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:
- 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