Lemon cake is always a crowd favorite and this lemon drizzle cake is not only a fail-safe, easy recipe but also results in the most delicious, tangy and moist cake you will make.
It really shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who know me that lemon cake is by far my favorite type of cake. I mean, lemon-anything is my favorite. If I don’t have a large quantity of fresh lemons in my kitchen at all times I get a bit panicky because I just can’t live without that bright, zingy, freshness it adds to everything. Sweet or savory, lemon brings everything to life. And this lemon drizzle cake is no different.
I make this easy lemon drizzle cake recipe all the time because it doesn’t involve any creaming of butter and sugar or sifting or any of that stuff that makes baking seem difficult, you know? The key to this cake being so soft and tender is the use of plain yoghurt and oil in the cake. The lemon zest in the batter infuses its delicious perfume through the entire loaf and the zingy lemon icing finishes everything off perfectly.
I made a relatively runny icing because I wanted it to sink into the cake a little but you can always use less water if you want a thicker icing. Which would you prefer?
Serve generous slices of this sunshine-in-cake-form with coffee/tea for the ultimate afternoon snack.
How to make lemon drizzle cake
Pre-heat the oven and line a loaf pan with parchment/baking paper. Stir together the dry ingredients and whisk all the wet ingredients together in a measuring jug. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and place in the oven to bake until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely then pour over the icing and serve.
How to make icing for lemon drizzle cake
Depending on the thickness you want, you can use more or less lemon juice and even add milk to make it thinner. For an icing that soaks into the cake, using 2 cups of icing/powdered sugar with ½-¾ cup of liquid will result in a thin icing. For a thicker icing, use less liquid or add more icing sugar.
Easy lemon drizzle cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups cake/all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup plain yoghurt (I used Greek)
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup canola oil
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- zest of 1 lemon
For the icing
- 2 cups icing/powdered sugar
- juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180ºc and grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper.
- Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a jug, mix together the sugar, yoghurt, oil, lemon zest, vanilla and eggs.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well.
- Transfer to the loaf pan and place in the oven.
- Bake for 30-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- To make the icing, whisk together the icing sugar and lemon juice until smooth.
- Pour the icing over the cooled cake and serve.
Nutrition
Lemon yoghurt cake with white chocolate frosting
Lemon coconut oil cake
Urgh. Yogurt is a yank invention in this cake. It is far too sour and far too wet to use. If you want a proper and correct receipt find an English recipe please. You will then be making a correct English cake, not this heavy thing.
I am South African, actually.
This cake is so delicious thank you. I am.Zimbabwean
Hello can I use double cream yoghurt ?
Also if I have a gas oven does it affect how much time I should leave it in the oven for ?
Yes, you can use double cream yoghurt. I am not familiar with gas oven baking so won’t be able to guide you, unfortunately. Perhaps Google gas-oven conversions?
Excellent! I didn’t use room temp ingredients just out of the fridge *bam* I did sift though, and I used a lemon drizzle of about 1 cup of granulated sugar mixed with two meyer lemon juice/zest!
Turned out great thanks! I hate creaming butter ugh.
wow look so very beautiful thank you for sharing
Do you think I could use sour cream in place of the yogurt?
Absolutely!
What is the size of your cup?
I use 250ml cups.
HI Alida,
Can i use this Recipe to make a two or three layer cake ?
You could make a two layer but I would double the recipe for more layers than that.
Hi Alida, What size of loaf tin did you use?
Will my 20cm X10.5cm loaf tin be ok?
Yup, that will be perfect!
Unbelievable that I made it so perfectly I guess.It really is easy to make and delicious.My own can’t family it since I am a regular baker.Thanks for this recipe.Love from India
Such a lovely cake, I adore the lemon drizzle!
Thanks so much Laura!
Loved this recipe. Easy to make, very little washing up to do and an absolutely delicious cake. Two thumbs up.
Happy you liked it. 🙂
My cake cracked at the top! I used a square 7 x 7 inch tin, Could it be the way I mixed the wet ingredients together? As I have tried other recipes with this same method and the outcome was same … cracked too!
It could be that your oven is a little too warm so that the cake rises very rapidly?
Loved this cake. Too minutes to make the batter and the cake was so light and delicious.
So happy to hear that. 🙂
This looks fantastic. Can’t wait to give it a try.
Thanks Christine!
Lemon desserts are my favorite Alida! Can’t wait to give this loaf a go!
Mine too Mary Ann! Always a classic! 🙂
I made it this evening & to its name it is really simple & not fussy. Simple in the sense that I had all the ingredients on hand (I’m not even a regular baker) and easy to execute in an hour.
It’s delicious! Delivers on taste & texture as it’s moist, zesty and light with a firm crumb. That lemon drizzle on top is everything.
I’m so impressed you made it so quickly! That lemon drizzle makes the whole thing. 😉