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You are here: Home / All Time Favorites / Sweet, Tart and Tangy Lemon Cake

Sweet, Tart and Tangy Lemon Cake

January 20, 2019 By Jere Cassidy 45 Comments

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For all the lemon lovers this Sweet, Tart and Tangy Lemon Cake is for you. Baked golden brown with juicy lemon pieces baked in the batter, this cake is lemony delicious.

First Published: January 20, 2019… Last Updated: March 18, 2020
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This year I have been blessed with an abundance of lemons.  Years ago we planted two different kinds of lemon trees.  One has been supplying us with lemons for eight years, and the other tree, maybe five lemons a year.  I gave up on that tree; it’s nice and green, produces fragrant flowers but no lemons.  That was until this year, and not only did it produce lemons, but really nice tart, juicy, yellow beauties.  So now I have two trees and more lemons than I can handle.  Even friends and family have nicely told me to stop bringing them lemons.

We have a constant pitcher of lemonade in the fridge and containers of frozen lemon juice and zest in the freezer for the time when I realize I have no more lemons.  Even my family has grown a little tired of everything having lemons in it.  We have a lot of baked goods from lemon bars, lemon meringue pie, lemon brownies, lemon shortbreads and our favorite this Sweet, Tart and Tangy Lemon Cake.

Lemony and Luscious

homemade lemon cake

What to do with lemons?

  • Make lemonade
  • Juice the lemons and pour into ice cube trays and freeze for later
  • Zest the lemons and freeze in ziplock bags for adding to all kinds of recipes
  • You can actually freeze whole lemons and grate them while frozen

Fresh picked lemons

Lately, I have been inundated with layered cakes covered in buttercream and I am glad to have a nice, simple cake with a lemon glaze.

What makes this cake so good is the different types of lemon flavors that are added to the batter and icing.

  • lemon zest
  • lemon pieces
  • lemon juice
  • lemon icing

This cake has pieces of lemon baked into the cake that adds some surprising lemon flavor.

Make sure to check out this One Hot Oven post this figure out the amount of juice in a lemon to help you know how many lemons to buy for a recipe.

How to make a lemon cake

Step 1. To get started zest the lemons first.Zesting and supreming lemons

Step 2. Next, make the lemon pieces by slicing the peel off the lemon then supreme the slices which simply means to remove the membrane from the lemon slices so they end up nice and clean looking. Once you remove the membrane break up the slices into small pieces which will be added to the cake batter.

You need some tools to get the job done and  I love my lemon zester and wooden lemon reamer.

With all this zesting and slicing your kitchen will have a wonderful citrus smell to it. I love that!

Step 3. Mix the sugar and lemon zest together until completely mixed.  This step flavors the sugar and adds more of the lemon flavor to the cake batter.

mixing sugar with lemon zest

Step 4. Make the batter by beating the softened butter, then add half the lemon/sugar mixture and beat until combined then add the other half of the lemon/sugar mixture and beat for four minutes.

Step 5.  Add the eggs one at a time and mix well to totally combine.

Step 6. With the mixer on low add all the dry ingredients and mix well and scrape the bowl often. Next, mix in the sour cream.

Step 7. Peel the lemons and supreme the slices, meaning removing the pith and membranes from the lemon. Do this over a bowl to collect the juices.

Step 8. After the batter is mixed, add the lemons and all the juice that is in the bowl after supreming, to the bowl, and mix by hand until incorporated.

pouring lemons and juice into cake batter

Step 9. Pour the batter into a prepared bundt pan.

This is my tip for preparing a bundt pan, heavily butter the pan and then sprinkle sugar all over to cover the pan instead of using flour.  Using sugar leaves a nice coating on the cake and you won’t have that flour coating left on the baked cake.

cake batter in bundt pan

Step 10. You are now ready to bake and this cake for 1 1/4 hours. I know this is quite a long time but this cake is very dense and needs time to fully bake.

Step 11. Once the cake is baked let it cool completely before depanning. Once the cake is cooled it is ready for some lovely icing drizzle which is simply made by mixing powdered sugar lemon zest and lemon juice until combined and then drizzle this on top of the cake.

You can see the pieces of lemon in the cake. That is what makes this cake so good.

The icing drizzle

drizzling icing on a baked cake

After an afternoon of baking, it’s time for a slice of this tasty cake, along with a pot of tea and fresh berries.

