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This simple recipe for a classic Glazed Lemon Loaf Cake yields a refreshing and moist lemon cake. Top it with a simple and tangy lemony glaze for a scrumptious treat!
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If you love lemon desserts as much as I do you will want to try this Glazed Lemon Loaf Cake. Similar in texture to a pound cake, this light lemon cake is moist and buttery. Though I top the cake with a simple lemon glaze, this cake is delicious with or without it.
This cake is a perfect way to celebrate the arrival of springtime. It would also make a wonderful addition to Easter and Mother’s Day celebrations.
This refreshing lemon cake will not disappoint. It’s perfect for serving at brunch, for an afternoon snack and even sweet enough for dessert. With only a few easy steps you can enjoy buttery lemon flavour coming from every bite of this moist and tender loaf.
This loaf can be made with only basic baking ingredients and a couple of fresh lemons. If you don’t have any sour cream around you can use yogourt in its place. To get the best lemon flavour and the most out of my lemons, I like to use both the zest and juice in my lemon flavoured baked goods.
How to Zest and Juice a Lemon
Since we are using both lemon zest and juice in this recipe, it’s important to start by removing the zest from the lemons before juicing them. Trying to zest an already juiced lemon is not an easy task! Also frustrating is not having a good zester to work with. Investing in a good zester will make sure that you get optimal results by getting all the aromatic zest off the lemons.
Remember to only zest the coloured part of the citrus fruit, the white pith underneath is bitter and will impart a bitter taste to your baked goods. Before juicing the lemons, apply a bit of pressure on them while rolling them back and forth on the counter a few times. This extra step will help you get more juice out of them.
Lemon Glaze
The most challenging part of making this Lemon Loaf Cake is having to wait for it to cool enough to glaze it. The glaze in this recipe is a simple mixture of icing sugar (confectioners’ sugar), a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a touch of cream or milk. Just whisk the ingredients together in a bowl. You can add more lemon juice if you prefer it tangier, and more cream or milk to get a thinner glaze. This simple lemon glaze gives the loaf a bit of extra sweetness and an extra hit of tanginess.
How to Freeze this Loaf
This loaf can be made ahead of time and frozen. I recommend freezing the loaf without the glaze. You can use a large freezer bag or wrap it in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. Glaze the loaf once it has thawed and is at room temperature.
If you love lemon flavoured desserts, you’ll want to take a look at this decadent Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Lemon Loaf Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest from two lemons
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup sour cream I used full-fat sour cream, yogurt will also work, but not the zero fat kind.
Lemon Icing
- 1 cup icing or confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice more to taste
Instructions
Lemon Loaf Cake
- Place a rack in the middle section of your oven and preheat oven to 350°F.
- Grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk and set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, beat the butter with the sugar until light and creamy. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, beat again for approximately 30 seconds.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and the vanilla extract.
- With mixer running on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Approximately, 1/3 of the flour mixture, then add 1/2 the sour cream, add 1/3 of the flour, add the remainder of the sour cream, and then the rest of the flour.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake the loaf for 45 to 55 min. With a toothpick or a cake tester, check to see if the loaf is done at 45 min, if the toothpick comes out clean or with just a couple of crumbs the loaf is done, if not, check again in 5 minutes. Mine took 50 minutes to bake.
- Place the loaf on a rack to cool for 15 minutes before removing the loaf from pan. Remove loaf and let cool until cake is slightly warm. Pour lemon glaze on loaf.
Lemon Glaze:
- In a medium bowl, combine the confectioners sugar with lemon juice and cream or milk, whisk until smooth and pour onto the loaf while still slightly warm. Let glaze set for a few minutes before slicing and serving.
Your glazed lemon loaf cake sounds perfect for this summer served alongside some sliced fresh fruit or berries.
Hello Karen! You’re absolutely right, this would be delicious with some fresh berries. Thanks for stopping by!
Looks absolutely delicious! I’ll try with yoghurt I guess.
Thank you, yogurt will work!
Looks so tempting to eat 🙂
Thank you!
Looks so refreshingly delicious
Thanks so much Alex, I hope you’ll give it a try!