Gluten Free Lemon Cake
This gluten free lemon cake is moist, spongey and so easy to make. Just one bowl and a few simple ingredients. Top it off with a sweet and tangy dairy free lemon buttercream frosting.
This cake has been a long time coming and gone through SO many phases! I initially planned on making a vegan lemon cake that would of course be gluten free, but every trial results in a gummy, weirdly chewy or really dense cake.
After about 5 tries, I decided to throw in the towel on the vegan idea and just stick to a really, really good gluten free lemon cake. The eggs provide this cake with structure and help contribute to the perfect spongey texture.
This cake also uses a mix of gluten free all purpose flour and almond flour to provide a nice cakey texture. It’s much fluffier than my gluten free lemon drizzle cake, which is more like a pound cake.
I sometimes find that just using the all purpose flour can yield a slightly gummy texture, but a little bit of almond flour really helps to balance that all out and keep the cake light, fluffy, moist and delicious.
One bite into this cake and you’re going to fall in love. It’s the perfect Easter dessert, but to be honest, I would eat this any day or any time of year. If you love this recipe, my strawberry cake, almond flour vanilla cake or orange cake next!
How to make gluten free lemon cake
Line either one 9×13 pan or two 9 inch round pans or three 6 inch round pans with parchment paper just on the bottom. It helps to lightly oil the bottom then put the prepared parchment paper in so it sticks easily. Set aside.
In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, beat together all wet ingredients until well incorporated. Use a handheld electric mixer if not using a stand mixer.
Add in the dry ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flours to measure, don’t scoop from the bag. Use a whisk to mix together until well combined, but careful not to over-mix.
It shouldn’t be runny, but definitely won’t be thick either. It should resemble a fairly thin pancake batter.
Pour into your prepared pan(s) and add to the oven. The 9×13 will take about 32-40 minutes, the 9 inch will take closer to 25-30 and the 6 inch will take about 45. Check with a toothpick to test doneness.
Remove from the oven, let cool for about 10 minutes, then carefully flip onto a cooling rack and peel off the parchment paper. If you’re making a sheet cake, you are welcome to leave it right in there and frost it in the pan for easy storage.
Let cool completely before frosting. I suggest sticking in the fridge for about an hour to ensure it’s fully cool.
To make the buttercream, add the room temperature butter, milk lemon juice an zest to the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl and beat until well combined. I prefer using a stand mixer to make buttercream.
Beat in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time until your desired consistency is reached. I used about 4 cups for this recipe. To make it thicker, add more sugar, to make it thinner, add more milk. Frost the cake once cool & enjoy! Try my lemon pistachio cake next!
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Getting the perfect flavor
This cake uses three forms of lemon to achieve the perfect lemon flavor. We’ll be using fresh lemon juice, zest and lemon extract. That might seem like a lot, but I promise it’s SO good! Same with in my lemon brownies!
The tangy of the lemon gets balanced by the sweetness from the sugar and the richness from the oil. Lemon juice and lemon extract are not the same, so be sure you’re using both in this recipe!
I also don’t recommend bottled lemon juice as it will react differently with the baking soda compared to fresh lemon juice.
The best flour for gluten free cake
If you’ve made any of my recipes before, you know I’m very loyal to my Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking flour. A lot of gluten free bakers prefer making their own blends, but I find it easiest for me and you to use a blend. Plus, if you’re not gluten free, just swap it out for regular all purpose flour.
I highly recommend sticking to the Bob’s flour since there is a lot of variation brand to brand, but if you opt to use a different one, just make sure it has xanthan gum in the mix!
This gluten free cake truly tastes no different than a regular cake. I’m the only one in my family who is gluten free and everyone says it tastes just like the real deal. Try it (and then my gluten free lemon cupcakes) and you’ll see!
How to keep cake moist
For whatever reason, a lot of people seem to think gluten free cakes (like my mint chocolate cake) and other baked goods are really dry. Because of that, I make a serious effort to ensure all of my recipes are incredibly moist and stay that way.
This gluten free lemon cake is made moist with the oil, milk, eggs, a generous amount of lemon juice and even almond flour. As long as you store it in a container or wrapped with foil, you should have no problem keeping this cake moist!
I even find that it can get more moist as it sits because the buttercream seeps into the sponge a bit overtime. I promise, no dry cakes over here, even with my dairy free birthday cake.
Once prepared, this cake will keep for about 3 days at room temperature or 5 in the fridge.
You’ll also love..
- Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcakes
- Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
- Gluten Free Carrot Cake
- Red Velvet Cake
- Orange Olive Oil Cake
- Marble Bundt Cake
- Gluten Free Lemon Bars
- Gluten Free Lemon Cookies
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Gluten Free Lemon Cake
by: claire cary
Equipment
Ingredients
Wet:
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 1 ¾ cup fine granulated cane sugar
- ⅔ cup oil any plain oil works
- 1 ¾ cup milk dairy or non-dairy
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1-2 tablespoons lemon zest about 1 large lemon
Dry:
- 2 ¾ cup gluten free all purpose baking flour I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1
- 1 cup fine blanched almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Lemon Buttercream
- ¾ cup butter room temperature
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons milk dairy or non-dairy
- 1 tablespoons lemon zest or to taste
- 4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Line either one 9×13 pan or two 9 inch round pans or three 6 inch round pans with parchment paper just on the bottom. It helps to lightly oil the bottom then put the prepared parchment paper in so it sticks easily. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, beat together all wet ingredients until well incorporated. Use a handheld electric mixer if not using a stand mixer.
- Add in the dry ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flours to measure, don’t scoop from the bag.
- Use a whisk to mix together until well combined, but careful not to over-mix. It shouldn’t be runny, but definitely won’t be thick either. It should resemble a fairly thin pancake batter.
