Lemon Cake From Scratch Recipe

This lemon cake from scratch is a two layer 8 inch butter cake flavored with the zest of 3 lemons and ⅓ cup of fresh lemon juice, then filled and covered with a lemon buttercream made with more zest and juice. It bakes at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes, takes about 1 hour 45 minutes from start to frosted cake (most of that is cooling), and cuts into 12 slices.

The trick is where the lemon goes. Zest gets beaten into the butter and sugar at the start, so its oils flavor the whole crumb, and the juice goes in with the sour cream and milk. Juice alone would give you a cake that smells of lemon and tastes of very little.

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How Many Lemons This Cake Needs

Buy 5 to 6 medium lemons. A medium lemon gives roughly 1 tablespoon of finely grated zest and 2 to 3 tablespoons of juice, and the cake uses lemon twice:

• Batter: zest of 3 lemons and ⅓ cup (80ml) fresh lemon juice
• Buttercream: 2 tablespoons zest and 3 to 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Garnish (optional): thin lemon slices or zest curls, so keep one lemon whole
• Pans: two 8 inch round pans, greased and floured or lined with parchment
• Oven: 350°F (175°C), 30 to 35 minutes
• Time: 25 minutes prep, about 45 minutes cooling, 1 hour 45 minutes in total

Zest every lemon before you cut it. Once a lemon is juiced it is almost impossible to grate. Take only the yellow skin; the white pith underneath is bitter.

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Getting Real Lemon Flavor Into the Batter

Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips for a minute. The sugar pulls the oil out of the zest and turns damp, pale yellow and very fragrant. Then add the soft butter and beat on medium high for 3 to 4 minutes, until the mixture is light, fluffy and much paler than when you started.

Add the 4 eggs one at a time and beat well after each. They need to be at room temperature. Cold eggs firm up the butter and the batter can look broken. Stir in the vanilla last.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Separately, whisk the sour cream, milk and lemon juice. This mixture thickens and may look a little lumpy as the acid meets the milk. That is normal, and it smooths out once it is mixed into the batter.

Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the wet mixture, starting and ending with the dry. Mix on low and stop as soon as the last streak of flour disappears. Overmixing at this point makes the crumb tight and rubbery. The baking soda starts reacting with the lemon juice and sour cream right away, so get the batter into the pans and into the oven without waiting.

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Fresh Lemon Juice vs Bottled in a Lemon Cake

Use fresh. Bottled lemon juice is pasteurized, which dulls the bright, sharp taste, and some brands add preservatives you can taste in a mild butter cake. When lemon is the only flavor, you notice.

You are zesting 3 lemons for the batter anyway, so squeeze the same lemons. Roll each lemon firmly on the counter first and it gives up more.

This cake uses butter, not oil, because a plain lemon layer needs the buttery flavor behind it. If you prefer an oil cake with fruit in it, my lemon blueberry olive oil cake is the one to bake.

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Baking Two 8 Inch Lemon Layers

Divide the batter evenly between the pans. Smooth the tops and bake at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes.

Start checking at 30 minutes. The layers are done when a toothpick in the center comes out clean or with a crumb or two, the tops spring back when pressed lightly, and the edges have just started to pull away from the pan. If you only have 9 inch pans, the layers will be thinner and bake faster, so check them a few minutes earlier.

Cool the layers in their pans for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack. Longer in the hot pans and the bottoms turn damp. Let them cool completely, about 45 minutes, before frosting. Warm cake melts buttercream.

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Lemon Buttercream: Thick Enough to Spread, Tart Enough to Taste

The buttercream is simple: 1 cup of soft unsalted butter, 3½ cups of powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of zest, 3 to 4 tablespoons of lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Beat the butter until smooth and creamy, then add the powdered sugar one cup at a time so it does not fly out of the bowl.

Add the juice a tablespoon at a time, at room temperature. Cold juice, or too much at once, can make the butter split so the frosting looks curdled. If that happens, keep beating for 2 to 3 minutes, or add a few spoonfuls of powdered sugar. Stop adding juice when the frosting holds soft peaks but still spreads easily.

On a warm day this buttercream can go soft. Chill the bowl for 15 minutes and beat it again. A drop of yellow gel coloring gives the bright color in the photos; without it the frosting is a pale butter yellow. For a frosting you can use on other cakes and cupcakes, see my lemon buttercream frosting.

To assemble, set one layer on a plate, spread an even layer of buttercream over it, add the second layer, then frost the top and sides. Finish with thin lemon slices or zest curls.

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Dense, Dry, or Curdled? Fixing Lemon Cake Problems

• Cake tastes only faintly of lemon: the zest was skipped or added at the end. It has to be rubbed into the sugar and creamed with the butter.
• Dense, heavy layers: the butter was too cold to cream properly, or the batter was mixed too long after the flour went in.
• Dry crumb: overbaked. Check at 30 minutes, and measure flour by spooning it into the cup and leveling it, or weigh 315g.
• Batter looked broken after the eggs: the eggs were cold. It usually comes back together once the dry ingredients go in.
• Bitter edge: white pith got into the zest. Grate lightly and turn the lemon often.

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Make Ahead and Storage for a Frosted Lemon Cake

The frosted cake keeps covered at room temperature for up to 2 days. For longer, refrigerate it and let slices sit out for about 20 minutes before serving, so the buttercream softens and the crumb tastes of lemon again. Cold butter mutes flavor.

A chilled cake also slices more cleanly. The layers can be baked a day ahead and wrapped tightly once cool. Wrapped well in plastic and then foil, they also freeze; thaw them overnight in the fridge, still wrapped. The buttercream can be made ahead and kept in the fridge. Bring it to room temperature and beat it again before using.

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Lemon Zest, Juice and Filling Questions

Can you make lemon cake with just lemon juice?

You can, but the flavor will be mild. Most of the lemon taste in a baked cake comes from the oils in the zest, so use both if you can.

How long do you bake a lemon cake from scratch?

Bake two 8 inch layers at 350°F (175°C) for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

What filling goes well in a lemon layer cake?

This recipe uses lemon buttercream between the layers. For a sharper cake, spread a thin layer of homemade lemon curd inside a ring of buttercream, or see my lemon curd cake and lemon cream cheese cake filling.

Can I bake this as lemon cupcakes?

For cupcakes, use my lemon cupcakes from scratch, which are written for a muffin tin and its shorter bake time.

For another layer cake with lemon in it, try my lemon raspberry cake or the lemon poppy seed cake. For something softer, my lemon milk bread has lemon curd baked inside.

Pin this lemon cake so you can find it again when you have a bowl of lemons to use up. If you bake it, tell me in the comments how it went or what you changed. I read every one.