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Gluten Free Lemon Cake

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Gluten-Free Lemon Cake – This bright, tangy gluten free lemon cake recipe is like eating a bite of sunshine. Gluten free, dairy-free, and absolutely delicious. 

Gluten Free Lemon Cake with Lemon Icing and Berries on a Jade Milk Glass Cake Stand from One Lovely Life

PS – Looking for a paleo/naturally sweetened lemon cake? Try this Almond Flour Lemon Cake!

Once upon a time when Michael and I were newlyweds living in a 400 square foot apartment, we decided to host my siblings for our very first Easter together. Our apartment was less “modern IKEA/cute tiny house” and more “tiny-basement-hovel.” For seating, we had a single loveseat and about four folding chairs, so obviously we had all the essentials covered. (cough)

I decided that, since nothing feels more like spring to me than a bright pop of lemon, I’d make a lemon coconut cake. I used one of Ina Garten’s recipes and, through no fault of Ina’s (love you, Ina!), the cake was a disaster. About half of it ended up stuck in the bundt pan, but everyone was arriving in just a few minutes, so I thought I’d just try to cover the damage with a bit of shredded coconut.

It made things worse. Just…SO. MUCH. WORSE.

Thankfully, we were able to laugh about it, and I sort of closed my eyes while I ate it, and it all turned out fine.

We have–blessedly–come a long way since those days, but lemon cake is still my favorite spring dessert and always comes to mind when Easter rolls around. It’s like taking a bite of sunshine. This gluten free lemon cake has just the right amount of lemony punch. The secret is that the lemon comes in three phases…

Removing a slice of Gluten Free Lemon Cake from the pan

What Makes This Gluten Free Lemon Cake So Great:

  • IT’S PERFECT FOR CELEBRATING! First off, I always feel like I need to include a disclaimer when I post a recipe that isn’t vegetables, so consider yourself disclaimed 😉 Yes, this is a cake. Yes, it has actual sugar. Yes, it has icing made from more sugar. And YES, it’s SUPER delicious. We LOVE this cake for birthdays, Easter, baby showers and more, and I don’t feel one tiny bit guilty or bad about it. (I hope you don’t either!)
  • THERE’S A TRIPLE DOSE OF LEMON! You get lemony goodness from the cake itself (with lemon zest + lemon juice), then a second dose from the lemon-honey glaze you brush over the still-warm cake. Finally, you get a third dose from the white lemon icing you drizzle on top. It’s lemon in every bite. Yum!
  • IT’S GLUTEN, DAIRY, AND NUT FREE. Last year, after I posted my paleo lemon cake, lots of you asked for a version with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend or white flour. This is it! I use a gluten free one to one baking mix, which keeps things easy (and gluten free!). Then, you can use non-dairy milk to fit your needs (nut free or not). I usually use unsweetened vanilla almond or cashew milk, but you can use whatever you drink–coconut, soy, oat, rice, or dairy milk if that’s your jam!
  • IT’S SUPER LIGHT AND FLUFFY. Adding lemon juice to make a lemony faux buttermilk, and using a nice, light gluten free flour blend gives this cake a light, fluffy texture. The two gluten free flour blends I like best for cakes are Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour and King Arthur Flour Measure for Measure. They’re a cup-for-cup substitute for white flour in recipes like this, and they have the perfect combination of gluten free flours and starches to give a light, fluffy result super close to traditional flour.
A slice of gluten free lemon cake with lemon icing and fresh berries from One Lovely Life

Cake Baking Tips for Baking Gluten-Free Lemon Cake:

BE MINDFUL OF THE PANS YOU CHOOSE. I bake my gluten-free lemon cake in 9-inch round cake pans. You can use an 8×8″ pan if you don’t have a round cake pan, but you may want to check it a few minutes early, as it may cook faster. Also: darker pans cook darker and faster than lighter pans. I use these lighter cake pans and love that I get gorgeous caramelization without any burning.

