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.
170 Comments
Sounds like such a great recipe! Is is possible to make mini loaves? I would love to hand these out for Christmas.
Thank you!
Thanks Barb! 🙂 Yes you can totally make these into mini loaves, you would just need to reduce the cooking time 🙂 enjoy!
Can you use cake flour? Would that eliminate the need for cornstarch, baking powder and salt?
Hi Madelyn! I haven’t tried this with cake flour myself but it could work fine 🙂 if you do decide to give it a try then yes you will replace the cornstarch with cake flour, however if the cake flour you’re using doesn’t have any raising agents or salt in it, then you you will still need baking powder and salt. Hope that helps!
Hello MK, this cake has great reviews, as I need to make a 3 layer lemony lemon cake, filled with lemon curd & SMBC, for the top tier of a wedding cake, In your opinion would this recipe lend itself successfully please?
Hi Shaar! 🙂 So for a layer cake you may want to use my lemon cake instead of this loaf as I haven’t tried this cake as a layer cake. Though I do think that this batter would work just fine as it is more sturdy than my soft lemon cake recipe and a good stable frosting will hold it together well 🙂
I love all the cakes. Véy delicious.
Thanks so much Esther! 🙂
I tried this cake today and it is delicious.
Awesome! So so happy to hear you loved it Aneeza 🙂
This is definitely a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of lemon cake. I was craving a moist, easy-to-make lemon loaf and MK delivered ten-fold. I watched the Cakes by MK YouTube.com video to make this citrusy wonder. When MK cut into that lemony cloud and showed viewers the texture, I was sold. I didn’t have all of the ingredients and had to make some substitutions (brown sugar and sour cream) but it still was very citrusy in the end. Even without the syrup and icing, the loaf was sweet and citrusy enough to please my taste buds. I will return to MK’s recipes to satisfy all of my sweet cravings! Thank you for sharing a wonderful recipe!
Awesome! So so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Milly 😀 really appreciate the wonderful feedback!
This recipe was so delicious and actually straight-forward despite being a little intimidating at first. I took this to a community gathering and got so many compliments, the whole cake was gone! Thank you for tirelessly recipe-testing so we can enjoy!
So so happy to hear everyone loved it Maaham! 😀
Hi just a few questions: I do not have an oven that I can dial up the exact temperature of 347 F. Can I bake at 350F? Also, do you measure your dry ingredients and then sift? Thank you.
Hi Lisa! Yes 350F will be fine if you’re not using a convection oven 🙂 and yes I measure first (I always use the gram measurements) then sift 🙂
Today Oct 1st Instead of using lemons I used clementines and 1 cup of dried cranberries to make this loaf. It turned out really good. Hope you try it and enjoy
Awesome! The addition of cranberries sounds lovely 🙂 glad you enjoyed it Sandra!
Good day. Do you think that I can freeze the loaf after it has cooled, but without the glaze?
Kind regards
Merle
Hi Merle! 🙂 I haven’t tried freezing this loaf myself, but I imagine it should freeze fine without any problems. I would add the syrup on before freezing it and then glaze once it’s thawed and ready to eat :). Just be sure to wrap it well and place in an airtight container before freezing. Enjoy!
This lemon loaf is so nice! Bursting with lemon flavour and so moist. Thank you.
This worked perfectly for me. Never been a fan of lemon cake as usually it’s so dry but this one will be a staple in my kitchen now. Thanks for your recipe.
Awesome! So happy to hear you enjoyed the lemon loaf 😀