One of my all time fav cake recipes. This is my go to recipe for Lemon cake. If you like lemony taste, you will definitely love this cake.
The buttery, soft and moist sponge is perfectly complemented by the lemon syrup, which soaks into the cake giving it a gooeyness which is even better the next day!
Please see the video recipe below:
Here is the recipe…
Ingredients
- 125 gms Butter
- 175 gms Caster Sugar
- 2 large Eggs
- 175 gms Self-raising flour
- 50 gms Granulated Sugar
- 2 Lemons
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degree, 10 minutes before baking. Lightly oil and line the base of an 18 cm/7 inch square cake tin with baking paper. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until soft and fluffy.
- Beat the eggs, then gradually add a little of the egg to the creamed mixture, adding 1 tablespoon of flour after each addition.
- Finely grate the rind from one of the lemons and stir into the creamed mixture, beating well until smooth.
- Squeeze the juice from the lemon, strain, then stir into the mixture.
- Spoon into the prepared tin, level the surface and bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.
- Mix the zest of the last lemon with 25 gm of the granulated sugar and reserve.
- Squeeze the juice of that lemon into a saucepan. Add the rest of the granulated sugar to the lemon juice and heat gently, stirring occasionally. When the sugar has dissolved simmer gently for 3-4 minutes until syrupy.
- With a fine skewer prick the cake all over. Sprinkle the lemon zest and sugar over the top of the cake, drizzle over the syrup and leave to cool in the tin. Cut the cake into squares and serve.
Notes
Substitution for Self-raising flour: Take 175 gms all-purpose (plain) flour and add
2 1/4 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt. Sift or whisk together well, and proceed to use this mixture in place of the self-raising flour.
Substitution for Caster sugar: process 175 gms granulated sugar (regular sugar) in a food processor/mixer until fine, but don't powder it like icing sugar.
Tried this recipe? Let others know by…mentioning @mariasmenu or tagging #mariasmenu
Please see the Lemon Drizzle Cake made by Josphine, based on the above recipe. Thank you Josphine :)
May I know the quantity of lemon juice you’re adding? In ml.
Tried this Maria! It was lovely and easy to follow too. Thank you :)
You are welcome dear :) Glad that you liked it. Thanks for the comment!
Cheers
Maria
Yummy
Can i substitute ghee for butter. Now i don’t have butter.
Hi Naz, I havent tried this cake with ghee. However, I think for this cake, Butter works better.
Cheers
Maria
Does the recipe miss something? The batter was thick and I had to add some water. The cake was awesome with lemony flavour.
Hi Kanchana,
Nope, this is the recipe :) The batter is supposed to be like that. it’s a spreadable batter, not pouring one.
I’m glad that you liked the cake. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers
Maria
Hi Maria,
Once again an awesome recipe.. loved the cake.. but my drizzle turned out to be too sour… i think it would have been a good idea for me to taste the drizzle before i poured it all over the cake :D …
Thanks again for a very good recipe..gonna try out your chocolate cake with fudge frosting today…
Cheers,
Shiny
Hi Shiny,
This is one of my fav cake recipes. I’m glad you also liked it. Sorry to hear about your drizzle :( Btw, did you try the choc cake? Hope you liked it.
Cheers
Maria
Thanks for your cake recipes…. just want to know whether we can substitute oil for butter, in which case what would be the quantity.
Hi Hepsiba,
You are welcome! I guess you can substitute butter with oil, but I havent tried it, Hence I’m not sure about the qty :(
Cheers
Maria
Hi Maria……….I really appreciate your recipes esp the baking..but is there any way we can get it in cup and spoon measurements???????? becos we dont have a weighing machine and i ‘m so used to making with cup measurements.If its possible pls do post it  too
Hi Anu,
Thank you so much! I think the baking recipes I posted a few years ago are in grams. For the recent recipes, I try to put it in cups. Please check out the baking category on the right side of the blog. Anyways, I’ll try to keep up with your suggestion :)
Cheers
Maria
What an amazing cake! Thank you so much for letting me use the recipe on my blog.