KEEP YOUR CAKE FROM STICKING TO THE PAN: Grease your pan and line it with parchment. It might seem silly, but I do both. I spray my cake pans with avocado oil spray (or coconut oil spray), or you can grease them with butter, vegan butter, coconut oil, or avocado oil. Make sure to pay attention to the sides, and get the bottom. Second, trace the bottom of your cake pan on a piece of parchment paper and cut out a circle of parchment. Then, place it on the bottom of the pan, and it’ll help the cake lift right up after baking.

LET THE CAKE REST IN THE PAN BEFORE TURNING IT OUT. Give the cake about 10 minutes in the pan to cool a bit before you turn it out. This will allow the edges of the cake to slowly release from the pan a bit as the cake cools. (Cakes shrink slightly as they cool and steam inside evaporates.) It’ll also be less fragile and more likely to hold its shape when you turn it out of the pan.

HOW TO TURN OUT YOUR CAKES. This always feels like the highest stakes moment of the cake baking process! If you’re nervous about getting your cake out of the pan successfully, I recommend watching this tutorial which walks you through 2 of the most common methods. I’ve done both with good results. Also: try not to hesitate–it’ll help!

MAKE AHEAD TIPS. If you’ll be eating the lemon cake within a day, I recommend making the entire thing–bake the cake, brush with syrup, then glaze–and refrigerating it covered overnight. If you’re making it more than 1 day ahead, I recommend baking it, brushing with the lemon-honey syrup, and letting it cool completely before wrapping it and freezing. Thaw it in the fridge for a few hours before glazing and serving.

Close up of Gluten Free Lemon Cake with Icing dripping down the sides. Topped with fresh berries and chamomile blossoms from One Lovely Life
View of the inside of gluten free lemon cake from One Lovely Life.

How To Decorate Your Gluten-Free Lemon Cake:

There are LOTS of ways you can garnish this pretty gluten-free cake. First, you can simply use the lemon glaze as your decoration. It’s gorgeous and thick, and the drip line around the edge of the cake is stunning on its own. Beyond that, you can try…

  • Fresh berries – I use strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. You can use one or a mix, just be sure that they’re washed and dried. If they’re still wet, they’ll slip off your cake or make the icing go runny.
  • Candied lemon slices – Candied lemon slices work better than fresh since fresh lemon slices tend to be too wet. (The lemon juice cuts through the icing and can make for soggy cake).  You can buy pre-candied lemon at Trader Joe’s, or you can make your own.
  • Edible flowers – Fresh flowers look BEAUTIFUL with gluten free lemon cake. The only caveat is to make sure they’re edible. Check by the fresh herbs at your grocery store–sometimes they sell them in small packages near other fresh herbs. Otherwise, you can choose something like chamomile (pictured here)
Sliced Gluten Free Lemon Cake from One Lovely Life

FAQ + Substitutions For This Gluten-Free Lemon Cake Recipe:

Can I use a different kind of sugar? I haven’t tested this with liquid sweeteners, like honey or maple syrup, since other ingredient amounts would need to be adjusted. If that’s what you’re looking for, I suggest my paleo lemon cake, which is naturally sweetened. As for other powdered sweeteners, like erythritol/Swerve, I haven’t tried them before. I’d love to know how it goes if you give it a try!

Can I make it into gluten free lemon cupcakes? Yes! I’ve got all the instructions in this Gluten-Free Lemon Cupcake post, along with a lemon frosting that’s delicious! And they’re SO PRETTY!

Can this be turned into a layer cake? I think so! I haven’t done it myself, but other readers have in years past with great results. You can halve it lengthwise after it’s baked (trickier), or divide the batter in half and bake in two pans (it’ll cook faster!). Then, you’ll frost it with your favorite frosting (rather than glaze it). You can try my lemon buttercream frosting if you like! You could also use a lemon curd filling between layers, if you like!

