Lemon Buttermilk Cake with Lemon Glaze — An easy buttermilk cake with big lemon flavor!! Soft, fluffy, and foolproof if you like puckering up!!
Easiest From-Scratch Lemon Buttermilk Cake
My daughter loves lemon desserts and I had a ton of lemons and some buttermilk to use. Lucky for her, I made a buttermilk lemon sour cream cake. And lucky for me too because in the past couple years, lemon desserts have really been growing on me.
If you’re a lemon lover, you’ll love the perfectly tart yet just sweet enough big pop of lemon flavor this soft and fluffy buttermilk cake has.
I used my favorite, foolproof, no mixer, buttermilk cake recipe and worked in lemon three ways: lemon juice, lemon zest, and lemon extract.
If I’m eating a lemon dessert, I want to know it’s there. Hint-of-lemon isn’t really my style. Go big or go home.
I love this cake base because it’s fast and easy to make, and the cake always turn out supremely moist, springy, and fluffy thanks to buttermilk, sour cream, and oil. That trifecta of moisturizing and tenderizing ingredients makes it impossible to have a dry cake.
The lemon glaze really helps boost the overall lemon profile of the cake. It’s zingy, tangy-yet-sweet, and after pouring the glaze over the warm cake, it seeps into the cake, and makes it even moister, softer, and more lemony.
What’s in Lemon Buttermilk Cake?
To make the lemon buttermilk cake itself, you’ll need:
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Lemon zest
- Egg
- Buttermilk
- Sour cream
- Lemon juice
- Canola oil
- Lemon extract
And to make the lemon glaze for the cake, you’ll need:
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Lemon juice and zest
How to Make Lemon Buttermilk Cake
This truly is such a simple lemon buttermilk cake recipe! Here’s how you’ll make the scratch lemon cake and the lemon cake glaze:
- Stir together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another.
- Then, combine the two and turn the batter into a greased 8×8-inch baking pan.
- The lemon buttermilk cake needs to bake until the center is set and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Once the homemade lemon cake comes out of the oven, set it aside to cool while you make the lemon glaze.
- The lemon glaze for the cake is whisked together in under a minute and is poured over the still-warm (but not piping hot) cake.
- The lemon buttermilk cake then needs to rest on your countertop for at least an hour before slicing and serving.
Is There a Buttermilk Substitute I Can Use?
This lemon buttermilk cake should be made with real buttermilk for the best results.
I suppose potentially you could sour regular milk with 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar mixed with 1/2 cup of 2% or whole milk, let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes, and then use it in the recipe.
You can use powdered buttermilk instead and prepare it as instructed on the package.
Can the Lemon Extract Be Substituted?
You could technically substitute the lemon extract with vanilla extract, but I don’t recommend doing so as that would seriously diminish the lemony flavor of this cake.
Also, do NOT substitute lemon oil for the lemon extract. They’re two different products and can’t be used in place of each other!
Can I Double This Lemon Cake Recipe?
Yes, you can double this lemon cake recipe from scratch and bake it in a 9×13-inch pan instead. Note that the baking time may need to be increased.
Can I Use Cake Flour Instead of All-Purpose?
Possibly, but I’ve only made this lemon buttermilk cake recipe as instructed so I can’t speak to whether cake flour would deliver the same results and if you’d have to alter other things in the recipe.
Tips for Making Lemon Buttermilk Cake
Lemon Juice – Freshly squeezed lemon juice is a must when making this homemade lemon cake. The pre-bottled stuff just doesn’t taste the same and since this is a lemon cake you really should use real lemon juice for best results and flabor.
Glaze – When making the lemon glaze for the cake, you may need to add a little extra lemon juice or powdered sugar to get it to the right consistency. The glaze should be on the thicker side, but easily pourable.
Don’t Need to Wait – Note that it’s fine to pour the lemon glaze onto the still-warm cake. You don’t want the cake to be super hot, but warm is fine. It’ll actually cause the glaze to penetrate into the cake a bit more.
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Lemon Buttermilk Cake with Lemon Glaze
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ⅓ cup sour cream, lite is okay (plain Greek yogurt may be substituted)
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons lemon extract, vanilla extract may be substituted
Glaze
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- ⅓ cup lemon juice, or as necessary for consistency
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest, or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
For the Cake:
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, optional salt.
- Whisk in zemon zest; set aside.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk*, sour cream, lemon juice, oil, and lemon extract.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry, mixing lightly with a spoon or folding with a spatula until just combined. Small lumps will be present, don’t overmix or try to stir them smooth.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan and bake for about 28 to 31 minutes, or until center is set and not jiggly, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
- Place pan on a wire rack and allow cake to cool. While cake cools, make the glaze.
For the Glaze:
- In a medium bowl, add 2 cup confectioners’ sugar, 1/3 cup lemon juice, and whisk until smooth. As necessary, add additional lemon juice (or sugar) to reach desired glaze consistency. I used slightly over 1/3 cup lemon juice. Glaze should be easily pourable.
- Evenly pour glaze over cake (doesn’t have to be fully cooled), smoothing it lightly with a spatula if necessary, but glaze will likely just slide into place.
- Allow cake to cool in pan uncovered for at least 1 hour (or overnight and cover with a sheet of foil) before slicing and serving so glaze can set up. Cake will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Lemon Desserts:
Lemon Lemonies — Like brownies, but made with lemon and white chocolate! Dense, chewy, not cakey and packed with big, bold lemon flavor!
Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting – Soft, fluffy, moist, very lemony cupcakes from scratch! Easy one-bowl, no-mixer recipe for cupcakes that taste like they’re from a bakery!
