Glazed Lemon Loaf Cake

This is a recipe for and impossibly soft and fluffy homemade Lemon Loaf Cake and it is so quick and easy to make! I can’t stop myself from running and grabbing another slice of this deliciously lemony Lemon Cake. And one more slice. And one very last slice – the one which I enjoy the most.

Made from scratch with old-fashioned ingredients like buttermilk, butter, eggs, real lemon zest and freshly squeezed lemon juice, this is the best spring or Easter Lemon Loaf Cake, whether for breakfast, brunch, dessert or coffee.

After a visit to Starbuck’s last summer, my 12-year-old daughter was interested in baking a copycat Lemon Loaf Cake and was looking at recipes. I suggested this simple Lemon Blueberry Bread recipe from the blog. She made it without the blueberries and it turned out so amazing.

My daughter is really good at following recipes and can bake completely on her own as long as the steps of the recipe are clearly stated. She is the perfect recipe tester for me. When she makes this Lemon Loaf Cake, it is ridiculously awesome. I don’t watch her make it so I don’t know what she does differently than I do, but hers is always the best! So soft and moist.

Try this recipe – I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

**UPDATE 8/2019: Due to readers’ feedback that their cakes were sinking, I did some research and found that the lemon juice was probably the culprit. Although the cakes tasted great, the acid in the lemon juice was reacting with the baking powder and altering the overall consistency of the cake. I have reduced the lemon juice in the cake batter from the juice of 2 lemons to the juice of ½ lemon.

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Glazed Lemon Loaf Cake

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 16

Calories 302 kcal

Ingredients

Lemon Cake

• 1 cup (225 g) butter room temperature
• 1 ¾ cup (350 g) granulated sugar
• Zest 2 organic lemons
• 3 eggs room temperature
• ¾ cup (180 ml) buttermilk
• Freshly squeezed juice of ½ lemon 1-2 tablespoons
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups (350 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Lemon Glaze

• 1 cup (100 g) sifted powdered sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon milk or water

Instructions

1. Grease and flour one large loaf pan (12×5 inches and 3 ½ inches high or 30×13 cm and 9 cm high) or two small pans. Preheat oven to 350°F (170°C).
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add lemon zest and beat in eggs, one at a time, until incorporated and scraping bowl between additions.
3. In a measuring cup, add lemon juice and vanilla extract to the buttermilk.
4. In another large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
5. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to the butter mixture, beating until incorporated and scraping bowl between additions.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and bake for 55 minutes*, or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
7. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife along the inside of the pan to release cake from sides. Tip cake out of pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
8. Whisk the glaze ingredients together and pour over top of warm or cooled cake. Store covered at room temperature for up to three days.

Recipe Notes

*If using small loaf pans, decrease baking time by 15 mins.