Easy Lemon Cake – A delicious, moist all-in-one lemon sponge. Perfect for a teatime treat, cake sale or as a birthday or celebration cake.
PLUS – Make this cake in any size of round, square or rectangular tin with my handy ingredients calculator.
One question I get asked again and again is how to adapt my Vanilla Birthday Cake into a lemon sponge. It’s a question I’ve answered a lot in the comments, over email and on my social media, so I thought it was about time I shared the full recipe on here.
This lemon sponge cake is packed full of flavour from the fresh lemon zest and is delicious topped with lemon buttercream.
I have two different lemon buttercream recipes you can choose from – one made with fresh lemon zest and juice, and one made with lemon extract. The one pictured here is made with lemon extract (as it’s smoother for piping), but both work equally well with this cake.
Lemon Cake Q&A
With all my recipes I like to try and anticipate all of the questions you might have. If it’s your first time making this lemon cake, then make sure you have a good read through as there’s lots of extra tips here…
Can this cake be covered in fondant icing?
Yes.
This lemon cake recipe is adapted from the vanilla birthday cake recipe, so it’s perfect for coving with fondant to make a lemon birthday or celebration cake.
To calculate how much fondant you need, head on over to my fondant calculator.
Can this cake be used to make tiers?
Yes.
As with my vanilla cake, it works well for a two-tier cake (it’s quite soft so I wouldn’t recommend making a taller cake with it (although it could
If you are planning on using this cake to make tiers then make sure you add dowels or straws into the lower layers for added support.
Can this recipe be adapted to make lemon cupcakes?
Yes.
I actually already have this recipe as lemon cupcakes on here. There’s even the option to add a hidden lemon curd centre for an added burst of zestiness.
Can this cake be made in a different size?
Yes.
This cake recipe is very versatile and can be easily adapted to make other sizes and shapes of cake.
Take a look below the main recipe and you’ll find my handy calculator which tells you the ingredients you need to make other sizes of round, square or rectangular cake.
CAN THIS CAKE BE COOKED IN ONE DEEP TIN?
Theoretically yes, but I find I get the best results from using sandwich tins and this is what I would recommend. Cooking this cake in a single deeper tin often has great results, but some people find that it can occasionally lead to the cake not rising properly, or sinking after baking, which doesn’t happen when the mixture is split into sandwich tins.
If you would like to attempt baking the cake in a deep tin then the cooking time will need to increase to 45-50 minutes.
How do you decorate the cake as shown in the pictures?
To decorate the cake as shown in the pictures you’ll need a batch of my lemon buttercream and six half slices of lemon.
- Place the bottom layer of cake onto your serving dish.
- Add a quarter of your buttercream and spread it evenly with a palette knife or the back of a spoon.
- Add the top layer of sponge and again add a quarter of your buttercream and spread it evenly.
- To add the swirl effect – put your cake onto a cake turntable (this can be done without a turntable but it’s easier to achieve the effect with one). Place the tip of a small palette knife at the edge of the cake and dig in slightly. Slowly spin the turntable, moving the palette knife inwards as you do to create a swirl.
- Fill a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle (I use a JEM 1B) with the remaining buttercream. Pipe twelve swirls around the edge.
- To finish – place a half slice of lemon on every other swirl.
Can this cake be frozen?
Yes, this cake is suitable for freezing.
What is this cake free from/who is it suitable for?
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary and product recipes can change over time.
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Tree Nut-Free
- Peanut-Free
- Sesame-Free
- Soya-Free
- Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
- Lupin-Free
Other recipes you might enjoy
If you’re after some more cake inspiration then take a look at my Cake Index, which includes my classic chocolate, coffee and vanilla cake recipes as well as many more.
Chocolate Cake Coffee Cake
If you can’t resist anything lemon (just like me!) then take a look at all of my Lemon Recipes including cakes, biscuits and cheesecakes.
Easy Lemon Cake (All-In-One-Lemon-Sponge)
INGREDIENTS
- 225 g self-raising flour
- 2 tsp baking powder – you should use a measuring teaspoon and the baking powder should be level
- 4 medium eggs
- 225 g soft margarine or butter – if you are using butter, ensure it is soft and at room temperature
- 225 g caster sugar
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 2 tsp milk
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 160ºC/140ºC fan.Line your baking tins (I use 2 x 20cm round sandwich tins) with baking parchment or reusable baking liners.
- Finely grate the zest of two lemons.
- Sift the self-raising flour (225g) and baking powder (2 tsp) into a large bowl.
- Add the remaining ingredients (4 medium eggs, 225g soft margarine or butter, 225g caster sugar, grated lemon zest and 2 tsp milk) and beat (with an electric mixer on a slow speed or by hand) until combined. Make sure that there are no small lumps of butter/margarine in your mixture. If there are, beat for a little longer until the mixture is smooth.
- Split the mixture equally between the pre-prepared tins. Use the back of a spoon to spread the mixture evenly in the tins.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes. To check if the cake is cooked insert a skewer into the centre and if it comes out clean the cake is ready.
- Leave the cake to cool in the tins for about 10 minutes. Remove them from the tins and then move them to a wire rack to cool completely – Make sure the cake has cooled completely before decorating.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
What are the ingredients for a different size of tin?
The main recipe is for a two-layer 20cm round cake (this serves 12 people). However, this recipe is easily adapted to use other sizes of round, square or rectangular tins.
