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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I’m getting ready to make this and noticed that the pan prep does not include greasing the pans. I want the cake to rise well and also come out of the pans. No grease?
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This is written in step 2!
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This cake is fantastic! My husband and I used it as our wedding cake last month! We baked it two days before our wedding and it was still moist and absolutely delicious wedding day! I added a little less sugar and added more lemon zest and lemon extract for an extra punch of flavor. 10/10
We plan to make it for every wedding anniversary in the future ♥︎
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Thank you, Kayla! That makes me so happy, congratulations to you both!
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This cake is awesome – we make a lot of gluten free occasion cakes and this one is a perfect mix of light, delicious, but still holds together beautifully to be able to be layered and iced without crumbing. Well done! I used lemon cream cheese frosting
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Thank you! Love the sound of the lemon cream cheese frosting.
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Made this cake and it was amazing!!! I made 2 loafs and 6 cupcakes w this and it was perfect. 10/10 would recomend
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Amazing, thank you!
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Would it be OK to use a 9″ X 13″ glass pan?
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Yes, that’ll work! Glass conducts heat differently than aluminum, so keep an eye on the bake time. Start with about 35 minutes and adjust from there.
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Great recipe, very moist cake. Could you substitute almond flour for rice flour ?
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Rice flour is much more absorbent than almond flour so it will likely dry the cake out a bit, but you can sub the almond flour for half that amount in the GF all purpose flour if you want a nut free option. So just an additional 1/2 cup of the all purpose.
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Loved this cake-made it for my sister’s tea group. Very moist and a delicious flavor. This is my first gf cake I’ve made from scratch. I used Bob Mills gf flour.
Do you sift it like you do regular flour? I wasn’t sure….thanks for a delicious recipe!
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I don’t usually sift it but if you notice it’s really clumpy then I would!
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Hello! I’m so excited to try this recipe. I have one question, if I freeze the cake layers how long would they last in the freezer and will they still be moist?
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About 1 month and yes they will stay moist!
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Thank you! I made this today and it was incredible!
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Amazing, thank you!
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Hi,
I have 2×8 inch round tins. Will this mixture fit into these tins? If so, how long do you think I should cook them for?
Thanks
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Yes, the 8 inch pans I mention in the instructions are that size. So just bake for the usual time!
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Hi,
If I want to make the two or three layered cake version, but only one pan can fit in the oven, can we just prepare altogether (the batter) but bake one at a time?Also for the dairy free milk, can we use almond or oat milk?
Thank you.
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That should be ok. However, the leavening agents become less active as they sit, so the cakes baked later may not be as fluffy. Because the flour will absorb the wet ingredients as they sit, you also may need to bake for slightly less time.
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Hi, the cake looks amazing! I would like to make it for a party. But it is summer now and the weather is really hot (around 30 degrees Celsius). I wonder how should I transport the cake in this condition (using public transportation). Do you have any tips on how I can transport the cake without melting and destroying it (I am not professional so I do not have any cake box or cooler etc.)? Is it possible that I prepare everything ahead of time, bake cake layers, prepare the buttercream frosting the day before and then carry them and finish the cake with buttercream once I arrive to the hosting place?
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Yes, that would be my suggestion! The buttercream will unfortunately melt in that heat, so your best bet is assembling at your hosting location. Let me know how it turns out!
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Absolutely divine…made this for a birthday at work and everybody loved it…even the non-gluten free workmates commented they would have had no idea it was gluten free if I didn’t tell them. Easy to make and beautiful texture. I used Bobs Mill 1:1 and also added lemon curd between the layers as well and baked in 3 x 6″ tins. Will definitely be adding this to the list of favourites. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe
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So happy to hear that! Thank you, Donna!
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Allergic to nuts, can you not use almond flour and just add the amount of gluten free flour?
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You can use half the amount of all purpose flour, so instead of almond flour, add an additional 1/2 cup of GF all purpose flour!
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This cake is absolutely delicious! The recipe is terrific and I appreciate the added tips. The flavour was terrific, and the texture was great and held together perfectly. My whole family and I raved about it and agreed that this was the best gluten-free cake we have ever had! I also added some red beet powder to a bit of the frosting to make it pink and I used that for decorating.
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Love the addition of the beet powder I bet that looked beautiful!
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This recipe is our new favorite! Truly fantastic and so easy to make. Wow!
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Thank you, Cara!
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