Soft, fluffy, zesty and bursting with lemon flavor, this easy lemon loaf cake makes for the perfect snack or dessert! It’s quick, requires no electric mixer and no artificial flavoring.
About This Recipe
This easy lemon loaf cake is a copycat recipe for the Starbuck’s lemon loaf cake, only it’s way cheaper! It features a soft lemon sponge that’s soaked in a lemony sugar syrup and finally topped with a lemon glaze!
This recipe is way easier to make than you might think. No need for any fancy kitchen gadgets, just a big bowl and a whisk! Also there no fuss of bringing the butter to room temperature 1-2 hours before you start baking. Just everything into a bowl, give it a mix and bake to perfection!
This easy lemon loaf cake has a very noticeable lemon flavor, all of which comes just from some fresh lemons, no need for any artificial flavorings in this recipe! The batter itself has both lemon zest and juice, while the sugar syrup that’s poured on the baked cake, and the lemon glaze topping have just lemon juice.
Many of the lemon loaf cake recipes out there use softened butter, but in my recipe I used partially melted butter. Because of this you don’t need room temperature butter, just microwave the butter for a minute and some of the butter will have melted while the rest becomes soft. This makes it so much easier to use a whisk to cream the butter and sugar rather than an electric mixer. I wanted everyone to be able to enjoy this zesty treat!
What You’ll Need To Make This Recipe
Flour: I have only made this recipe with regular all-purpose flour.
Eggs: using room temp. eggs will give you an evenly baked loaf cake.
Baking powder: this is the leavening agent in the cake, it helps the cake rise and become soft and fluffy.
Lemons: you’ll need 2 medium sized lemons for their zest and juice.
Granulated sugar: this is for the cake and for the lemon syrup that’s added on the cake once it’s baked. Don’t worry this lemon loaf cake is not too sweet at all. ( The cake itself contains very little sugar)
Butter: use unsalted butter so you can control the amount of salt in the batter.
Powdered Sugar: this is for the lemon glaze topping. (you can also skip the topping if you’d like, see tips)
Salt: helps balance the overall sweetness of the cake.
How To Make This Easy Lemon Loaf Cake
Step 1:Place your butter in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave it for 60s, some of the butter should have melted, and the rest becomes softened. In a large bowl whisk the half melted (or softened) butter, sugar and lemon zest until pale and creamy (about 2 min).
Step 2: Add in 3 eggs one at a time, whisking well between each addition. Use room temperature eggs for the best results. Next whisk in yogurt, vanilla extract and lemon juice. At this point the mixture will look grainy and this is totally normal. When the dry ingredients are added everything will come together.
Step 3: Finally add in the dry ingredients which include all purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk until fully combined. This batter is quite thicker than regular cake batters.
Step 4: Pour the batter into a greased and lined 8 x 3 inch (20 x 8 cm) loaf pan. A 3.5 x 10 inch (9 x 25 cm) loaf pan will work as well. Bake at 160 °C / 320 °F for 40-45 minutes. If the top is browning too quickly, cover it with aluminum foil and continue to bake until it’s fully done.
Step 5: As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, use a skewer or toothpick to poke holes all over the top. Then mix combine some granulated sugar and lemon juice in a small microwave safe bowl. Microwave for a few seconds until the sugar is dissolved. Pour the hoe lemon syrup on the hot loaf cake. Now let the cake cool completely before adding the glaze.
Step 6: Once the cake is fully cooled make the lemon glaze by combining powdered sugar and lemon juice. The consistency should neither be too thick or too thin. Pour the glaze over the lemon loaf cake, garnish with more lemon zest or some pretty yellow pearl sprinkles, or leave it plain! Slice and enjoy!
Storing The Lemon Loaf Cake
This cake is best enjoyed fresh, and it usually disappears within a day at my house! Store any left-overs in an air-tight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.
Pro Tips
- Measure you flour correctly! Adding too much or too little flour will change the texture of the cake dramatically. Spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off using the back of the spoon.
