This lemon loaf cake with icing is the only lemon cake recipe that you'll need. It's buttery, moist, and bursting with fresh lemon flavor! Our readers agree that this iced lemon loaf tastes way better than the Starbucks lemon loaf!
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Why This Is The Best Lemon Cake Recipe
Because this is a success-guaranteed recipe, even one of our 11 years old readers have made it with huge success! I've tested this recipe many times to make sure you can't go wrong with it.
With this easy lemon loaf cake recipe, you'll have fresh lemon zest and juice in the lemon bread, which is then drizzled with lemon syrup and finally iced with lemon glaze. Bursting with lemon everywhere!
Imagine all the different layers of lemon flavor in one bite! Amazingly delicious!
This is not a copycat of Starbucks lemon loaf because this lemon drizzle cake tastes way better than Starbucks! I promise!
If you're obsessed with lemons, you must make my lemon meringue pie, almond lemon cake, lemon meringue cupcakes, and no-bake lemon cheesecake!
Ingredients For This Cake
Lemon - Use fresh lemon for both the zest and juice. I can't stress enough how fresh ones are a game-changer in highlighting the bright, tangy lemon flavor in this recipe. 3-4 fist-sized lemons should do it.
Baking powder - Although when using acidic ingredients like lemon juice and yogurt call for using baking soda, in this case, a huge no! It'll neutralize and water down the lemon flavor of this lemon loaf cake.
Greek yogurt - Use full fat. This is what's making our lemon pound loaf cake moist and tender. Full-fat sour cream works great also, like when I used it in my lemon almond cake.
*See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step-By-Step Instructions
1. Mix dry ingredients. Mix all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
2. Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl whisk butter and sugar until light and fluffy using a handheld whisk for 10 minutes. If using a standing mixer, cream for 4-6 minutes on medium-high speed with a paddle attachment.
3. Mix in eggs and lemon zest. Add the eggs one by one and make sure to mix well after each addition. Add the lemon zest and vanilla extract together with the first egg.
4. Alternate the dry ingredients with yogurt and lemon juice. Mix in half of the dry ingredients, followed by yogurt and lemon juice. Then add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix everything together.
5. Bake. Pour batter into a greased and lined 4.4x10-inch loaf pan (1-pound loaf pan). Bake at 350ºF for 60 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven.
6. Poke. While the lemon loaf cake is still hot, poke some holes all over it with a skewer.
7. Drizzle lemon syrup. Dissolve sugar with lemon juice by gently heating it in the microwave. Drizzle the lemon syrup all over the hot cake, making sure it gets into the holes. Leave the cake to cool completely in the pan.
8. Pour lemon icing. Mix 1 tablespoon of lemon juice at a time with powdered sugar using a spatula. The lemon icing needs to be thick but still pourable.
Pour on the cake and spread evenly with the help of the back of a spoon. Leave for the icing to harden before slicing. Enjoy!
Recipe Expert Tips
- Use fresh lemons. For the zest and the juice! Store-bought lemon juice has lost its bright tangy lemon flavor. Trust me, go with fresh lemons, it's a game-changer like in my lemon blueberry cake. Delicious!
- Not expired baking powder. Check for its expiry date. It happened to me so I'm giving you a heads-up! Even if you do everything 100% correctly, your cake will not rise as much and will sink in the middle if the baking powder is expired.
- Don't over-mix. Once adding the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, make sure to never over-mix the batter. This will produce the softest and fluffiest lemon loaf cake ever!
- Gradually add lemon juice for the icing. Don't add the lemon juice all at once. The lemon icing need to be thick but still pourable. Too much lemon juice will make the icing look transparent.
- It tastes better the next day! Yes, it's true! So if you like to do things in advance like me, then make this lemon loaf cake with icing a day before serving it.
Variation Ideas For This Cake
- Omit the icing. The cake alone is already delicious with amazing lemon flavor. The icing is the cherry on top, and although I highly recommend it, it's okay if you want to omit it.
- Use other citruses. Lime, orange, mandarin, or even grapefruit works great for this recipe.
- Make lemon coconut cake. Add a subtle touch of coconut by folding in ¼ to ⅓ cup of desiccated coconut at the end. Oh wow!
- Make lemon poppy seed cake. Add texture by folding in 2-3 tablespoon of poppy seeds at the end.