The Tree Cakes blog is about cakes that contain tree ingredients – so anything that comes from a tree, such as lemons! It also aims to raise awareness about the importance of trees for people living in Africa’s drylands.
Thank you :-)
Made these today… another great cake!! was real yummy!!! now whenever I make something my husband asks is it from Maria’s menu?? my whole family loves ur dishes!!! keep posting….
Hi Josphine,
wow!! Looks like you are really into baking these days :) thanks a lot dear for trying out the recipes.
This is one of my all time fav cake and I was wondering why nobody tries it :). Thanks a lot for trying this and also for commenting here. Your comments cheer me up :)
Special thanks to Joanne and your hubby too :)
Love
Maria
ur cakes are awesome…they look so soft and yummy :)
can u pls send me the measurement in cups…
thanks
Hi Subarna,
Thank you :)
There is a cooking converter on the right side of my blog, after the facebook 7 twitter logo. You can convert the measurements there. Hope it helps.
Cheers
Maria
Hi Febin
You can bake the cake with the same quantity of measurements given here. The baking time might be less if you are using a bigger size pan. So adjust the baking time accordingly.
As a substitute for caster sugar, just crush the normal sugar, you dont need powdered sugar for this recipe, crushed sugar will do.
Regards
Maria
Hey Maria,
I have 9” inch cake pan round shape. Can you gimme the measurements of ingredients for that one. Also, can I use powdered sugar in place of caster sugar?
Thanks,
Febin
got any recipe for chocolate cake?…tried and successful one?
Hi maria…
Have been thinking of making this cake for quite long time since my husband loves the tangy taste of lemon in cakes…finally baked it yesterday and it came out fantastic…..simply woooow….m not a big fan of lemon taste but even i loved it….so soft and moist…..i added lemon icing on top…Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe and ur detailed description of the recipe.
My understanding of the difference between lemon zest and lemon rind is lemon zest is the yellow skin which is the part with the flavouring and the natural oils, lemon rind is the both the white part (pith) and the lemon zest together.
Great recipe Maria, I will have to resist the urge to keep making it!
Hi Maria. I am glad I discovered your blog. It is really nice, with great recipes. I have enjoyed it a log. Great work.
Gitu,i think both sodas give raising property,but bicarbonate of soda gives softness for the cake…i read that somewhere before….maria,one question.my husband loves lemon cake,so wud like to try this one.want to know the lemon u mentioned here,is that the big one(lemon)or the small one(lime)?is it ok to use ordinary sugar instead of castor sugar?….the pictures along with the recipes is really a great idea….after cooking, one can know how it looks!!great work maria!And i love the way u write the recipe instructions..very well organised..keep it up..
hey im sorry but whats the difference between baking soda and soda bicarbonate?
i’m gonna try this one..and someone else already asked my doubt..what to use when using ordinary flour..
The cake looks so good!
Thanks Roopa, happy to hear that it came out well for you. Even my husband loved its taste :)
Hi Maria, i made this cake and it came out beautifully, i actually had a confusion abt the measure ments as it was in grams, so followed a similar recipe from another site, but have to say, inspiration is from you :) my hubby loved it a lot :) thank u!
Thanks Mona for visiting my blog and for also linking me. Please try out the recipes and let me know your comments
Hi Maria, ur blog is gud, loved it :-) Will keep dropping by often and have added you in my blogroll. Look forward to try ur recipes soon inshallah.
thank u so much maria…
Thanks Roopa, Please try it and let me know the result .
Hi Zareen, Thanks for visiting my blog. You can use 1 teaspoon of Baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of Soda bicarbonate if you are using plain flour. Regarding lemon rind n lemon zest, i dont know the exact difference. As far as my understanding its more or less the same. Anyways, i will try to get details of it and if i get a clear idea, i will definitely let you know :)
Hii Maria…Cake luks so yummy…Love to try it…If we r using plain flour instead of self raising flour can u pls tell me the measurement of baking powder….pinnae one more doubt…wat is the diff b’w lemon rind n zest.??
Loved the lemon cake :) Thanks for the recipe…..My husband just loves the flavor of lemon in cakes. and I am all the eager to cook this for him . Thanks Maria! Adding you to my blogroll :)