Soft and Chewy Lemon Cookies — Packed with big, bold lemon flavor for all you lemon lovers! They’re soft, chewy and not at all cakey!!
The Best Lemon Bars – Truly the best classic lemon bars!
Strawberry Lemonade Bars — Imagine crossing lemon bars with a strawberry pie. These easy bars taste like strawberry lemonade! Sooo good!
Blueberry Lemon Cake with Lemon Glaze — The cake is packed with sweet, juicy blueberries and while there’s lemon in the batter, it’s the lemon glaze that really brings out the tartly-sweet lemon flavor that complements the blueberries so well.
The Best Lemon Loaf (Better-Than-Starbucks Copycat) – Took years but I finally recreated it!! Easy, no mixer, no cake mix, dangerously good, and SPOT ON!!
Lemon Olive Oil Cake – My new FAVORITE lemon dessert of all time!! Lemon zest, juice, extract, and Limoncello add so much AMAZING lemon flavor to this EASY, ridiculously moist no-mixer cake that’s unique and INCREDIBLE!!
Lemon Coconut White Chocolate Gooey Bars — The lemon base is soft and chewy, there’s coconut and white chocolate chips for extra texture, and sweetened condensed milk peeks through the top.
Originally published October 14, 2014 and republished March 17, 2023 with updated text.
OK…just made it!….I’m a total lemon head ?‼️ Instead of a sugary glaze, I made a nice lemon sauce, that’s similar to a lemon curd. Can’t wait to try it, it’s hard…I’m drooling…lol ? If it’s lemon I love it. Hmmmmm… I wonder if poppy seeds would be good, or blueberries? I love to experiment with recipes. Thanks for the recipe‼️
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad it came out great for you!
Others have used poppyseeds and while I haven’t baked blueberries into this cake, I adapted the recipe from an old lemon blueberry cake of mine which we loved.
So I made the lemon cake. Not fluffy athe all. Very dense, moist and tasty though.
Ok me too. My cake was not fluffy. It was moist & very good. But I’m trying to figure out how high it is supposed to be. I think mine may have reached a 1/2 inch. I added whipped cream on top. Again, very good. But trying to figure out if I left something out. Don’t think so. My baking soda is new too.
Averie, I would like to thank you for the Lemon Buttermilk Cake recipe. I made it last week and it was delicious – a real hit. I’m also glad it freezes really well: I’m always on the lookout for things that freeze well. It will be going into my favourite recipes file. Thanks again! :)
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! And glad it works out well for you with freezing it and that it’s going into your favourite recipes file!
Averi thank you for the Lemon Buttermilk Cake recipe.Baked them this avo it was beautiful, moist & tangy.Once again thank you.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Oh wait, I just noticed, I HAVE made this before AND I commented on it. Oops. I swear, my brain is disengaged from my body … so much for trying a new recipe.
I have REMADE my old recipes thinking oh wow this is going to be sooo good. Only to realize after the fact, I already had this idea. Like 3 yrs ago :) Glad they cake was great the 2nd time around!
Finally got around to making one of your lemon recipes, and this hit the spot. I was in the mood for something citrus-ey. Yum! One down, several more to go …
yummy i love this, delicious, thanks for sharing this recipe.
Simon
Can you double this recipe and make a layer cake with two 8x8s?
I think you just asked this question on another recipe and my answer is the same on anything I haven’t personally tried….Probably but I haven’t tried so cannot speak with certainty.
Have fun experimenting!
Hi Averie! I signed up to bring a lemon “something” to my work dessert feast next week and planned on making this cake. Then, I saw your Best Lemon Bars recipe. Oh, no! What to do?! They both look SO yummy…would you recommend one over the other?
It kind of depends what you want…this cake is light, fluffy, and like a lemon cake would be. The lemon bars are a classic lemon bar, but pretty intensely lemon. And then there’s Lemon Lemonies. I would say they’re actually my favorite because they’re ‘fudgy’ in terms of texture like a brownie, very lemony, love the glaze but I will always personally choose the mouth-feel of a fudgy thing over a cake-like thing….LMK what you end up making!
https://www.averiecooks.com/lemon-lemonies/
Averie, this is a fantastic recipe! I told my daughter we would make orange cake based on a picture of a recipe and then when I looked at the recipe and saw 1 cup of butter and 2 cups of sugar, I knew that was going to be a candy bar rather than a cake!
So I modified this recipe – didn’t have any sour cream, lemon/orange extract or buttermilk. I substituted yogurt and yogurt + vanilla extract and almond extract and did the rest as directed.
It came out fantastic! You’ve definitely got your ratios down in this one and i’ll probably never buy another box of cake mix.
Unfortunately, you’ve made it too easy to have cake any time!
Thanks!
The fact that you’ll probably never buy a box of cake mix after trying this cake is amazing praise and thanks for trying it AND thanks for being so resourceful given you didn’t have sour cream or buttermilk but had yogurt…perfect! And vanilla + almond extracts are great. If you go through the related recipes in the post, many of those cakes are this same cake base, just with different twists, i.e. cream cheese, fruit of all types, glazes, no glazes, etc. SUPER versatile, love this base and glad you do too!
This cake looks so perfectly fluffy and moist!
OH. MY. GOODNESS. I absolutely love lemon desserts and cannot WAIT to try this one!
Averie this cake is so so spongy!! Best cake ever!!
Love this Averie! Jorge really enjoys lemon desserts. Sometimes he makes lemon bars. Sometimes lemon tart. I’ll definitely pass this recipe along to him :)
And thanks for tagging me in that Union Trib article!! :)
You know I have a thing for yellow. My heart just skipped a beat!! ;)
I prefer a strong lemon kick in my lemon desserts too! Yum!