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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Hey! Could this be done without the almond flour and just add more GF plain flour? Thanks
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es, I explain this in the notes section of the recipe card!
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Hi there,
A friend of mine has asked me to make her wedding anniversary cake and I would like to use this recipe. I don’t live in the USA, and the flour you recommend isn’t available in my country. What ingredients does your flour contain, so I can find a similar one here? Also, what weight were the eggs you used?
Thank you in advance.-
The eggs, without the shell, should be around 50 grams. The flour is a blend of white rice flour, brown rice flour, potato starch, sorghum, tapioca and xanthan gum.
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Thank you very much for your reply
🤗
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Best Lemon Cake ever! I just did a 9×13 version and coated it in lemon royal icing with coconut cream instead of butter. It made a perfect glaze. It was wonderful!
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Sounds perfect! Thank you, Ana!
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I made this cake for my daughter’s birthday. It was delicious and the texture was great! Our friends and family were surprised it was Gluten Free! I used whipped cream for the frosting and decorated it with candied lemons and fresh raspberries!
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Thank you! So glad it was a hit, love the sound of fresh raspberries on top!
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Good, though the texture it a little gritty, and the cooking temp/time is wrong. For 2x 8″ round pans it took well over 45 minutes, even after increasing the temp after 30 minutes. 375 seems like a more appropriate temperature than 350.
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Could be your oven! Some ovens are actually lower than they say, so you can try 375 next time.
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Ok. So this lemon cake was a HUGE hit. I have now been tasked to make a GF peach cake. You think if I subbed lemon juice for peach it would work out similarly?
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Oh yum! Honestly, you’d probably need a larger quantity of peach juice since it’s not as potent as lemon. I’d try my gluten free orange cake and swap the orange stuff for peach!
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Best cake ever! I’ve made this cake for birthdays, weddings….everything! And easy enough to make just as an everyday dessert. So many people have asked for the recipe and no one can believe it’s gluten free.
Thanks, Claire!-
Love it! Thanks so much, Gabrielle!
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This recipe sounds great! Can this recipe be used for a bundt cake? If so, suggestions ad time would be so helpful!
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I haven’t tried it so can’t say for certain, but I would start with maybe 45 minutes and go from there!
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Looks great. Making for someone who is sensitive to xanthan gum also (which I think is in your flour blend?), so I have a gluten free flour that doesn’t contain it, but was thinking of adding some milled flaxseed to do the same job. Would that work? Do I add it dry or mixed with hot water first?
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I think if you just use your blend without the xanthan gum it should be ok since there are quite a few eggs in here. let me know how it goes!
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By the way,
Can I use maple syrup instead of sugar? If so, do I need to adjust the ratio of dry and wet ingredient?Thank you.
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No, you need to use white sugar here.
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Hello there,
What brand of baking powder are you using?
Can I use baking soda and cream of tartar in replace of baking powder to make the same resuit?Thank you.
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I just use one from whole foods! I recommend sticking with baking powder.
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I made this for my daughter’s birthday and she loved it. She said it was the best gluten free cake she has had. I have to agree!
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Thank you so much Stefanie!
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By far the best gf cake I’ve made!! Used lite milk, edmonds self raising gf flour, and almond meal. Rose just like a normal cake 🎂
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Love! Thanks, Gina!
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All modern recipes these days should have their measurements in grams, mls for accuracy. 1 cup of anything isn’t as precise as the gram amount for that ingredient. Why aren’t you using scale measurements instead?
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Most of my audience is based in the US and unfortunately, that’s just not as common of a practice with day to day bakers.
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If you ever find the time to update the recipe with weights, I’m a US baker who loves baking that way!
All the same, I’ll be trying the recipe as written this weekend even though cup measuring makes me nervous 😂-
Good to know!
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Same here! It’s becoming more common I think. And there’s the added benefit of being able to more easily cut a recipe or multiply. I needed 1/2 and it was a little tricky.
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I made this for a potluck supper and everyone loved it!! I used Bob’s Red Mill GF flour. Next time I will try with less sugar! Made in 9 x 13 pan, and I only used half the recipe for the icing.
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Delicious! So glad you loved it!
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So moist and delicious even days after preparation! I used a standard cream cheese frosting and the lemon flavor of the cake shined through.
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