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.
FREE GRAMS TO CUPS CONVERSION CHARTS
Subscribe to the Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen mailing list to get your FREE printable grams to cups and cups to grams conversion charts for twelve popular baking ingredients
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
Diane says
Can your recipes be used in a microwave ?
Charlotte Oates says
It is unlikely that you would achieve the same results using the microwave. I haven’t tested my cake recipes using this cooking method so I wouldn’t be confident advising you to do this.
Diane & Barry says
We made this for our neighbour’s birthday cake. It was easy & delicious!! We found the calculator extremely helpful.
We are now going to try the chocolate cake recipe for our grandson’s birthday
Elizabeth Baker says
This is one of the best cakes I have made for my daughters birthday ever ( she is24 now )
She adores any sort of lemon cake, so when I came across your recipe. I thought that’s the very cake she would like, so Thankyou Charlotte it really made my daughters birthday ( everyone loved it)
Dawn says
Hello,
I have a trial cake cooking at the moment.
I would like to know if its possible to substitute the milk for lemon juice, please?
I have 10 & 6 inch cakes to make for a wedding and they want it really tangy!
Thank you
PS I love your easy chocolate cake!
Charlotte Oates says
That should be absolutely fine
Clare Wood says
Hi Charlotte, does this sponge work OK as a birthday cake? So can be iced ? Xx
Charlotte Oates says
This recipe makes a great birthday cake!
Emma says
Would I need to make extra buttercream to cover the whole cake ? Thank u
Charlotte Oates says
Yes you would need to make extra – the buttercream in the recipe will only decorate as shown in the photos.
Debby says
Please can you advise on what shelf it goes on in the oven using Gas.
Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
I have not tested this recipe in a gas oven but general wisdom would be to go with the middle shelf.
Vickie Wood says
Thank you so much for this recipe – I made the 10″ Lemon sponge but did not use your butter cream. I sandwiched the two layers with lemon curd and Lemon Cream a much lighter version of butter cream. The cake disappeared in a very short period and the compliments came thick and fast – I already have two orders for a repeat.
I was not so successful with the Lemon Loaf Cake – for some reason it came out quite dry at the top but after a couple of days the moisture
leveled out.
Joy Collins says
Hi I’m making a wedding cake for my sons wedding in September ,I’m making a large fruit cake for the bottom tier,and a 34cm square lemon cake for the top layer.please could you calculate the ingredients for this.thankyou.Joy Collins.
Charlotte Oates says
There is a calculator you can use to work out the quantities you’ll need below the main recipe.
Lindsey Etherton says
Hi there,
Would this recipe work for a tier cake please? Or is it quite a light cake?
Charlotte Oates says
I’ve not tried it, but others have (and sent me pictures) so it definitely works. I’d recommend adding dowels/straws into the lower tier to add additional support.
Melanie says
My cake mixture was quite stiff. I used large eggs. But my cake sank in the middle, whilst still in the oven. Edges were crispy.
What happened?
Charlotte Oates says
I’m not too sure what could have caused what you describe as that’s not happened to me before. Was the butter/margarine soft when you added in to the mixture? Sometimes I find I can get crispy edges if it’s too stiff and not mixed in properly.
Remi says
Thanks so much for sharing. Will definitely try it but can l use granulated sugar instead or caster sugar?
Charlotte Oates says
You can use granulated rather than caster but you may find that the texture of the cake is not quite as light.
Saffy says
Just delicious!! Followed the entire recipe- wow wow wow !!!! 10/10 it came out amazing
Wendy says
One of the nest lemon sponges I have made. So easy and kept well too. Thank you