When I say this lemon cake recipe kept me up at night, I really mean it! After hours and hours of recipe testing, I present to you the most incredibly delicious and soft lemon cake recipe! With delicate, moist lemon cake layers, filled with a zesty lemon curd and topped with a super delicious cream cheese frosting, this lemon cake is TO DIE FOR!
What makes this the best lemon cake?
I know it’s bold to claim something as ‘the best’, but here is why I truly feel this cake stands out! I bet you’ll be making it over and over again for dessert once you try it out 🙂
Ingredients
This recipe uses a few key ingredients to ensure the cake layers are soft and moist. Some notable mentions include cornstarch (used in conjuction with all purpose flour to act as a cake flour substitute). Cornstarch doesn’t have any gluten in it, and so substituting some of the all purpose flour with cornstarch results in a wonderfully soft cake (read more about this here)!
Secondly, this recipe uses a combination of butter and oil to provide moisture to the cake. Further to this, milk and yoghurt are used to thin out the cake batter and provide additional moisture. I LOVE using yoghurt in lemon cakes as I find the tartness found in yoghurt helps to amplify the lemon flavor in the cake.
Lastly, this recipe uses HEAPS of lemon zest and lemon juice, to make sure you’re getting that lemon flavor in every bite!
Fillings & Toppings
In addition to the lemon cake layers, this recipe also boasts an incredibly delicious lemon curd filling, and cream cheese frosting.
The lemon curd used in this recipe is literally the best I’ve ever had. It’s an eggless lemon curd too, so you don’t need to worry about the eggs scrambling or the lemon curd tasting eggy! Best of all, the lemon curd is like a literal hit of lemon – but in a good way! It works perfectly in this cake.
My frosting of choice for this cake is my all time favorite cream cheese frosting. It’s not too sweet, has a wonderful tangyness from the cream cheese, and adds another layer of flavor to this cake.
Updated Recipe
This recipe was updated on April the 24th, 2024. Some readers were having problems with the cake layers sinking in, so I decided to update the recipe to make it a little sturdier. Additional structure to the cake layers help to prevent the cake layers sinking in. I promise it still has the same great flavor and texture as the original 😀
The main changes I made was adding in more eggs and replacing some of the oil in the recipe with butter.
I know many of you love the original recipe too, so I have left the original quantities in the notes section of the recipe card.
How to make Lemon Cake
Begin by preheating your oven to 180 °C (350°F) conventional (see note 2 if using a convection oven with a fan) and grease two 8 inch round cake pans (I use my homemade cake release) and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
Sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Mix together using a whisk and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl add in butter, vegetable oil, sugar and lemon zest. Using a hand or stand mixer on a medium speed, cream together for 2 minutes until light and creamy. If using a stand mixer then you want to do this with the paddle attachment.
Add in eggs one by one, mixing well in between each addition.
Add in milk, yoghurt and lemon juice. Mix until well combined – the batter may look curdled, but that’s okay. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
Add your flour mixture to your wet ingredients, and using a spatula, fold together until just combined. Do not overmix.
Distribute the batter evenly into the prepared pans, and bake for 33 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (or with a few moist crumbs).
Once baked, allow the cake layers to cool in the cake tins for about 15-20 minutes, and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool.
Lemon Curd and Cream Cheese Frosting
In addition to the lemon cake layers, prepare the eggless lemon curd and cream cheese buttercream. I have both of those recipes on my blog and you’ll just want to make 1 batch of each recipe 🙂
How to decorate this lemon cake
You can decorate this cake however you like, but if you’re new to using a filling then checkout the steps below of how I decorated my cake so that the filling doesn’t seep out of the edges 🙂
So I started off by placing my first cake layer onto my cake stand and spreading out a generous amount of frosting using my offset spatula. I then piped a thin (double) border of frosting around the edges, and I used a 1M piping tip for this.
I then filled the middle with a layer of lemon curd, and then placed my second cake layer on top.
I then went ahead and covered the entire cake in frosting. I used a cake scraper to smooth out the edges, and then used my offset spatula to bring the top lip of frosting into the middle of the cake so that I had some nice smooth edges.
I then used a 1M piping tip to pipe a border on the top of the cake, and then filled the middle with more lemon curd.
And that is it! The cake is ready to serve 🙂
Commonly Asked Questions
How do you store lemon cake?
This cake can be left at room temperature for the day, however overnight it will need to be refrigerated due to the cream cheese in the frosting. The fat and sugar in the frosting will prevent the cream cheese from going off immediately, which is why you can keep it out at room temperature for an extended period of time.
When storing, place it into an airtight container, and into the refrigerator. Allow it to come to room temperature before serving.
Can I use lemon extract or essence in the cake layers?
The cake layers do have a lot of lemon flavor, so I personally feel there is no need to add in more. This is particularly true if you make the lemon curd, which has a very bold lemon flavor 🙂
Soft Lemon Cake
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 Cake
- 2 cups (240 g) flour - regular, all purpose
- ¼ cup (30 g) cornstarch
- 2½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- ¼ cup (60 g) unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola oil
- 1½ cups (300 g) white granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp lemon zest - see note 1
- 4 large eggs - room temperature
- ⅓ cup (90 g) milk - room temperature
- ½ cup (115 g) yoghurt - unflavored and unsweetened. Greek yoghurt okay but regular type preferred.
