Fluffy lemon cake from scratch with lemon glaze
Follow this foolproof recipe for how to make fluffy lemon cake from scratch. This moist cake is made with oil instead of butter and has an easy lemon glaze. It's baked in a classic bundt pan but you can also use a regular round cake pan.
Servings: 14
Calories: 354kcal
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 ¼ cups (250 grams) white sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 4 large eggs (220 grams), at room temperature or warm
- ¾ cup (170 grams) sunflower oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups (390 grams) all-purpose flour
- 5 teaspoons (16 grams) baking powder
- 1 cup (240 grams) fresh orange juice
For the lemon glaze:
- 1 ½ cups (200 grams) icing sugar
- 4 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Grease and flour your baking pan very well (use butter and not oil). Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C)
- Whip the eggs with the sugar: Transfer the sugar, the salt and the lemon zest to a bowl and mix to combine. Transfer the eggs to the bowl of your electric mixer and beat with the whisk attachment until frothy. Add the sugar mixture gradually and continue beating until the mixture thickens and resembles shaving foam (about 10 minutes).
- Add the oil: While beating, add the oil in a thin stream and then add the vanilla extract.
- Prepare the flour: Transfer the flour and the baking powder to a bowl and mix well.
- Add the flour and the juice: Sift approximately one third of the flour over the egg mixture and fold gently with a spatula (at this tage it's OK if the flour is not completely incorporated). Add half of the orange juice and fold it again with the spatula. Continue with half of the remaining flour, then the rest of the orange juice and then the rest of the flour.
- Bake: Transfer the cake batter to the bundt pan and bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let it cool for 5 minutes, then unmold to a cooling rack and let it cool completely.
- Make the lemon glaze: Transfer the icing sugar, the lemon zest and the lemon juice to a small bowl and mix well with a spoon. The glaze should be very thick if you want it to be white. If the glaze is too thick, add half a teaspoon of lemon juice at a time until it reaches the desired consistency. Spoon the glaze over the cake (you may not need it all) and let it set for 30 minutes. Serve.
Video
Notes
- For this cake you will need one 10-12 cup bundt pan or one 10 inch round cake pan.
- If you don't make the glaze and you prefer a sweet cake, you can increase the sugar for the cake butter to a total of 1 ½ cups.
- This cake can also be made with melted butter or a mix of melted butter and vegetable oil. However, with vegetable oil only, the cake stays soft and moist for more days.
- Warm eggs whip up much better and faster. If you've forgotten to take them out of the fridge, place them in a large bowl with warm water for 5-10 minutes.
- You can also use orange soda instead of fresh orange juice. The carbon dioxide from the orange soda will make the cake even fluffier. However, I usually prefer to use fresh orange juice since I believe it makes the cake a little healthier.
- Replace 2 tablespoons of flour with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch for a more delicate crumb.
Nutrition
Calories: 354kcal
