemon cake
Topple lemon cake

Turn cake

Turn out the cake warm after 10 minutes.

Preparation step 29
Lemon cake baked and freshly turned out
Lemon cake baked and freshly turned out

Tumbled Lemon Pie

Let the cake cool down on a suitable board.

Preparation step 30
Lemon cake on trellis
Lemon cake on trellis

Prepare glazing

Place the cooled cake on a suitable grid with baking paper underneath.

Preparation step 31
lemon glaze ingredients
lemon glaze ingredients

Lemon Glaze Ingredients

Put the icing sugar in a bowl and prepare the lemon juice.

Preparation step 32
Mix in the lemon glaze
Mix the lemon glaze: Mix the icing sugar with a little lemon juice with a fork.

Finish the lemon glaze

Stir the lemon juice into the powdered sugar.

Preparation step 33
Apply lemon glaze
Apply lemon glaze

Apply cake frosting

Spread the cake icing over the cooled cake.

Preparation step 34
Lemon cake with lemon glaze and pistachios
Lemon cake with lemon glaze and pistachios

Decorate cake

Decorate moist cake frosting with chopped pistachios.

Alternatively, you can use roasted, finely chopped hazelnuts or almonds.

You can also sprinkle your cake with powdered sugar without lemon glaze.

Preparation step 35
Lemon Cake recipe image
Lemon Cake Recipe Image © Thomas Sixt

Serve

Serve cake as desired and serve with coffee, tea or as a dessert.

Preparation step 36
Sliced lemon cake
Sliced lemon cake

Enjoy cake

Slice the cake and enjoy!

Video

Courses

2. Calories And Nutritional Values

The calculated lemon cake calories are listed in the table below:

3. Lemon Cake Juicy

Is the smell of freshly baked cake already enticing you?

For a guaranteed juicy lemon cake, note the following tips:

Amount of ingredients for juicy lemon cake:

First of all, you should make sure to use the right amount of ingredients.

Accurately weighing the ingredients is essential. Use an accurate kitchen scale.

Many recipes contain too much flour, the amounts have to be precisely adjusted.

Too much sugar, too little butter or yoghurt can also make the cake dry.

Therefore, avoid using more or less than indicated.

Please process the ingredients at room temperature.

Egg and butter bind the dough. This is a good base for the juicy lemon cake.

Butter the cake tin generously for moist lemon cake:

Diligently and generously smearing the cake tin with butter is another step in making the succulent cake.

You can use a loaf tin, baking sheet, or Bundt pan. Cupcake and muffin baking tins are ideal for small cakes.

Plenty of butter on the pan keeps the cake batter moist while baking.

With this cake, avoid breadcrumbs, sprinkled in the cake pan after buttering. Breadcrumbs make the cake dry quickly.

Stick to the baking time: for guaranteed juicy lemon cake

The most common mistake when baking lemon cake is the wrong baking time.

Most of the time the cake is baked too long and too hot.

When using the baking tray and smaller molds, 25 minutes as the first baking time in a preheated oven is a good recommendation.

The cake has already risen well. You can poke the dough with a wooden skewer and check the consistency.

If there are still crumbs on the wooden skewer, the cake needs to be baked a little longer. 5 minutes baking time is sufficient.

Lemon frosting keeps lemon cake moist

The lemon frosting is a good idea for the best lemon cake in the world.

Glaze is poured over the cooled cake.

This layer of lemon juice and powdered sugar will add extra moisture to the cake and help retain moisture in the baked cake.

Mix a lot of powdered sugar with a little lemon juice.

I find it fascinating how much powdered sugar can be dissolved in relatively little lemon juice.

The glaze should not be too runny, then the perfect lemon layer forms on the cake.

Before the glaze dries, you can sprinkle pistachio slivers, finely chopped and roasted hazelnuts or flaked almonds or almond slivers.

Finish stirring the cake batter
Finish stirring the cake batter
Mix in the lemon glaze
Mix the lemon glaze
Lemon cake with lemon glaze and pistachios
Lemon cake with lemon glaze and pistachios

4. Sheet Lemon Cake

The preparation of the cake on the baking tray is particularly practical and easy.

You need a deep baking tray for lemon sheet cake, which we also know as the fat pan.

