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
Narinder Singh says
hi, this cake looks amazing and really tasty. yum! I am making this cake for a birthday and we were wondering how many people this serves? I can’t wait to have a slice of this scrumptious cake! thanks
Charlotte Oates says
The cake serves 12 people. If you’d like to make a larger/smaller cake then you can use my calculator to the ingredients for a different size of tin that a better size for the number of people you’re catering for.
Phyl Murphy says
Can I use lemon essence instead of zest in the cake mix as I haven’t any lemons?
Charlotte Oates says
Yes. Just add 1.5tsp of lemon essence.
Laura Houston says
I have no self raising flour can I use plain
Charlotte Oates says
Yes. You’ll need to add a couple of tsp of baking powder to your mixture to ensure it rises properly.
Jenny Radford says
I have made your lemon cake several times and it is the best we have tasted. Can you substitute oranges for the lemons ?
Charlotte Oates says
I haven’t tried it but I can’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work just as well.
Grace says
Hiya! Looking at baking this as a lockdown isolation birthday cake 🙂 I only have one cake tin – 20cm springform, about 8cm deep. If I was to bake this as one cake and slice it halfway, how long would you recommend cooking it for? Or would you say it would be better to cook it in two halves? Many thanks in advance, I can’t wait to cook it!
Charlotte Oates says
Personally I would recommend baking the two halves separately.
You can bake it as a deep cake (it’ll need about 50 minutes in the oven). However, I know that results can be mixed taking the approach. Some people have found that it works perfectly, but others have found that it can dip in the middle after baking.
Lena says
Hello, can I add blueberries into the cake mixture or will that not rise?
Charlotte Oates says
It should be fine, although you may find that the weight of the blueberries mean they sink to the bottom of the sponge.
To try and prevent this, coat then with a little flour before adding them to your cake mixture.
Sarah says
The recipe itself was great but the oven temp given here is totally WRONG!! I followed all instructions to the letter and baked my 2 cakes in my fan oven at 140 for 30 mins. I could see the cakes had risen beautufully so I opened the door and the cakes were clearly still raw! They immediately sank, and despite me turning up the oven and waiting until the cakes were cooked, they didn’t rise again and were ruined.
Charlotte Oates says
I’m sorry to hear that the cake sank for you. I (and many others) have tested this cake at 140C and found that it cooks perfectly within 30 minutes. However, all ovens can very so even when we cook at the same temperature it can sometimes give different results. You may find you have greater success increasing the temperature to 160C in future.
Debra says
Hi I’m about to make this cake for my parents wedding anniversary – it needs to be dairy free. Easy to replace butter with marg but what about the milk? Ideally I wouldn’t buy a whole thing of soya milk for a couple of tsps. Can it be replaced with anything else?
Thank you!
Charlotte Oates says
You should be fine to leave out the milk, it just loosens up the mixture slightly giving it a slightly better rise, but it’ll work well without.
Vicki says
I am making this cake for a party how long does the cake last? Many thanks!,
Charlotte Oates says
It will last for up to a week after baking as long as it’s stored in an airtight container.
Victoria Perston says
Does it need to be stored in the fridge?
Charlotte Oates says
No, as long as your room isn’t too warm.
heather patrick says
this is the tastiest and lightest lemon cake we have ever had. My 7 year old daughter made it from your recipe and it came out wonderfully. We genuinely thought it was better than any cake either me (her mum) or Grandma had made previously. We’re now onto try your chocolate orange cake for my other daughter’s birthday. Thank you 🙂
Sandra gorman says
I asked about how to make lemon drizzle cake you replied make The sponge as shown here did you mean for the lemon cupcakes or the lemon cake plz reply
Charlotte Oates says
This sponge (which is basically the same as for the cupcakes just with different quantities) and the drizzle from the cupcakes.
Lucy says
Can i make this cake the night before serving and would i keep it in the fridge overnight?
Charlotte Oates says
Yes, that’s fine. I usually fine that the cake is good for about 5 days after baking.
If you keep it in the fridge, make sure you give it a bit of time to come up to room temperature before serving it as it tastes better then.
Sandra gorman says
Can you tell me how to make lemon drizzle cake plz reply
Charlotte Oates says
Make the sponge as shows here and add the drizzle from my lemon drizzle cupcakes.
Jenny says
What are the ingredients for the lemon butter filling please
Regards
Charlotte Oates says
You can find the buttercream recipe here.
Sandra gorman says
I made the lemon cake but still gt some buttercream mix left is this ok to freeze Reply
Charlotte Oates says
I’ve not tried freezing it, but it should be fine.
Sandra gorman says
I’m making the lemon cake shown in the picture would it be ok to add some lemon curd please reply
Charlotte Oates says
I haven’t tried it, so it’s not something I would recommend. Lemon curd is mostly eggs and sugar and adding more eggs and sugar to a cake that already has plenty could change the consistency. I would suggest using it in the filling instead.
Sandra gorman says
Could you please tell me how to make the lemon cupcakes thank you
Charlotte Oates says
Head on over to my lemon cupcakes recipe.
Jack says
This is an excellent recipe, I have baked this cake twice now and and results were the same “superb”.
Follow the recipe and it does what it says on the tin!
Lorraine Jones says
Following on from my comment a week or so ago –
Just wanted to tell you that I managed to taste the lemony cake I made, it was almost a week old, although obviously not as soft and fresh as when it was made, it was a very good texture and beautifully lemony!
This will be my go to lemon cake recipe for the future, in fact I have another to make at the end of this month.
Iffrah Hussain says
Thanks so 1.5tsp lemon extract in cake
And how much do I put in the frosting?
Charlotte Oates says
If you look at the lemon buttercream recipe there are two versions. One uses lemon extract so use that one.