Is it really spring time if you don't bake a Lemon Loaf Cake!? I don't think so, at least not in my house! If fall requires pumpkin bread, then spring time requires bright, zingy, moist Lemon Loaf Cake!
What is Lemon Loaf Cake
So what exactly is a Lemon Loaf Cake? Is it bread? Is it cake? Do you eat it for breakfast or is it dessert? Yes to all of the above!
It's basically the perfect delicious combination of bread and cake. It's baked in a classic loaf pan and traditionally sliced into pieces. Most loaf cakes will have some form of drizzle or glaze on them, which typically lends towards dessert.
I love a slice in the morning with my tea. The lemon is so bright and zingy; it just wakes you right up! But I also love eating it at night with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. If you warm it up slighlty in the microwave then top it with ice cream, the loaf just absorbs all the vanilla ice cream and it is heavenly!
Enhancing the Lemon
Sometimes I can be picky about my lemon flavor because I don't want anything too acidic, but I don't want anything to taste too artificial either. It's very tricky to get that balance of perfect lemon flavor.
One of my favorite tricks for getting the most beautiful lemon flavor in this loaf is to add the lemon zest directly to the sugar. Then I use my hands to massage the lemon zest in the sugar. This allows the natural oils in the lemon zest to be released and absorbed into the sugar. It basically takes 2 tablespoons of lemon zest and turns it into one cup of lemon sugar.
I love doing this trick because it smells amazing, but also creates a beautiful lemon flavor that flows throughout every bite of cake!
And this would make an amazing sugar scrub on your skin. So it's basically like a win-win.
Ingredient List
- Oil
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Lemon Zest
- Lemon Juice
- Vanilla Extract
- Flour
- Baking Powder
- Greek Yogurt
Glaze:
- Powdered Sugar
- Milk
- Lemon Juice
I love that this recipe comes together so fast! It's all in one bowl, which makes it an easy clean up too! Words honestly just can't describe how much I love this cake!
Cheers!
-Holly Michelle
P.S. Looking for more spring deliciousness? Try this Spring Vanilla Cake!
Lemon Loaf Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup Oil
- 1 cup Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 2 tablespoons Lemon Zest
- 2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 ½ cups Flour
- 2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ cup Greek Yogurt
Glaze:
- 1 ½ cups Powdered Sugar
- 2 tablespoons Milk
- 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Add lemon zest to a bowl with sugar and rub together to extract the oils from the zest.
- Add oil to the sugar and stir together.
- Mix in eggs, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and Greek yogurt.
- Add in flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir until everything is just combined.
- Pour batter into lined loaf pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Making the Glaze:
- While the loaf cools, make the glaze.
- Combine powdered sugar, milk, and lemon juice in a bowl. Stir together.
- Drizzle the glaze over the loaf cake.
- Serve and enjoy!
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