Fresh baked cake with berries and a cup of tea

For all, you lemon lovers here are a few favorite lemon recipes you can try

Classic Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Lemon Sponge Cake with Raspberries

Frosted Lemon Cookies 

Lemon Ricotta Cheese Dip

Lemon Muffins with Ricotta

Don’t forget to Pin to your favorite dessert board.

homemade lemon cake

Iced Sweet and Tangy Lemon Cake sitting a a milk glass cake stand
Print Pin
4.63 from 27 votes

Sweet, Tart and Tangy Lemon Cake

This is the ultimate in lemon cakes.  With a sweet lemon glaze, tart lemon flavor and tangy from the baked-in lemon pieces, this cake is for the lemon lover.
Course Cake
Cuisine Dessert
Keyword How to bake a lemon cake, Lemon Cake
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 12 servings
Calories 491kcal
Author Jere' Cassidy

Equipment

  • Bundt Cake Pan
  • Citrus Zester

Ingredients

  • 4 lemons, washed and dried
  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 cup sour cream

Lemon Glaze

  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 lemon

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees and thoroughly grease and sugar a bundt pan 
  • Zest four lemons.
  • Remove the peel from the lemons by cutting it away vertically. Next holding the lemon over a bowl, supreme each lemon by cutting each segment on either side of the membrane to remove the flesh. When done make sure to remove any seeds and break up the lemon segments in the juice.
  • Combine the sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl and mix with your fingers until the sugar becomes moist and grainy.
  • In a mixing bowl beat the butter for two minutes. Add half the sugar/lemon mixture, beat again for two minutes then add the remaining sugar/lemon mixture; beat for four minutes. Make sure to scrape the bowl occasionally.
  • Add the eggs to the above mixture one at a time, beating each just until combined.
  • On the lowest setting beat in the dry ingredients.
  • Beat in the sour cream.
  • Fold in the lemon segments and all the juice in the bowl.
  • Pour the batter into your prepared pan. Bake about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours until cake tester at the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack.

Making the glaze

  • In a small bowl add the powdered sugar. Zest and juice one lemon and add this to the powdered sugar and stir until smooth.
  • Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake.

Notes

Make sure to thoroughly grease and sugar the bundt pan so your cake will not stick. Alternately you can use flour instead of sugar. Using sugar adds a nice coating to the cake.
Test your cake for doneness at 1 1/4 hours. This is a dense cake and takes time to bake.
Let the cake sit for 15 minutes after removing from the oven, then jiggle the cake to loosen from the pan.  If you fin the cake is stuck in some areas use a knife and go around the sides of the pan to loosen the cake.
When cutting the lemons in segments do this over a bowl to catch all the juices and then add all the lemon segments and the juice into the batter.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 491kcal | Carbohydrates: 69.9g | Fat: 21.9g | Cholesterol: 131mg | Sodium: 300mg

I hope you try making this cake, it mixes up fast and looks so pretty.  Add some raspberries or strawberries on the side for some extra color.  Enjoy!

Sliced lemon bundt cake with strawberries

Shop this recipe ~

You can’t go wrong with a classic bundt pan for all types of cakes and desserts.

I can’t be without my lemon reamer and lemon zester, both come in handy for all types of citrus fruits.

Using the right knife makes cutting citrus so much easier.  I love using a serrated knife to make the lemon slices.


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739Shares

Filed Under: All Time Favorites, Cakes, Recipe Index Tagged With: cake, lemon

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Next Post: Butterscotch Meringue Pie »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Emmy

    July 18, 2020 at 12:44 pm

    Can you clarify how much juice you use? Is it just the juice created by supreme the lemon? Thanks for your recipe.

    Reply
    • Jere Cassidy

      July 19, 2020 at 1:16 pm

      Emmy, yes, that is the juice leftover after supreming the lemons.

      Reply
  2. Nart | Cooking with Nart

    April 14, 2020 at 5:31 pm

    5 stars
    I love desserts that are both sweet and tart so this is perfect for me!

    Reply
  3. Patti

    April 7, 2020 at 3:21 pm

    I made this Bundt cake using King Arthurs gluten-free all-purpose baking mix and instead of the lemon glaze, I used a strawberry glaze. It was amazing. I will definitely be making it again. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. To those who are on a gluten-free diet, I did add an extra egg because of the dense nature of gluten-free baked goods.

