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.
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…
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.
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.
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)
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).
More Gluten-Free Baking & Treats To Try:
- Gluten-Free Lemon Cupcakes With Lemon Frosting
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake – Texanerin (Fudgy & Gorgeous!)
- Rainbow Fruit Salad with Citrus Mint Dressing
- Gluten-Free Fruit Pizza Cookies (With Lemon Sugar Cookie Base!) – Sweets & Thank You
- Almond Flour Lemon Cake
- Chocolate Berry Tart
Gluten Free Lemon Cake
- 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
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:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9″ cake pan with spray oil and line the bottom with a parchment paper circle*
- In a liquid measuring cup (or a small bowl), combine lemon juice and milk. Let sit for about 5 minutes.
- 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.
- Add milk mixture, avocado oil, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk until well combined.
- 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)
- Pour the cake batter into your prepared 9″ cake pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Place on a cooling rack in the pan for 10 minutes to cool slightly before turning out onto a plate.
- While the cake cools slightly, mix up your lemon honey syrup (see below)
- 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.
- When the cake has cooled completely, top with glaze.
For the Lemon-Honey Syrup:
- 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:
- 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.)
- 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.
Hi there, I’ve been asked to make a gluten free birthday cake for a friend tomorrow and this is by far the nicest recipe I’ve found, thank you! I’ve bought Schär Gluten Free Mix It! Flour because it was best reviewed of what’s available here in the UK, but please can you help me, are you using metric cups or imperial? There seems to be quite a variation between the two and I need to convert to either grams or ounces!
Many thanks!
Katrina – I’m not sure how to answer your question! We’re in the US and I’ve seen conflicting answers online.
One general guideline is that 1 cup of gluten-free flour is about 120g, per this chart. I do hope that helps!
It came out beautifully! To anyone looking for a gluten free flour, I highly recommend Schär Gluten Free Mix It! Flour, much nicer texture than any other I’ve used.
I tried 120g and it was a really thin mixture, but 240g was perfect, still much runnier than standard cake mix but I expected that.
I used sunflower oil because it was what I had, and I added a teaspoon of lemon extract to the sugar because I’d left my good lemon zester at work and the one on my box grater is less than efficient.
I used the double quantities because I wanted to make a layer cake, which meant that I had enough mix to cook a couple of fairy cake sized cakes as testers, which is how I discovered that a small warm cake (no syrup) with a scoop of ice cream is one of the most blissful desserts!
So glad it turned out for you Katrina! Thank you for sharing!
I LOVE this recipe! I’ve been craving lemon, and since finding this recipe last week I’ve already made it twice. Huge hit with everyone who has had it. I have a feeling this will be my new go to recipe when I need to bring a dessert to an event! And I was pleased to see it was also dairy free. For Christmas I’m going to attempt to add poppyseeds to make a lemon poppyseed cake, since it’s my Grandmother’s favorite.
Lizzy – Oh, I’m so happy to hear that! I bet it’ll be great with poppyseeds! (Hope your Grandmother loves it!)
It was so delicious that I hardly got any after all the gluten-eaters and GF people had had their way with it, so I had to promptly make another one. Seriously delicious, and really easy to make too — no need for any electrical tools except for my trusty electrical citrus juicer.
It was my first foray into GF flours, and much to my surprise the taste and crumb on this one was identical to regular cake, even without xanthan gum.
Oh, this makes me so glad to hear!
First review I’ve ever written because your recipes are too good! Made this cake using Bobs Red Mill baking flour (red bag) and instead of adding xanthan gum I added 3/4 a tsp flax seed. My family said it was restaurant quality! Incredible texture and flavor. Thank you for your recipes! Made our Good Friday.
Cailley – I’m totally honored! Thank you so much for sharing this with me! You totally made my day!
Hi Emily 🙂
I made this beautiful cake for my daughters 18th birthday, in the Covid 19 Lockdown. It was a real real winner 😊. Thanks very much I’ll definitely make it again.