To find the ingredients needed to make this cake in a different size, simply add the dimensions of your tin and the number of layers into the boxes below and hit “Calculate”.
I have also added buttercream ingredients to the calculator below to give an indication of the quantities needed. However, the exact quantities will depend on how you decide to decorate your cake. The quantities below are provided for simply filling and topping the cake with buttercream (evenly split between the layers and the top).
Round Cake
Cake Diameter (cm) Number of LayersCake Ingredients
- 0 g self-raising flour
- 0 tsp baking powder
- 0 egg(s)
- 0 g soft margarine or butter
- 0 g caster sugar
- Zest of 0 lemons
- 0 tsp milk
Buttercream Ingredients
- 0 g butter
- 0 g icing sugar
- Zest of 0 lemons and 0 tsp of lemon juice OR 0 tsp of lemon extract
Square or Rectangular Cake
Cake Size (cm) x Number of LayersCake Ingredients
- 0 g self-raising flour
- 0 tsp baking powder
- 0 egg(s)
- 0 g soft margarine or butter
- 0 g caster sugar
- Zest of 0 lemons
- 0 tsp milk
Buttercream Ingredients
- 0 g butter
- 0 g icing sugar
- Zest of 0 lemons and 0 tsp of lemon juice OR 0 tsp of lemon extract
To keep this calculator from becoming too complicated I've only included metric measurements. If you would like US cups measurements for a different size of tin then simply calculate the metric measurements here and then pop the results into my grams to cups calculator and it'll tell you what you need.
The US cups/ounces measurements for the original two-layer 20cm round cake recipe can be found by clicking the big green button just above the ingredients.
WHAT IS THE COOKING TIME FOR A DIFFERENT SIZE OF CAKE AND WHAT OVEN TEMPERATURE SHOULD I USE?
The ingredients are calculated so that the depth of each cake is the same as in the original recipe. This means that the cooking time and temperature don't need to
Leanne says
I also made this cake exactly as it stated in the recipe how is has ALSO sunk in the middle. This very rarely happens to me and I feel it is due to the oven not being hot enough. I took a gamble and put the cake in at 140 degrees but every cake I usually make is baked at 180 degrees so I shall go back to that in future. It sure smells good though!
Charlotte Oates says
Is yours a fan oven? If not then it should be 160C. Most cake recipes I see are 180C or 160C fan so of you usually bake at 180 then I’d go for 160 for this cake. The temperature is a little lower than most, but I find this gives a more tender sponge.
Sheena says
Dear Charlotte, can I ask, do you definitely mean self -raising flour AND 2 teaspoons Baking powder? Seems quite a lot, so thought I’d check, as this may be why some people are getting sunken cakes? Thank you, Sheena
Charlotte Oates says
Yes. The baking powder should be level teaspoons not heaped.
Nicky Pollard says
Made this cake for a surprise 50th Birthday and it went down a treat. I used the calculator to make a large cake and it was just perfect. It was lovely and moist and just delicious! I added a bit of lemon curd with the butter cream in the middle to give it some extra zing! Will definitely make this again!
Gillian Lumb says
Just made this EXACTLY according to recipe. Very disappointing as it sank in the middle What a waste of ingredients! NEVER happened to me before!
Charlotte Oates says
Hi Gillian,
I’m sorry to hear that the cake sank. I’ve got a few ideas as to what could have caused it, it would be great if you could let me know if any of these are possible so I can perhaps alter the recipe to make things clearer and ensure that everyone gets a great result.
* How did you measure your baking powder? It should be measured in a measuring teaspoon (rather than a regular teaspoon), and it should be level not heaped. Too much baking powder can cause the cake to rise too much and then sink.
* Is it possible you over beat the mixture, especially if it was on a high speed? Overbeating can add too much air which can than collapse as the cake cools. The mixture needs to be mixed on a low speed (or by hand) and only enough to combine there ingredients.
* Did you you sandwich tins or one deep tin. I recommend using sandwich tins for the best results.
* Was the cake cooked through when you first checked it? If not, then they can sadly collapse later. If it wasn’t cooked, then it could be that your oven runs a little cool (I’d suggest getting an over thermometer to test it out).
Also, cakes that have collapsed can still be rescued and eaten so don’t consider it a complete waste of ingredients. I’d simply cut out the middle and decorate it as a simple bundt-style cake instead. You should still find that it’s just as good to eat.
Louise Haslam says
I used this recipe to make a birthday cake for my husband. The sponge was fantastic – so light and rose so well – one of the best I have ever made. I also made the lemon buttercream which was delicious – I did add more lemon juice as we like it very lemony. Thank you so much. Your recipes are easy to follow and this one was fabulous – wll make again 🙂
Dave Johnston says
I tried this recipe & it tastes really good but my cake sunk in the middle, any tips to stop this happening, thanks.
Charlotte Oates says
There are a few reasons it could have happened:
1) How did you measure your baking powder? You need to use measuring spoons (rather than a regular teaspoon) and the baking powder must be level. If you add to much baking powder then the cake will rise too much and the collapse later as it will lack support with all the air in it.
2) You could have mixed the cake on too fast a speed, again this will add too much air which could cause it to collapse.
3) Was the cake cooked through when you first checked it. If it is underdone in the middle when you first remove it from the oven then this can cause it to collapse later.
They’re the most likely causes. I hope this helps. Let me know how it goes if you decide to give it another try.