There’s no one I know who doesn’t love lemony desserts and cakes. Lemon desserts and baked goods transcend decades and can be old school or modern – sometimes both at once. Old-Fashioned Lemon Drizzle Cake, just in time for Mother’s Day, is lemony with lots of zest and some juice in the cake and the same in the glaze drizzled over the cake once cooked. Any leftovers can be wrapped up and frozen for later.

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As a lover of lemony anything baked, here are some faves I thought I’d share; you know those tried and true recipes you make time and time again because they work and everyone loves them?

Honey Yogurt Lemon Syrup Cake
Luscious Lemon Tart
Lemon Curd
Lemon Curd Cheesecake Bars
Lemon Curd Coconut Cake
Lemon Blueberry Glazed Scones (one of my most popular recipes on Pinterest)

Old-Fashioned Lemon Drizzle Cake has a fine, tender and moist velvety crumb and needs little more than its tart lemony glaze. I added a few lemon slices for adornment but really it needs nothing. If you’re making this for Mother’s Day or another celebration a few flowers would be pretty. Initially, I had considered freeze-dried raspberries but thought they’d bleed into the pale yellow of the glaze.

To all mum’s out there who are celebrating Mother’s Day this includes dog mammas too, I send my best wishes. To those missing their mum, my heart goes out to you. My mum would have loved this cake, even though she once said “I don’t like sweet things”, something my sister and I never let her forget saying.

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OLD-FASHIONED LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE

Who doesn’t love lemon flavored desserts?! Lemon desserts and baked goods transcend decades and can be old school or modern – sometimes both at once. This cake is lemony with lots of zest and some juice in the cake and the same in the glaze drizzled over the cake once cooked. Any leftovers can be wrapped up and frozen for later. Take the butter from the fridge several hours before making the cake so it has time to soften, sometimes microwaves are a disaster.

Prep Time20

Total Time20

Course: Baking

Keyword: lemon cake

Servings:

Calories: 505kcal

Author: Lovoni

Equipment

10-inch (25cm) bundt pan

Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

THE CAKE

1 cup softened butter, plus 1 to 2 tablespoons extra for greasing the pan
2 cups granulated sugar white sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3 tablespoons heaping lemon zest
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cups all-purpose flour, scant cups plain flour, plus 3 to 4 tablespoons extra for dusting the pan
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup full-fat buttermilk
Lemon slices for decoration, optional

THE GLAZE

1/4 cup softened butter
1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon zest optional if you’d prefer a smooth glaze
3 to 4 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

To make the cake:

Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Grease a bundt pan with the extra butter and sprinkle the flour into the pan, turning the pan and patting the side to make sure the flour is evenly distributed; turn the pan upside down and pat any residual flour from pan.
Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment, until fluffy and pale. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition and scraping down the side of the bowl occasionally. Add the zest and juice and beat until well combined. Mixture may look a little curdled because of the lemon juice – that’s okay.
Sift flour, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl. Using a spatula, fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture in three additions alternating with the buttermilk and finishing with the flour mixture. Scrape the batter into the prepared bundt pan; smooth the top with the spatula. Bake in the preheated oven on the middle rack for about 1 hour or until a thin skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

To make the glaze:

Beat the butter in a medium bowl of an electric mixer, until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar, zest and juice, scraping down the side a few times during mixing – the glaze needs to be pourable but quite thick. If it’s too runny, add more powdered sugar, too thick, add some more lemon juice.
When the cake it cooked, let it stand on a wire rack in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully inverting onto a wire rack. It’s a good idea to have some waxed paper or a baking sheet until the rack. Drizzle the glaze over the warm cake. Leave the glaze to set before cutting into slices. Cuts into about 12 slices – depending of course on how big you’d like the pieces.