Can I make it vegan? I haven’t tried it without eggs, but if you’re going to try it, I’d recommend starting with a powdered egg substitute, like Ener-G or Bob’s Red Mill. In recipes like this, a chia or flax egg can sometimes be a bit dense or add grit to your cake (which isn’t what we’re going for).

Sliced Gluten Free Lemon Cake from One Lovely Life

More Gluten-Free Baking & Treats To Try:

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Close up of Gluten Free Lemon Cake with Icing dripping down the sides. Topped with fresh berries and chamomile blossoms from One Lovely Life

Gluten Free Lemon Cake


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4.9 from 40 reviews

  • Author: One Lovely Life
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 1 (9-inch) cake 1x

Description

This bright, tangy gluten free lemon cake recipe is like eating a bite of sunshine. Gluten free, dairy free, and absolutely delicious.


Ingredients

Scale

For the Lemon Cake:

  • 1/2 cup milk (I use unsweetened almond milk)
  • 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 3/4 cup sugar (I used organic cane sugar)
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon zest (about 2 lemons’ worth)
  • 1/2 cup avocado oil (can sub melted coconut oil, butter or vegan butter)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 cup gluten free all purpose flour baking blend (like Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the Lemon-Honey syrup:

  • 1 Tablespoon honey
  • 2 Tablespoon lemon juice

For the Lemon Glaze:

  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 Tablespoons milk (I use almond milk)
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted (I measure, then sift)

Instructions

For the cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9″ cake pan with spray oil and line the bottom with a parchment paper circle*
  2. In a liquid measuring cup (or a small bowl), combine lemon juice and milk. Let sit for about 5 minutes.
  3. While the lemon juice and milk is sitting, rub lemon zest into the sugar in a large bowl. This gets the lemon oil into the sugar and distributes the flavor really well.
  4. Add milk mixture, avocado oil, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk until well combined.
  5. In a medium bowl, stir together flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. (Or you can simply sprinkle the dry ingredients over the wet before stirring)
  6. Pour the cake batter into your prepared 9″ cake pan.
  7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  8. Place on a cooling rack in the pan for 10 minutes to cool slightly before turning out onto a plate.
  9. While the cake cools slightly, mix up your lemon honey syrup (see below)
  10. After 10 minutes cooling in the pan, turn the cake out onto a plate or cake stand and brush with the still-warm cake with lemon honey syrup.
  11. When the cake has cooled completely, top with glaze.

For the Lemon-Honey Syrup:

  1. Stir together lemon juice and honey. Brush over the cake when it’s still quite warm (as soon after removing the cake from the cake pan as you can). Let cake brushed with syrup cool completely before adding the glaze.

For the Lemon Glaze:

  1. Sift powdered sugar into a large bowl. Add lemon juice, milk, and vanilla. Whisk or beat until smooth. (Ideally, you want the glaze to be opaque and to hold its shape when it drips down the sides of the cake. If yours is too thin, add more powdered sugar 1 Tbsp at a time. If it’s too thick, add more milk 1 teaspoon at a time until you reach the right consistency.)
  2. Pour glaze over your cooled cake and gently spread it toward the edges. Let some of the glaze run down the sides. Let set completely before cutting and serving.

Notes

  • You can absolutely make this in a stand mixer or food processor instead of in a mixing bowl. Your preference!
  • *To cut a parchment circle, I trace the bottom of my cake pan on parchment paper, then cut it out. It’ll be the perfect size!
  • For even more lemon flavor, feel free to add 1/4-1/2 tsp. lemon extract or 1/8 tsp. lemon oil along with the vanilla extract.
  • Be sure you use a 1:1 gluten-free flour that contains xanthan gum. Otherwise, your cake won’t turn out properly. Do not substitute almond flour or coconut flour in this recipe. 
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Category: Dessert, Cake
  • Method: Baking, Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Recipe originally posted March 2016. Post, recipe, photos and video updated April 2018.