I’m so glad it was a hit! It was my daughter’s birthday cake during the lockdown, too! Happy birthday to your daughter! 🙂
This is the best gluten free cake I’ve ever made. They normally turn out a solid mess, but this is incredible. And so tasty 😍
Oh my goodness! Best review ever. I’m so glad you loved it!!!
Hands down yummy. There are lots of dud GF recipes out there. This is NOT one of them. So moist – you wouldn’t know it’s GF. I used Presidents Choice GF flour blend. Make this cake – you won’t be disappointed. If you are adding fruit to the top make sure to do it while the glaze is damp so it sticks.
YUMMMMMM!!!!!
That’s amazing! I’m so glad you loved it. Thanks for sharing your tips with us!
I’m new to preparing gluten/dairy-free foods. The lemon cake recipe was a big hit even with our non-gluten friends. In the past I’ve found gf baked good either too dense or flavorless. This is a definitely a keeper. (For the glaze I used almond extract instead of vanilla.)
That’s SO GOOD to hear! I’m so glad you loved it!
We found ourselves with a batch of ripe (yellow) limes in the middle of the pandemic, and I’ve made this cake about 10 times. It uses juice and zest which is what I was looking for. I skip the glaze & syrup and use a bit of berry jam instead. It’s my go-to snack.
YUM! I bet it’s fabulous with jam! Thank you for sharing 🙂
This is my new favourite cake! It was absolutely delicious and turned out perfectly. Thank you for the brilliant recipe.
Helen – that’s fantastic to hear! I’m so glad you loved it. It’s a regular birthday cake at our house–we love it so much!
So freaking delicious! Wasn’t sure about baking gluten free but this was an excellent recipe. Looking forward to making more desserts and dishes!
Oh my goodness! Paige, you totally made my day. I’m so glad that you loved it as much as we do! It’s our FAVORITE!
I made this cake for my son for his birthday. It seems that my sons and their girlfriends are all dairy and gluten free. This was the perfect recipe. Moist delicious. We had it for three days. I took a picture..it looked exactly like the photo on the recipe..looking forward to more of your recipes. It was so easy to put together. No mixer ! I love it. Can’t wait to make it again for another occasion.
Jennifer – I’m SO glad it was a hit for your son’s birthday! It’s my kids’ favorite birthday cake! 🙂
Just baked this yesterday and it’s by far the best GF lemon cake recipe I’ve ever tried. (And I’ve tried DOZENS of them.)
I used Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1, and also added a couple tablespoons of Cake Enhancer (by King Arthur Flour) because it makes all GF cakes better. For what it’s worth, I doubled the recipe and baked it in 2x 7″ x 3″ tall round pans, to create a four-layer 7″ cake. I filled it with blackberry Swiss meringue buttercream and it’s dreamy.
Thanks so much for sharing your lovely recipe!
I’m so glad you loved it! It’s our FAVORITE cake and is always requested at birthdays at our house. That blackberry buttercream sounds INCREDIBLE. Like, MIND-BLOWING. I’ll have to try something like that next time!
Hello from Australia
I found this receipe yesterday and made it for desert tonight.
I’ve tried many gf cakes with very little success. I am so tried of finding cake receipes with the need to have 9 different flours.
This was simple, easy to make and tasted absolutely Divine. We had two pieces each because we were so excited finally to be eating real cake.
Thank you so much.
Helen
Helen – What a lovely message to wake up to today! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! It’s our all-time favorite for special occasions. So glad it was a win for you! (And THANK YOU for taking the time to leave a review. I appreciate it so much!)
I bake quite a lot as a hobby and THIS recipe is incredible! I doubled the recipe and used 3 – 8″ round pans. After brushing on the syrup I let it cool to room temperature before covering and refrigerating overnight. Immediately before serving I piped lemon chantilly cream between the layers, then glazed, garnished, and gorged. The cake was super moist yet fluffy, and my guests enjoyed the lingering taste of lemon. Even my non-celiac guests devoured the cake. In our home we call this recipe “A Keeper!”. From one lemon-loving baker to another, thank you for the recipe. I look forward to trying your others!
You COMPLETELY made my day! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a thoughtful review. I appreciate you so much!