- Make lemon cupcakes. You'll get around 12-15 cupcakes. Bake for 20 minutes. Use cupcake liners to remove them easily from the pan.
How To Store And Freeze
Store - In an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Freeze - Wrap the cooled cake that has been infused with lemon syrup with a cling film. Freeze in an air-tight container for up to 3 months.
Thaw in the fridge and then bring it to room temperature. Only then make the lemon icing and pour it on top.
Another delightful dessert that freezes great is my layered carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and the tarts in my healthy lemon tarts. They're out of this world delicious and easy to make!
Recipe FAQs
The lemon loaf is like a lemon pound cake that's made from butter, sugar, eggs, all-purpose flour, and my addition, yogurt (makes the cake super tender and moist!). It's then infused with lemon syrup and then poured with lemon icing.
If you follow the instructions and didn't change a thing, then the culprit has to be that your baking powder has expired. It happened to me!
If it's not expired, your oven temperature was too high. Use a portable oven thermometer to get an accurate temperature.
Or you've opened the oven door during baking time. No opening the door before 45 minutes of baking time.
Adding Greek yogurt! You'll get super moist cake without even trying. Sour cream works great too.
Absolutely! Freeze it without the icing. Wrap the lemon loaf cake that has been infused with lemon syrup with cling film in an air-tight container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge, bring to room temperature, and then glaze it.
Absolutely! Just make sure to use full-fat sour cream
More Lemon Recipes
If you tried this Lemon Loaf Cake with Icing or any other recipe on our website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it went in the comments below!
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📖 Recipe
Lemon Loaf Cake With Icing
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Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup (195 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter , softened
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs , room temperature
- ½ cup (125 g) plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
Lemon Syrup
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
Lemon Icing
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar , sifted
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF using top and bottom heat, without the fan. Butter and line the loaf pan. You can use a 1-pound loaf pan, a 9x5-inch loaf pan, or a 4.4x10-inch loaf pan (the one that I'm using).
Dry Ingredients
- Mix all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl using a spoon. Set aside.
Wet Ingredients
- Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, using a handheld whisk for 10 minutes. If using a standing mixer, whisk for 4-6 minutes on medium-high speed using the paddle attachment.
- Whisk in vanilla extract, lemon zest, and 1 egg. Then add the rest of the eggs one by one, mixing well after each addition.
- Add half of the dry ingredients on low speed, mixing just to combine from this stage onwards. Whisk in yogurt and lemon juice and then finally, the rest of the flour.
Bake
- Pour batter into the pan and spread it evenly. Bake for 60 minutes on the lower ⅔ rack until it's fully cooked or a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Once cooked, remove it from the oven and immediately prepare the lemon syrup.
Lemon Syrup
- Add sugar and lemon juice into a bowl. Heat gently in microwave until sugar is dissolved.
- Poke holes all over the cake using a skewer. While the cake is still hot, pour the lemon syrup on top and brush evenly. Leave the cake to cool completely in the pan. Once it's cooled, transfer it to a serving plate.
Lemon Icing
- Mix powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a bowl using a spatula. Gradually add more lemon juice until you get a thick icing but still pourable. Too much lemon juice will make the icing transparent.
- Pour the icing on the cake and spread it evenly using a spatula. Let the icing hardens before slicing. Enjoy!
Notes
- Use the spoon and level method if using cup measurements. I highly recommend using a kitchen scale as it's more precise.
- Use a portable oven thermometer to get the accurate oven temperature. I use it every time I bake.
Tracey C says
Does this cake freeze well?
Bea says
It's not going to be as fresh but I do it all the time 🙂
Ansh says
I have bookmarked this recipe. I am not very good at baking but have been trying since lockdown and work from home. I just came across this page on google search and trust me I just followed your recipe blindly. It turned out to be amazing, just like in your video and other image. And the best part of your recipe is that all ingredients are usually available in a kitchen. I have always wanted to make a moist cake and this turned to be just like that. A MASSIVE THANKS.
Bea says
Yes, I'm happy that it turned out great for you! It's a simple recipe, right? Can never go wrong with it. Thank you so much for your feedback Ansh!
Adrian Ogley says
Absolutely delicious. Recipe was very explicit and easy to follow.
Rachel says
Made this twice and I love it. How many calories is it please?
Thank you
Toi Jones says
Fantastic recipe, new family favorite! Wow, I'm so grateful I found your blog. Amazing job guys!! (:
Bea says
Thank you for your feedback, I'm glad everybody liked it!