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141 Comments

  1. I just made this recipe yesterday for a little dinner party and it’s already gone. I made it vegan and used an 8×8 pan but otherwise stuck to the recipe and it resulted in a gorgeous springy cake with a great crumb texture and the perfect moistness. You can taste the lemon in each element of this cake and I want to make it again already.






    1. Yep! But, unlike a boxed cake mix, this’ll only make about 12 cupcakes instead of 24. You’ll bake them between 17-20 minutes or so, or when they’re turning golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 🙂

  2. I’m thinking about trying this but using powdered erythritol instead of sugar in the glaze to make it a bit more keto friendly. Any experience with sugar substitutes? Thanks, Cora

    1. Cora May – I haven’t ever baked with sugar substitutes, but my friend Carolyn (All Day I Dream About Food) SWEARS by erythritol as a 1:1 substitute! I’d love to know how it goes if you give it a try!

  3. Excellent cake! Followed the recipe ingredients EXACTLY. The only thing was, I baked mine in an 8×8 glass pan. It wasn’t done baking until 42 minutes. Maybe being at a higher elevation changes the baking time? We’re at 4,500 feet above sea level. But really tasty! Would totally make again. Thanks for the great recipe!

    1. I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Glass vs metal or ceramic pans can make a difference (in general, glass takes a bit longer because it doesn’t conduct heat the same way that metal/ceramic do. And altitude can make a difference. Sounds like you’re totally on top of it!

  4. I made this exactly as directed with c4c flour. Brushed syrup (seemed like a lot!) while hot, and omitted the glaze but brushed with lemon curd and decorated with a ring of berries and edible flowers to serve. I added some food-grade lemon oil, also. I think I overbaked slightly (a smidge more browning than I would typically have), but the results were still F A N T A S T I C. The c4c flour definitely deserves some credit, but I was pleasantly surprised by how easily this came together, how moist it was (even with potentially some overbaking), and the lemony flavor. I’m also not sure how it gets such nice rise with little leavening and no whipped egg whites, but it was nicely fluffy. The top was crinkly and shiny in a way that overly-eggy deserts sometimes are, but nothing that a glaze wouldn’t hide, and no egginess in flavor. Indistinguishable from a non-GF cake, and was devoured by all (Celiacs- and non-Celiacs) at our family Easter celebration. This will be a staple in our desert rotation, for sure.






  5. Hello, I was just wondering if you’ve ever made this cake with Pamela’s Products All-Purpose GF flour? I believe it has guar gum, and the ones you mentioned liking (King Arthur and Bob’s Red Mill) don’t have “gums” in them.

    My friend is going to be making my wedding cake, and she said she usually uses Pamela’s… but if that won’t work I can get King Arthur (neither of us like Bob’s Red Mill)…. just wanted to see if you’ve had experience with the Pamela’s kind, and not, do you think it would hurt the recipe?

    Thanks!!

    1. Chelsea – I haven’t tested it with Pamela’s yet. If it’s a cup-for-cup substitute, you’ll probably be able to get away with it! (Otherwise, I’d say go with King Arthur Flour measure-for-measure) 🙂

    1. I recommend you use cup-for-cup or measure-for-measure gluten free flour blends (Like Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Flour or King Arthur Flour Measure-for-Measure) which includes xanthan gum in the mix. If your mix doesn’t, you may want to add some.

  6. I used my home made GF flour blend and the cake turned out beautifully. It was a big hit with the birthday boy and family. Thank you for this recipe!






  7. Do you think this will be enough batter to fill two 8” rounds? I would love to layer fruit in the middle!

    1. Zoe – I make mine in one 8-9″ round pan. If you’d like to make it as a layer cake, you can slice the single layer in half lengthwise (I use toothpicks as a guide), or you can bake two small layers by dividing the batter among 2 pans. I don’t have a baking time for you if you do it that way, so you’ll just need to keep an eye on it!