- Pour into your prepared pan(s) and add to the oven. The 9×13 will take about 32-40 minutes (mine took 35), the 9 inch will take closer to 25-30 and the 6 inch about 45 (they’re smaller but the layers will be fairly thick so they need to bake for longer).
- Check with a toothpick to test doneness. The top should be golden brown and there should be no jiggling on the inside.
- Remove from the oven, let cool for about 10 minutes, then carefully flip onto a cooling rack and peel off the parchment paper. If you’re making a sheet cake, you are welcome to leave it right in there and frost it in the pan for easy storage.
- Let cool completely before frosting. I suggest sticking in the fridge for about an hour to ensure it’s fully cool.
- To make the buttercream, add the room temperature butter to the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl and beat until well combined. I like using a stand mixer for buttercream, but a hand mixer will work!
- Beat in the sifted powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time until your desired consistency is reached. I used about 4 cups for this recipe. To make it thicker, add more sugar, to make it thinner, add more milk. Beat in the milk, lemon juice and zest until well combined.
- Frost the cake once cool & enjoy!
Notes
Comments
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This is my third time baking this wonderful cake…instead of the frosting, I make a lemon glaze. A hit every time. Perfection!
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Yum, love the lemon glaze!
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This cake was absolutely perfect! It was moist without being too dense or gummy like other gluten free cakes can be. Thank you so much for an amazing recipe!
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Thank you, Whitney!
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I was hoping to do a three layer cake for an upcoming event but want to keep it bigger than six inches. Would you recommend I double the recipe and do four layers in 9-inch pans?
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Yes, that would be my suggestion!
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I think you should check the metric measurement on the sugar. It seems too much compared to the conventional measurement. I checked all the rest and they appear close enough. I used buttermilk and added it alternately with dry into wet. My cakes are in the oven now. I’ll let you know how they turn out! Thanks!
Ann-
The metric conversion happens automatically, I don’t usually bake in metric, so I can’t say for certain.
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I’d like to try this but I’m allergic to almonds. Can I use homemade oat flour? Or just increase the Bob’s? Thank you!
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I would sub the 1 cup of almond flour for an additional 1/2 cup of the Bob’s!
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I added ALL the wet ingrient6es, not keeping back the ones for the butter icing There was no mention of this till making the icing, which I didn’t fully read til the cake was in the oven. I really hope this doesn’t ruin the cake, which is now in the oven. Your coment ple4ase.
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Hi Wendie, the ingredients for the lemon buttercream are all listed separately as to not cause confusion about the ingredients for the cake. Sorry you didn’t feel this was clear, but the section labeled “wet” indicates which ingredients need to be added when I say add the wet ingredients.
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I was in the mood for a gf lemon cake and I stumbled upon this recipe (the picture is what caught my attention) I made this last night and proceeded to eat half of the cake even before I frosted it. SO, SO good. The frosting was awesome too.
This is hands down the BEST gf cake I have ever had! Absolutely delicious – I am so happy to have found this site!-
Thank you so much, Kris! So happy you enjoyed this recipe, can’t wait to see what else you make!
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This cake is the best gluten free dessert I have made. As mentioned in other reviews, I also found the taste and texture to be like cake made with regular flour. I did not frost the cake. The lemon flavor is delicate with plenty of taste. My parents had it for breakfast this morning (after we had it for dessert last night) and stated it tasted even better today. Thank you for this recipe. I will be coming back for more recipes.
-Sue-
Thank you Sue! Makes me so happy to hear.
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The best GF cake ever!
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Oh my word this cake is delicious. Was so proud of myself as it looked so fantastic coming out of the oven, I left it for 10 mins to cool slightly before putting onto cooling racks. Unfortunately the cake completely broke apart. Had to put back into the tins, leave to cool completely…the problem is you cant fix the break. Cake tastes absolutly delish so moist and light. I only had 1,5 cups of icing sugar so only made 37% of the buttercream, which is not enough to hide the crater cracks but certainly enough sweetness, would hesitate to use the full 4 cups of buttercream. Thanks for incredible recipie. Any idea what could have caused cake to break up….not sure if gf flour has xantham gum, just says stabilizers….
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I would definitely make sure your flour has xanthan gum! Which blend did you use? Otherwise, maybe it just hadn’t cooled enough, try giving it about 30 minutes next time.
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Can I use almond meal instead of flour ?
Thanks!-
That should be ok since it’s a smaller amount of almond flour in this recipe, but almond meal is darker in color and absorbs wet ingredients differently, so I can’t guarantee the result!
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Is it one tablespoon of vanilla or one teaspoon? Thanks for clarifying. I cannot wait to try this cake.
Sue-
tablespoon of vanilla extract and teaspoon of lemon extract!
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Hi! I would like to sub the sugars for the mixed ones. Stevia and sugar. Would this be okay?
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I have not tested this with stevia, so I can’t say how it will turn out! You can try a 1:1 sugar substitute, that will probably be best.
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I’m thinking of doing cupcakes for this recipe. What should I alter the cook time to at that rate?
Thanks!
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I would check them around 16-20 minutes!
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Hi there! I am looking for a df gf lemon cake (and this looks like the winner!) with the addition of blueberries in the batter. Have you ever tried this before? Do you think it will work well?
Thank you! 🙂
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I haven’t tried it, but I think it’ll work just fine! I would guess maybe use 1-2 cups of fresh blueberries. You may need to increase the bake time by just a few minutes to account for the extra moisture. Let us know how it turns out!
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I just made this yesterday and it came out great! I used a mixture of coconut sugar and stevia and didn’t make the frosting. Thanks for this recipe- i will be making it again and again.
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Perfect, so glad those subs worked well!
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