The amount of ingredients given in the recipe above fills exactly one baking sheet.

Please butter the baking tray well as you would any other cake tin.

Use soft butter for this, liquid butter is unsuitable.

You could bake small cakes in muffin trays.

Paper cups are also an option, then the small cakes can be presented beautifully later.

Grease cake pan
Baking molds for buttered cakes.
Buttered cake tins
Buttered cake tins
Muffin paper cups
Place the muffin paper cups in the corresponding muffin tin.
Cake mold with butter
Grease the cake pan with butter.
Brush the loaf pan with butter
Brush the small loaf pan with butter.

5. Vegan Lemon Cake

You can make lemon cake without egg and butter.

I tested the cake, it tastes different than the original with egg and butter.

Ingredients vegan lemon cake:

220 g brown cane sugar

3 tbsp lemon zest

60 ml fresh lemon juice

250 g soy yoghurt (lemon or vanilla)

130 ml sunflower oil

Some Saffron (Optional)

300 grams of flour

3 tsp baking powder

Preparation of vegan lemon cake:

Mix the sugar with lemon zest and lemon juice in a baking bowl at high speed with a hand mixer, whisk, 3 minutes.

Add the soy yoghurt and mix for 30 seconds.

Add the saffron as an optional ingredient.

Slowly add the sunflower oil while stirring.

Add the baking powder to the flour and stir into the batter.

Use a silicone baking mold for this preparation:

Swirl the baking pan with cold water before filling it.

Pour in the batter and bake at 180°C for 40-50 minutes.

Notes on the baking time of vegan lemon cake:

The baking time will be shorter if you use a shallow or small pan.

If you don’t have a silicone baking pan, muffin paper cups are an alternative.

Please make sure to do the chopstick test with a wooden skewer and bake the cake exactly.

flour with baking powder
Prepare and weigh the flour with baking powder in the bowl for preparing the dough.
Lemon Cake Chopsticks Sample
Lemon Cake Chopsticks Sample

6. FAQ Bake Lemon Cake

I have summarized the most frequently asked questions about cakes below.

What do I look for when baking lemon cake with yogurt?

Yogurt is offered in the following product variants: Low-fat yogurt: 1.5%-1.8% fat. Yogurt: at least 3.5% fat. Cream yogurt (cream yogurt): at least 10% fat. Greek yogurt: fat content up to 10 percent. For the sponge cake with lemon, yogurt with a fat content of 10% has proven successful.

What is the difference between lemon cake vegan and baked with eggs and butter?

The cake with eggs and butter has a fluffier consistency. The cake tastes buttery and offers a harmonious, strong lemon flavor.

What do I look for when shopping for lemons?

For lemon cake you need the juice and zest of the citrus fruit. Buy organic lemon with untreated peel.

Can I prepare lemon cake in the Thermomix?

Place 250 g butter, 250 g sugar, 2 packets vanilla sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice of 3 lemons with 5 eggs in the mixing bowl.

Close the mixing bowl, mix for 20 seconds/step 4.

Add 250 g yogurt, 350 g flour and one tablespoon baking powder.

Close the mixing bowl, mix for 25 seconds/step 5.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Coat baking pan with plenty of butter, pour in batter and smooth out.

Bake cake for 25-30 minutes at 180°C.

Check for doneness and adjust baking time as needed.

When should I turn the lemon cake?

If you use a loaf pan, cake pan or springform pan, I recommend that you turn out or remove the pan after baking, when the cake has cooled to lukewarm.

If you use silicone molds, let the cake cool for at least 10 minutes and then turn it out of the mold.

Why don't you use lemon flavoring?

I avoid lemon flavoring and prefer to use more lemon zest for the sponge cake. Lemon zest and lemon juice are natural ingredients and make your cake extra flavorful.

Can I freeze lemon cake?

You can freeze lemon cake after it cools down. The quality of the fresh cake is better than the frozen one.

Is the Dr. Oetker lemon cake a good cake?

The cake from Dr. Oetker has been tested many times and takes into account in particular ingredients from the house of Dr. Oetker.

7. More Tested Cake Recipes

You can find more delicious cake recipes in my online baking book:

Comments, Cooking Questions and Answers

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