- Loaf cakes do take a bit longer to cool than regular cakes because of their shape. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then flip it onto a wire rack and let it cool in the refrigerator. This will speed up the cooling process.
- If the top of your loaf cake is browning too fast, cover it some aluminum foil and continue to bake until it’s done. This will prevent the top of the cake from burning while the inside is still raw.
- Baking time may vary: all ovens are different, your cake might take a longer to fully bake, or it might bake faster. So it’s best to start checking on the lemon loaf cake at 30 minutes.
- If you have a convection oven (oven with a fan setting) I recommend reducing the temperature by 20 degrees
- You could skip the lemon glaze topping if you’d like! Just remember to add about a 1/4 cup extra granulated sugar to the batter otherwise your cake will not be sweet enough.
- Zest your lemons before cutting and squeezing out the juice, it’s just way easier.
- When zesting lemons, it’s important to be careful not to grate the white part of the lemon skin that’s beneath the yellow. This part is bitter and could ruin the taste of your cake.
- This easy lemon loaf cake batter is quite thicker than regular cake batters, so don’t worry you didn’t do anything wrong!
FAQ’s
What can I substitute for Greek yogurt in baking?
When it comes to baking in general yogurt and sour cream can be used interchangeably by the ratio 1:1.
Can I skip adding the lemon sugar syrup?
You could, but the lemon syrup is what makes the cake extra moist and adds more lemon flavor. It also adds sweetness to the cake because the batter itself does not have that much sugar.
Can I use a hand/stand mixer to make this lemon loaf cake.
Of course, it will be much faster! And if you’re using an electric mixer use can just use softened butter rather than melting it partially. I just wanted this recipe to be easy and have the least clean up as possible!
Check out my YouTube Channel for detailed recipe tutorials! Made one of my recipes? Tag me on Instagram, I would love to see your creations!
Recipe Card
Easy Lemon Loaf Cake
Soft, fluffy, zesty and bursting with lemon flavor, this easy lemon loaf cake makes for the perfect snack or dessert! It’s quick, requires no electric mixer and no artificial flavoring.
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 45 min
Total Time: 60 min
Course: Dessert
Servings: 8
Calories: 369kcal
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Ingredients
For the lemon cake:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (113g)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (150g)
- zest of 2 medium sized lemons
- 3 eggs, room temp.
- 1/2 cup yogurt, full fat
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (195g)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the lemon sugar syrup:
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (50g)
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
For the lemon glaze:
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160 °C / 320 °F, grease and line a 8 x 3 inch (20 x 8 cm) loaf pan. Any pan that’s slightly bigger and smaller will also work.
- Cut the butter into small cubes and place in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 60 seconds until some of the butter is melted and the rest is softened. Add the partially melted butter into a large bowl along with the granulated sugar and lemon zest. Whisk this mixture until it turns pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Add in the eggs one at a time mixing well between each addition. Next add in the yogurt, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Mix until fully combined. At this point the mixture will look grainy and this is totally normal. When the dry ingredients are added everything will come together.
- Lastly add in the all purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk until fully combined.
- Transfer the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If the top is browning too quickly, cover it with aluminum foil and continue to bake until it’s fully done.
- As soon as the cake comes out of the oven make the lemon syrup. In a small bowl combine the granulated sugar and lemon juice, microwave to dissolve the sugar. Poke holes all over the top of the loaf cake using a skewer or toothpick. Pour the syrup over the hot loaf cake. Let the cake cool completely.
- For the lemon glaze: Combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. If you want a runnier glaze, add more lemon juice and vice versa.
- Pour the glaze over the cooled cake, slice and enjoy!
Nutrition
Calories: 368.88kcal
Total Fat: 13.78g
Carbs: 57g
Sugars: 37.47g
Protein: 5.28g
Sodium: 300.42mg
Fiber: 0.83g
** Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more. **
First time making a cake from scratch and had no electronic mixer! i also had only 3/4 cups of butter and a lot of prayer. The cake came out perfect in texture and delicious! I added the extra sugar to the cake mix because I knew I didn’t have powdered sugar for the cake glaze! Thank you!