This lemon loaf cake is soft, velvety, super moist and is bursting with lemon flavour. Best part is, it’s super easy to make! A soft lemon loaf is coated with a lemon syrup and topped with a thick lemon glaze – YUM!
How to Make Lemon Loaf
This lemon loaf has three elements, which are all super easy to make (I promise!). You start off with your lemon loaf, then lemon syrup which you brush all over your lemon loaf once it’s done (don’t skip it – it really takes the loaf to the next level!). Finally, you finish off with a wonderful lemon glaze.
A lemon loaf is basically a cake in loaf form, but a little more sturdy. For a wonderful soft layer cake, check out my soft lemon cake and lemon cupcakes.
Lemon Loaf
For the lemon loaf, you want to start off by preheating your oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 1 on recipe card at the end of the blog post if you don’t have a fan function) and line an 8.5×4.5inch loaf tin (I like to lightly grease the tin before lining it so that the baking paper sticks better).
If your loaf tin is slightly smaller than mine, then you may have a little too much batter. If you do, then you can use any left over batter to make some muffins 🙂
Next in a bowl sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside for now.
Next, in a small bowl combine warm milk and lemon juice. Mix until well combined and then set aside for now. It will start to curdle, which is normal.
In a large bowl cream together the butter, vegetable oil, sugar and lemon zest for 2 minutes until it’s light and fluffy.
Next add in the eggs one at a time, mixing well in between each addition.
Next add in half of the milk/lemon juice mixture from earlier and mix until well combined. Once combined, take any remaining batter off of your mixer attachment/s and set aside as the rest of the mixing will be done by hand.
Next add in half of your premixed dry ingredients to your wet mixture, and gently fold it in with a spatula until just combined. Then add in the remaining milk/lemon juice mixture, and fold that in until just combined. Lastly, add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold until just combined. Do not overmix (see note 2).
Pour the batter into the loaf tin, evenly spread it out and then bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer or butter knife comes out clean.
Once baked, allow it to cool for 15 minutes in the loaf tin, and in the meantime prepare the lemon syrup.
Lemon Syrup
In a small saucepan combine sugar and lemon juice. Heat over a medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Once done take it off the heat.
After 15 minutes, take the lemon loaf out of the loaf tin and place it on a tray. Cover the entire cake in the lemon syrup, including the bottom. Be gentle when moving the lemon loaf as it will still be warm at this stage and you don’t want it to break. See video demonstration below for how I cover my loaf in the syrup to prevent it from breaking.
Once coated in the syrup, let the lemon loaf completely cool. Once cooled make the lemon glaze.
Lemon Glaze
In a small bowl combine the icing sugar and lemon juice. Mix until well combined and you have a thick glaze consistency (see note 3 on recipe card below for different consistencies).
Once the lemon loaf has cooled, spread the lemon glaze over the top and top with more lemon zest (optional – the lemon zest is for decoration purposes).
And that is it! Enjoy 🙂
Easy Moist Lemon Loaf
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Lemon Loaf
- 1¾ cups (210 g) all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp (14 g) cornstarch - also known as cornflour in some countries
- 1½ tsps baking powder
- ½ tsp salt - omit if using salted butter
- ½ cup (120 g) warm milk - full fat milk
- 3 tbsp (42 g) lemon juice - freshly squeezed
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- 2 tbsp (26 g) unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola oil
- 1 cup (200 g) white granulated sugar
- 1½ tbsp lemon zest - about the zest of 1 and 1/2 medium sized lemons
- 3 large eggs - room temperature, size 7
Lemon Syrup
- ¼ cup (50 g) white granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (55 g) lemon juice - freshly squeezed
Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup (125 g) icing sugar - also known as powdered or confectioners sugar
- 1½ tbsp (21 g) lemon juice - freshly squeezed
- 1 tbsp lemon zest for decorating the top - OPTIONAL
Instructions
Lemon Loaf
- Preheat oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 1 if you don't have a fan function) and line an 8.5x4.5inch loaf tin (I like to lightly grease the tin before lining it so that the baking paper sticks better).
- In a bowl sift together your flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside for now.
- In a small bowl combine the warm milk and lemon juice. Mix until well combined and then set aside for now. It will start to curdle, which is normal.
