Sourdough Lemon Cake

This easy sourdough lemon cake is perfect for the summer. The addition of sourdough gives it a deeper taste and moist texture.

Bright lemon cakes are perfect for those hot summer days. This recipe gets an extra flavor boost from the addition of sourdough which also makes it nicely moist.

As with all my recipes, there is a bit of flexibility. Unfortunately, we have used them all up but you could make this cake with Meyer lemons, too.

You could make cupcakes or use a loaf pan.

And best of all, you can always adjust the amount of sugar. We tend to like our cakes not so sweet but that’s just us.

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Notes on the sourdough lemon cake ingredients:

• Flour: this is pretty flexible. Sometimes, I use organic AP flour, sometimes I use spelt flour. You could also use Einkorn flour but might have to adjust the wet ingredients.
• Sugar: I am using organic granulated sugar. You could use coconut palm sugar; just know that your cake will look darker and a bit brown instead of a bright yellow color.
• Lemons: feel free to use what you have. I can imagine that limes would taste good as well. Or Meyer lemons. I just like to make sure they’re organic as we’re also using the zest in this cake.
• Butter: it helps to have the butter at room temperature before you start making this cake.
• Lemon essential oil: while I feel that you could omit this ingredient, I believe that this sourdough lemon cake really shines if you add lemon essential oil. It just adds another lemony layer that makes it so delicious!
• In a pinch, you could also make this sourdough lemon cake without the glaze. However, some of the lemon flavors get lost in the baking so by adding the lemon glaze, you will infuse the cake with extra lemon flavor. The more powdered sugar you add to the lemon juice, the thicker and whiter the glaze will be. We like to use less sugar and are okay with a barely visible glaze as a result.
• If you would like to use powdered sugar but don’t have any you can put one cup of regular granulated sugar in a blender with 1 tsp cornstarch and blend it into a powdery consistency.

Good tools and kitchen equipment to have:

• While you can use any mixer or kitchen processor, I prefer using a hand mixer for this recipe. It just gives me more control over the mixing and the mixing speed.
• This traditional stainless steel juicer makes juicing the lemons easy as well as mixing the lemon glaze.
• Since we’ll be adding lemon zest as well, a zester is very helpful. If you don’t have one, you could cut pieces of the peel of the lemons and then cut them into very thin strips.

Other notes:

• Sometimes I use a rectangular glass baking dish. Other times use a loaf pan or make cupcakes. Just remember to adjust the baking time then!
• It is essential for the texture of this cake to whip the butter first, then add the sugar, and whip them until you have a very fluffy mass. Then I add the eggs, one at a time, and whip the batter after each addition. Trust me on this one. Don’t skip these steps!
• This cake will last a few days on the counter if you can keep yourself from eating it on day one. You could put it in the refrigerator but it will make the sourdough lemon cake a bit denser. We like it best fresh and at room temperature.

Using ripe sourdough starter vs sourdough discard:

Honestly, you can use either one in this recipe. If you have been following me for a while, you might know that I am using a no-feed, no discard sourdough method. Therefore, I don’t have discards, only fresh sourdough starter.

How to make the sourdough lemon cake:

1. Rub the inside of a 13″ x 9″ glass baking dish with butter or brush oil all over. Add about 1 TBSP of flour and dust the whole dish. Discard any excess flour.
2. Preheat your oven to 350˚ F.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whip the room-temperature butter with a handheld mixer until very fluffy.
4. