Yes, yes, I know it’s been a while since the last recipe.
But you know that cold that has been sweeping across the entire world?
Yep.
I’ve had this lemon cake recipe ready for a while, but haven’t gotten around to posting it.
Until now, of course.
For some reason I’ve developed a fondness for lemons. Maybe it’s just the idea behind a lemon—sweet but sour, tangy and romantic—or maybe it’s that I read a book about lemons.
Now you’re weirded out. Who reads books about lemons?
It wasn’t exactly a whole book. It’s a children’s’ book that I read to my little sister. And it’s about these people who make a lemon pudding. When they eat the pudding they say that it “tastes like a whole raft of lemons, it tastes like a night on the sea.”
There’s something about that image that I like.
I don’t think that explanation made you any less weirded out. Now you’re probably really weirded out because I actually think about lemon puddings and cakes.
But disturbed as you are, at least you can understand (sort of) my reasons for making a lemon cake. I would’ve made a lemon pudding except that I like cakes better than pudding.
So there you have it.
- Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup rice flour
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum or guar gum
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Wet Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup melted honey
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise (adds extra moistness)
- 1 /3 cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 whole lemon
- 3 tablespoons brown cane sugar to sprinkle over lemon slices. *See note for sugar free option*
- 1 tablespoon cold butter
- Powdered sugar for sprinkling (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Butter a 9 inch bundt pan or a springform pan. Slice the whole lemon into thin slices and arrange them on the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with the 3 tablespoons of brown cane sugar. Chop the 1 tablespoon cold butter into little pieces and sprinkle that over the lemons. Set aside.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside.
- In the bowl of your electric mixer, blend together the egg and the melted honey.
- Add the flour mixture, yogurt, mayonnaise, olive oil, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Blend until thoroughly combined.
- Pour the dough into the pan and over the lemon/sugar/butter arrangement.
- Bake for about 40 minutes on 350 degrees F. When cake appears to be done, stick a thin knife or a toothpick into the center of the cake. If the knife/toothpick comes out mostly clean (a few dry crumbs on it are okay—just so long as it doesn’t smear), the cake is done.
- Allow the cake to cool completely, then remove it from the pan and flip it onto a plate so that the lemon bottom is facing upwards.
- Drizzle with glaze (optional). If you’d just prefer to use powdered sugar, sprinkle the powdered sugar on just before serving. It soaks into the lemons fairly quickly.
I love lemons, too! This sounds awesome!
Hi Linnaea,
Thank you for posting such great gluten free recipes. I haven’t tried them all but my daughter and I have tried some and we have enjoyed them.
I read your comment about not liking lemon pudding but I love it . I hope you will try to find a good one and post it sometime.
Thanks for the lemon cake. it looks delicious!
I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying my recipes! And who knows? Maybe I’ll develop a sudden love for puddings. 🙂
Do you think making this into cupcakes by skipping the second step (but putting a slice of lemon on top before baking) would work? If so, would the cooking time differ? Thank you so much for this beautiful recipe!
Yes, I think that would work just fine, Marissa! Lemon cupcakes sound delightful. 🙂 Yes, the cooking time would probably be different. I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure, but I would guess the cooking time would be around 30 minutes.