    Reply
    • Jere Cassidy

      April 8, 2020 at 9:15 am

      Thank you for commenting. I have that King Arthur gluten-free flour and am glad to know it works just as well. And, great idea for the strawberry glaze.

      Reply
  4. Linda

    January 5, 2020 at 9:10 pm

    I found this recipe under ip lemon tart, but it doesn’t have the directions for an instant pot. Was that a mistake
    Linda Barreda

    Reply
    • Jere Cassidy

      January 6, 2020 at 4:45 pm

      Hmmm, yes. The cake for the oven.

      Reply
  5. Stephanie Simmons

    May 15, 2019 at 1:16 pm

    This looks like the perfect dessert to serve for Memorial Day! I love the flavors of lemon cake!

    Reply
    • Jere Cassidy

      May 15, 2019 at 4:03 pm

      I still have so many lemons left I need to make another cake.

      Reply
  6. Mimi

    May 13, 2019 at 8:25 pm

    It must be so nice to have a lemon tree full of lemons, pick one in the morning and make a lemon cake, a lemon tea and maybe something else lemon… Fantastic dessert.

    Reply
    • Jere Cassidy

      May 15, 2019 at 4:04 pm

      The lemon trees are the best part of my backyard.

      Reply
  7. April

    May 13, 2019 at 8:24 pm

    5 stars
    The cake to fight for! I can only imagine all the lemon flavor that it has – it must give it so much zing… Delicious recipe, that’s for sure!

    Reply
  8. Maman de sara

    May 13, 2019 at 8:09 pm

    I would love a piece of this lemon cake with my morning coffee. That looks absolutely delicious.

    Reply
    • Jere Cassidy

      May 15, 2019 at 4:05 pm

      If you lived nearby I would have you over for a piece.

      Reply
  9. Emmanuella Sjogren

    May 11, 2019 at 9:50 pm

    Ohh I love lemon cakes and this looks gorgeous. I also love how the light flirts with the edg of the cake. Great shot!

    Reply
  10. Jacqueline Debono

    May 11, 2019 at 3:19 am

    5 stars
    Lucky you having lemon trees! It’s too cold here in Northern Italy for lemon tress, although I do have plum, pear and apricot trees! Lemon is my favourite summer dessert flavour. This cake sounds divine! Would love a piece right now!

    Reply
  11. Jeannette (Jay Joy)

    May 10, 2019 at 9:53 pm

    5 stars
    6 eggs? I wonder if you can use egg whites instead of whole eggs. This looks delicious.

    Reply
    • Jere Cassidy

      May 15, 2019 at 4:07 pm

      Yes, this cakes uses a lot of eggs. I think if you used egg whites you would have more of an angel food cake.

      Reply
      • Alice

        January 13, 2020 at 8:05 am

        I tried this cake for Thanksgiving and it was what I’ve been looking for almost my whole life. My mom died when I was young and I was looking for a recipe close to the lemon cake she would make with some Sunday meals. This delicious cake brought back good memories.

        Reply
        • Jere Cassidy

          January 14, 2020 at 9:01 pm

          Wow, this melts my heart. I am so glad you found this lemon cake recipe. My mom made a special bread and I lost her recipe. Seriously, it took me almost 40 years to find that recipe. It’s amazing how food brings back memories.

          Reply
  12. Jenni LeBaron

    May 9, 2019 at 10:29 am

    5 stars
    I love a good lemon cake and this one looks like the perfect balance of sweet, creamy, and tart! This would be perfect to eat while sipping a big mug of tea!

    Reply
    • Jere Cassidy

      May 15, 2019 at 4:06 pm

      This cake goes great with a good cup of tea.

      Reply
  13. Stine Mari

    May 8, 2019 at 3:14 am

    5 stars
    Your garden must be so pretty with all the lemon trees (and grapefruit tree)! I love all kinds of recipes using lemon, it’s so good both in savory and sweet dishes. This sweet, tart and tangy lemon cake looks like just my thing.

    Reply
    • Jere Cassidy

      May 8, 2019 at 5:49 pm

      My garden is a work in progress, but I love my lemon trees the most.