- ¼ cup (58 g) fresh lemon juice
Lemon Curd
- 1 batch of my eggless lemon curd recipe
Cream Cheese Frosting
Instructions
Lemon Cake
- Preheat oven to 180 °C (350°F) conventional (see note 2 if using a convection oven with a fan) and grease two 8 inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release) and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Mix together using a whisk and set aside.
- In a large bowl add in butter, vegetable oil, sugar and lemon zest. Using a hand or stand mixer on a medium speed, cream together for 2 minutes until light and creamy.
- Add in eggs one by one, mixing well in between each addition.
- Add in milk, yoghurt and lemon juice. Mix until well combined - the batter may look curdled, but that's okay. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
- Add your pre-sifted dry ingredients to your wet mixture, and using a spatula, fold together until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins, and bake for 33 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (or with a few moist crumbs).
- Once baked, allow the cake layers to cool in the cake tins for about 15-20 minutes, and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool.
Assembly
- See the end of the blog post above for assembly instructions or watch the recipe video for a visual demonstration 🙂
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.
295 Comments
Hi MK. I always follow your recipes without a problem but this lemon cake was little tricky. All are measured correctly and at room temperature but it shrunk in the center. I didn’t even open the door of the oven til it’s done. Did I missed something ? Thanknyou
Hi Catherine 🙂 Ohh so sorry to hear that – that can be frustrating! Hmmm there could be a few reasons as to why the cake is sinking in the middle. My best tips would be to ensure all ingredients are at room temp and another thing could be the size of the eggs used – perhaps they were a little smaller than mine. Check out this post for more trouble shooting tips 🙂 https://cakesbymk.com/recipe/why-did-my-cake-sink-in-the-middle/
Hello MK. Should I soak the cake layers with a simple syrup to keep it moist? I plan to use this cake as a layer cake together with a blueberry mousse filling and frosted with your super delicious whipped buttercream frosting. Thank you dear 🙂
Hi Anuja! 🙂 If the cake is not going to be eaten on the same day then you can use a little simple syrup, but not too much as these cake layers are quite soft 🙂 a blueberry mousse filling sounds incredible! Hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
So delicious~! Thanks for your time creating this recipe and sharing it with us! Definitely a keeper!!
Thanks Susan! So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
I just made this with a couple of alterations and it’s the softest most moist cake I’ve ever made! It’s the type of cake you’d buy in a bakery.
Alterations:
– I didn’t have two 8 inch tins so I just used one which meant I’d have to extend the baking time in the oven. I set an alarm and checked the cake every 5-10 minutes after it passed the 45 minute mark. I think it took around 75 minutes to bake.
– I wanted a lime cake so I opted out of the zest and used key lime oil flavouring. I also added two drops of leaf green gel food colouring so it was more obvious to people it’s a lime cake.
– I didn’t have any lime juice but I had oranges so used that.
– Instead of the curd and frosting, I mixed 250g of melted white chocolate and mixed it with 250g of crème fraiche and used that as icing.
The cake came out with the exact same texture as the video and the crumb looked the same as the photo.
I love the edge pieces as it’s got a bit of a crunch and is soft and moist on the inside.
Thanks MK! I will be trying more recipes. I’ve been watching you for a year now on YouTube but finally got the chance to bake a cake during an end of the year feast.
So happy to hear you loved the recipe Caroline and that it turned out great with the different substitutions 😀 really appreciate the feedback and hope you enjoy the other recipes just as much 🙂
I made this cake today 12/23 for my husband’s birthday 12/27 because is our Christmas plans. Can I freeze this cake in an airtight cake container? Thanks so much for your reply. Merry Christmas!
Hi Cindy! 🙂 My apologies for the delay in reply. Yes this should freeze well, simply wrap in plastic wrap or foil and place in an airtight container 🙂 enjoy!
Hello
I never saw the lemon crude or cream cheese recipe. May I have it please and thank you
Hi Amy! You can find both recipes linked in the recipe card (highlighted in pink). Here are the links anyway incase you can’t find them 🙂
Eggless lemon curd: https://cakesbymk.com/recipe/eggless-lemon-curd/
Cream cheese frosting: https://cakesbymk.com/recipe/the-best-cream-cheese-frosting/
Enjoy!
Hello. I did everything exactly but both of my cakes fell in the middle. The only thing I added that wasn’t room temp was the yogurt.
Hi John! So sorry to hear the cakes fell in the middle – that can be frustrating! I would highly recommend using all room temp ingredients as altering the temperature can change the way the batter bakes up. Another thing could be the size of the eggs used – perhaps they were a little smaller than mine. Check out this post for more trouble shooting tips 🙂 https://cakesbymk.com/recipe/why-did-my-cake-sink-in-the-middle/
Your recipe looks great!
I would like to know if it is possible to bake the cake a day or two before. Will it still be okay if they’re wrapped and chilled overnight or will the texture change?
Thanks so much! 😀 A day before should be okay, just wrap the cake layers well in cling wrap and place in an airtight container 🙂
This is by far the BEST lemon cake I’ve ever made! Its so soft, moist and full of flavour! Definitely my new go-to recipe. Can’t wait to try out other cake recipes! Thanks so much for sharing- your videos are so easy to follow too. Keep up the brilliant work MK! X
Thank you so so much for the feedback Raqia! So happy to hear you loved the recipe 😀
I can to exchange youghrut by sour cream
Hi Rabab! I haven’t tried that substitute myself so I’m not too sure sorry! Sour cream may make the cake a little more dense. Would love to hear how you go if you decide to try it out 🙂