Abby says
Hi,
Can I use Sour cream instead of Greek yogurt
Thank you in Advance 🙂
Abby says
Hello, Can I use Sour Cream instead of Greek Yoghurt. I hope you reply 😊😊😊😊😊
Bea says
Yes, of course! Hope it helps, have fun making it and thank you!
Virna says
Hi Bea,
Thanks for this delicious recipe. I've made this Lemon Loaf cake several times. N everyone loved it. I've made it also for gifts to friends on recent ied Mubarak 😊
Thank youuu 🙏🏼
Bea says
I'm happy that you liked it Virna, thank you so much for your feedback!
marielle says
hello. what if i put more lemon juice in the loaf batter? will it affect the form?
Marc says
Hi,
I tried today your Lemon Loaf Cake !!!
Really easy to do and delicious 😋😋😋
Thank you so much 😊
Terima Kasih
Bea says
Hi Marc! I've seen the photos of your lemon loaf cake that you sent me, it looks gorgeous! I'm glad that you liked it, terima kasih banyak Marc! 😊😊
Marc says
Hi,
I tried today your Lemon Loaf Cake !!!
Really easy to do and delicious 😋😋😋
Thank you so much 😊
Teri makasi
Marc says
Terima kasih
Beth says
Hi Bea,
Just made your lemon cake and it tastes awesome. I intially tried another recipe before yours and it didn't turn out great. As for yours, after mixing all the ingredients, I could tell from the batter only that it'd turn out great and it did. I'm so happy! I used low fat plain yougurt because couldn't get hold of greek yogurt.
However, my frosting was too runny, unlike yours. So it doesn't have that thick layer of frosting on top. Not ure why. Also, it was too sweet to my liking. So I guess I'll go with naked lemon loaf cake next time. Haha.
Really, the cake is good! Moist and not very sweet.
Bea says
Hi Beth! I'm glad that it turned out good and that you liked it! As for the frosting, add the lemon juice bit by bit until it gets to the consistency and color that you like. But yes, feel free to skip it next time, no problem at all. Thank you for your feedback!
Bethany Wang says
Hi Bea,
Just a question. If I were to reduce the sugar, is it okay for me to add 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil to make up for the moistness loss due to the reduction of sugar? I believe sugar contributes to the moistness of the cake, am I right?
Juliana says
Hey Bea! I can't seem to get my hands on baking powder! any idea if using baking soda as replacement will make any difference to the taste or texture of the cake? and any difference in quantity to use? Your help is extremely appreciated!! cant wait to try baking it!!!
Bea says
Hi Juliana! For this particular recipe I don't recommend using baking soda as it will neutralise the lemon-sour-tangy taste that we want. Too much of it will leave a soapy taste. It will also change the texture (coarse crumbs). Sorry though!
Juliana says
Ahhh thank you so much!!! Will try to get it 🙂 how about the use of Greek yoghurt? What is the purpose for that? What difference will it make to the flavor or texture if I choose to exclude that? 🙂 or is there anything I can replace it with?
Carina says
Wonderful! I had no vanilla extract and no plain Greek yogurt so I added strawberry Greek yogurt instead. It's really delicious, thanks for the recipe!!
Bea says
Awesome Carina, thank you!
Lyndsay Thompson says
Just made the cake and it’s sunk in the middle 😥
Can you advise please.
Bea says
Sorry to hear that Lyndsay! There are a few reasons for that but perhaps the oven temperature was too high, cake batter was sitting out too long before baking or checking on the cake too early (opening the oven's door). Hope those help and you'd give it another try!
Lyndsay Thompson says
Thank you for the reply. I will be giving it another try next week as the taste is lovely 😊 fingers crossed for next time.
Eurica Young says
Hi just want to say thank you for your recipe! I made it yesterday for my eldest 12th birthday and it tasted fabulous! The cake was moist, not overly sweet and just perfect to pair with jasmine tea. Lovely!
Bea says
I'm glad to hear that, happy birthday to her! Thank you Eurica!
Efua says
I just made this lemon cake using your recipe and it came out just perfect. I used buttermilk instead of yoghurt. Thanks for sharing your recipe
Bea says
Great to know buttermilk also works, thank you Efua!
Beth says
Hi Efua,
Did you substitute 1:1 of yogurt to buttermilk?