Lemon Cake Recipe. Dairy
Lemon Cake
This lemon cake is perfect for brunch, and for dessert after any dairy meal, with fruit or sorbet. Needless to say, Non-Lemon-Lovers need not apply! The baked lemon cake gets soaked all over with a luscious lemon syrup. You are in for a treat!
Lemon Cake is Decidedly Dairy!
My fans know that most of my desserts are dairy-free or dairy-free friendly. Nope so this one, sorry guys: We NEED the butter!
This is a decidedly dairy cake. Sorry, guys! Don’t substitute margarine or oil for the butter; you will notice the difference. Yogurt: Ditto. Buttermilk will work as well. A friend of mine took a large chunk of this cake on a plane trip to Chicago and shared it with the stewardesses. One of them e-mailed me that she must have more and asked if she could have the recipe. I am used to my recipes getting a lot of mileage on the ground, but this was the first time at 30,000 feet!
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 eggs
Lemon syrup
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
- 1/3 c sugar
- ¼ cup butter
Instructions
Make the cake. Preheat the oven to 325*F.
Mix the flour and baking soda in a bowl, and set aside.
Mix the yogurt, lemon zest and lemon juice in another bowl, and set aside.
In a food processor or mixer, beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix each time until incorporated. Add the flour and yogurt mixtures alternately, beginning and ending with flour, mixing each time only until just combined.
Grease and flour a 10-inch springform pan. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for one hour, or a little longer, until the point of a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Carefully unmold the cake, and place it on a round tray.
Make the syrup: Bring all the syrup ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes, until slightly thickened. Prick holes all over the cake with a skewer while it is hot and pour the hot lemon syrup all over the cake, using it all up.
I made a stupid mistake because I was in a hurry and poured the syrup into the cake batter before baking the cake! I was sure that it would be awful but it still came out great. This is a foolproof recipe! Thank you!
Sounds great! Ill try to make the same mistake next time, and see how it comes out LOL
Can ths be made parve???
Larisa I wouldn’t. This is definitely a butter cake. IF I were to adapt it to par eve, I would have to tinker with it.
what are other pans you have used that have worked well with this recipe? I would like to keep this recipe for my bakery and it sounds delish!!!
Alejandrina, loaf pans are good too
It turned out amazingly! All off the guests loved it, and had seconds! the only thing I would do to improve it would be to make more syrup. thanks for this lovely recipe. It has proved to be a winner, and I will definitely bake it again
Michela I’m so glad! Everyone loves this recipe. Nonono please don’t make more syrup: A few undesirable things might happen if you do: 1. The cake will get too sweet. 2. The final texture will get too sticky-gooey.
Hi,
This recipe sounds sensational. I will be making it for my mothers birthday, as I know she’l love it. Thanks for this beautiful recipe!
Michela, Good choice. It’s fabulous!
Hi! I tried out this recipe and used a 9″ springform pan but it didn’t rise as high as it looks like in your photo. I checked the freshness of my baking soda and I’m sure I didn’t forget to add it in the recipe. Any idea why this happened?
Julie Sorry I don’t know why your cake didn’t look as good as mine. ?/the recipe is tried and true, and this cake is a winner. Please give it another chance, it’s well worth it.
I was a little suspicious at first… the recipe doesn’t sound like anything spectacular… BOY WAS I IN FOR A SURPRISE !!! LEVANA, IT IS SUPERB!! THANK YOU!!
Ha Sima I agree:-)))
I made this cake today and it is fantastic Cannot stop eating☺ Thanks And I see other great recipes on your site So glad I discovered your site!
Herma this cake is delicious!
I am buying the yogurt tomorrow and will make the cake. Looks delish and refreshing.
Shari it’s fantastic
What an amazing, delicious,big cake. I’m impressed. Thank you so much.
Thank you, thank you for this recipe. I haven’t even yet poured the syrup over it and the cake is perfect and delish. I am not even the best baker but it came out exactly as I would have expected from a good baker. :) Can’t wait to pour the syrup over it.
Kelly this is one of my favorite cakes. Have you tasted it with the syrup?