  8. I have made this twice and it is very lemony. Just wonderful. Thank you for the recipe, it’s a keeper. The texture of the cake is amazing.






  9. My sister became gluten intolerant a few years ago and I can’t have cow dairy so I recently ordered this super “fancy” vegan and GF cookbook in order to make an epic creation for my sister’s 50th b-day. Well, as a side note, I actually got a Baking and Pastry associate’s degree from the Culinary Institute of America back in 2002 (baking is no longer my career, but I did it for 6 years and people tell me I should have never changed careers). Alas, the cake and lemon curd I made from that book went right into my compost as they were both inedible. I was so traumatized and scavenged around in the 11th hour to find something to make in its place when I stumbled upon this recipe and GLORIOUS DAY…it was AMAZING!!! So easy and absolutely delicious. You’d never know it was dairy and GF and my family gobbled it down. Hugest thanks for saving the day!!






    1. Kimi – WOW!!!! You absolutely MADE my day! This was such a sweet, thoughtful comment. Thank you so much! We tested and tested it to get it right, and we love it as much as you do. Thank you for sharing this with me!

  10. How does this cake batter look before you pour it in the pan? Im trying to find a good recipe, ive tried 4 different gluten free recipes amd havent had much luck. Just put this one in the over but it looked really thick and goopy. Is that normal?

    1. Brian – Did you take a look at the video? I tried to show that texture there, but one thing to know is that the leavening will start to react immediately with the lemon juice in the recipe, so the batter will start to puff and thicken pretty quickly. I’d love to know how it turned out for you!

  11. Hi,
    I just can’t decide wether to make this cake or your almond flour one! I was wondering if you thought that the coconut cream would work with this cake if I made it 2 layers and used that to sandwich or.
    Thanks
    K

    1. Kerry – That’s a tough choice! I love both so much!

      I’ll say that layering whipped coconut cream in between cake layers can sometimes be tricky if you don’t plan to eat it right away, as it does tend to soak into the cake a bit and can get runny as it warms up. (If you’re using store-bought coconut whipped cream, that’ll be less of an issue)

      If you do layer it between the cake, I’d suggest keeping it refrigerated until right before serving. I hope you love whichever cake you choose!

    1. Maddie – I haven’t made this one in a bundt, though I think it might come out small, since it’s designed to be an 8×8″ cake. This article has lots of great tips for turning a cake into a bundt and makes it sound like doubling the recipe might work! I recommend reading through their article too see if you want to attempt it. If you give it a go, I’d love to know how it turns out!

      1. Thanks for the response. I made it in a Bundt and it turned out great. I doubled the recipe, mostly. I used homemade cashew milk because I think it’s richer than almond. I used 1 c of cane, plus a half c of brown sugar. I used only 4 eggs (based on another Bundt recipe), three cups (king arthur) 1-1 flour. And I made a maple syrup + lemon juice syrup and skipped the powdered sugar glaze because we don’t like that super sweetness and then decorated with lemon peel and strawberries. Bake time was about 40 minutes in a medium-dark pan. It’s very moist and has a great lemon flavor. It came out of the pan while still warm so beautifully! I slathered the pan in refined coc. oil and sprinkled a bit of sugar rather than flour, which is advice I follow after once reading this: If you’re using a non-stick pan and still having trouble with sticking Bundts, try sprinkling a coating of either finely ground nut flour or granulated sugar into the greased pan before adding the batter. Either will provide a barrier between batter and pan — which is what you’re seeking. “But isn’t sugar sticky?” Yes, it becomes sticky as it cools; and it can act like glue when fully cooled. But while warm, sugar is still semi-liquid, and your sugar-coated cake should slide right out of the pan. Everyone loved the cake.






    1. Jesmine – I’m so sorry that happened! My guess is that it was slightly over-baked. Every oven runs differently, and the color of the pans you used can also contribute.

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