- In a large bowl cream together the butter, vegetable oil, sugar and lemon zest for 2 minutes until it's light and fluffy.
- Next add in the eggs one at a time, mixing well in between each addition.
- Next add in half of the milk/lemon juice mixture from earlier and mix until well combined. Once combined, take any remaining batter off of your mixer attachment/s and set aside as the rest of the mixing will be done by hand.
- Next add in half of your premixed dry ingredients to your wet mixture, and gently fold it in with a spatula until just combined. Then add in the remaining milk/lemon juice mixture, and fold that in until just combined. Lastly, add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold until just combined. Do not overmix (see note 2).
- Pour the batter into the loaf tin, evenly spread it out and then bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer or butter knife comes out clean.
- Once baked, allow it to cool for 15 minutes in the loaf tin, and in the meantime prepare the lemon syrup.
Lemon Syrup
- In a small saucepan combine the sugar and lemon juice. Heat over a medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Once done take it off the heat.
- After 15 minutes, take the lemon loaf out of the loaf tin and place it on a tray. Cover the entire cake in the lemon syrup, including the bottom. Be gentle when moving the lemon loaf as it will still be warm at this stage and you don't want it to break. See video demonstration for how I cover my loaf in the syrup to prevent it from breaking. It may seem like a lot of syrup but be sure to use it all up!
- Once coated in the syrup, let the lemon loaf completely cool. Once cooled make the lemon glaze.
Lemon Glaze
- In a small bowl combine the icing sugar and lemon juice. Mix until well combined and you have a thick glaze consistency (see note 3 for different consistencies).
- Once the lemon loaf has cooled, spread the lemon glaze over the top and top with more lemon zest (optional - the lemon zest is for decoration purposes).
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
135 Comments
I tried your lemon loaf… It’s out of the world…. So tasty and moist…. I think it’s because lemon syrup…. I have one question here for you…..
Can we apply sugar syrup in all types of your other cakes like chocolate,vannila, orange, pistachio, strawberry….
Hi Radhika! So glad to hear you loved the lemon loaf 😀
Yes you can totally use sugar syrups (also called simple syrup) on other cakes too. I usually recommend doing this if the cake will not be eaten on the same day it’s made to help keep it moist for longer. A simple syrup is usually just equal parts sugar and water 🙂
Hope that helps!
MK!
Loving this cake from Vancouver Canada! You can make it super lemony or tone it down with less rind or juice. But I went all out lemon this time! Sweet, tart, nice crumb. I added 1 Tbsp of Elderflower liqueur to the glaze for depth of flavor. Also, one time I sprinkled fresh thyme on the glaze with the elderflower liqueur. It was herbaceous and looked lovely.
Hi Jodie! So so happy to hear you’re enjoying the lemon loaf 😀
Ooohh fresh thyme sounds wonderful – I’ve never tried that before I’ll have to give it a go!
Thanks so much for the wonderful feedback 🙂
I think I might be doing something wrong because my loaf is coming out really dry. I followed directions to a T, but I don’t have the fan option on my oven so i just cooked it as normally. it seems to me that the dough is not moist enough, I can even see it when I’m done folding in the final dry ingredients. any advice please? thanks
Hi Krystal! 🙂 I’m so sorry to hear you’re having trouble with your lemon loaf coming out dry. It should come out nice and moist, with the syrup added on after adding extra moisture too.
There could be a few reasons causing this to happen. Firstly, there may be too much flour in the batter, or not enough liquid/fat. For best results, I would recommend using the gram measurements (if you didn’t already) as those are the exact quantities I use 🙂
If using measuring cups, it could be that the flour is being overmeasured. It’s best to fluff up the flour and then scoop the flour out, making sure it’s not tightly packed in the measuring cup.
The video in the recipe card also has a visual of what the batter should look like in the end if you wanted to check that out. It should be creamy and slightly thick.
Secondly, the loaf may be overbaked. If you don’t have a fan option then bake at 180C/350F and check the loaf a little earlier than the stated cook time in case your oven runs a little hotter than mine. For more tips, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRy1KuFMdOo
Hope that helps for next time Krystal! 🙂