      Reply
  14. Amanda

    May 7, 2019 at 9:39 am

    5 stars
    This tastes like summer in cake form! I just love that citrus kick, but it has the perfect level of sweetness to balance it all out. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Jere Cassidy

      May 7, 2019 at 5:27 pm

      This cake definitely has a kick to it.

      Reply
  15. Danielle Wolter

    May 7, 2019 at 3:52 am

    5 stars
    every year i get tons and tons of lemons so I have a blog full of lemon recipes! however, i have not made lemon cake and this sounds incredible. Perfect way to use the lemons 🙂

    Reply
    • Jere Cassidy

      May 7, 2019 at 5:28 pm

      I have read some of your lemon posts to get some ideas on how to use them up.

      Reply
  16. Rosa

    May 7, 2019 at 3:45 am

    5 stars
    I love lemony desserts and this one sounds super tasty!!

    Reply
  17. Annie @ Annie's Noms

    May 7, 2019 at 3:34 am

    Nothing beats a good homemade lemon cake, this looks delicious, love the fact the glaze adds an extra lemon hit too!

    Reply
  18. Claudia Lamascolo

    May 7, 2019 at 3:32 am

    5 stars
    this is one delicious looking cake and I love how you garnished it with fresh lemon zest!

    Reply
    • Jere Cassidy

      May 7, 2019 at 5:30 pm

      Thanks, I love the lemon zest on top too. Just adds some great color.

      Reply
  19. Noelle

    May 7, 2019 at 1:04 am

    5 stars
    What a great recipe for the summer! So refreshing with great tangy flavors

    Reply
  20. lynne allison

    April 10, 2019 at 1:32 pm

    Can this be converted to make it in my Instant Pot?

    Reply
    • Jere Cassidy

      April 10, 2019 at 4:11 pm

      5 stars
      Hi Lynne,
      I think I might be the only one without an Instant Pot. I so need to get one. I don’t know if it can be done.

      Reply
  21. Jacqueline Meldrum

    March 14, 2019 at 4:41 am

    5 stars
    You had me at lemon. I love anything with lemon and that cake looks amazing. Sharing this now!

    Reply
  22. Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry

    March 10, 2019 at 3:42 am

    5 stars
    Lemon is one of my favourite flavours. This cake looks so good!

    Reply
  23. Sharon

    November 11, 2018 at 1:17 pm

    5 stars
    I can’t wait to try this recipe! Question… for the glaze, when you say to “grate and juice 1 lemon”, do you mean to zest the lemon? Or do you really mean to grate the lemon? Since I’m a beginning baker, I want to make sure I’m 100% clear on the instructions before I attempt to bake this cake. Thanks in advance!

    Reply
    • Jere Cassidy

      November 11, 2018 at 9:29 pm

      Yes, you are right you want to zest the lemon. I’ll make that change.

      Reply
  24. Helen of Fuss Free Flavours

    May 8, 2018 at 11:06 am

    5 stars
    How wonderful to have your own supply of delicious lemons. So making this beautiful looking cake, comes as no surprise to me. I love a good tangy, moist lemon cake. Perfect for afternoon tea.

    Reply
    • OneHotOven

      May 13, 2018 at 12:17 am

      Ah, another tea lover. Afternoon tea is the best.

      Reply
  25. Natalie

    May 8, 2018 at 9:43 am

    5 stars
    I absolutely LOVE a good lemon cake and this one looks so moist and sounds absolutely delicious! Can’t wait to try this recipe!

    Reply
  26. Diana

    May 8, 2018 at 9:10 am

    5 stars
    I haven’t had a good lemon cake in a while now, your version looks and sounds amazing and makes me want to go to the kitchen and bake my own.

    Reply
  27. Tilly

    May 8, 2018 at 5:56 am

    5 stars
    What a wonderful problem to have. Perfect cake to have in the morning with a cup of tea.

    Reply
  28. Jillian

    May 8, 2018 at 3:54 am

    5 stars
    I will be asking for this Lemon Cake for Mother’s Day! So much YUM!

    Reply

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Welcome, I am Jerè

the baker at One Hot Oven. I love sharing recipes both sweet and savory that inspire you to bake at home. Food has a way of bringing us all together, from a simple batch of cookies to a three-tier cake. It is important to gather your family and friends around the table over delicious food, great conversation, joy, and laughter. Let’s bake something wonderful.

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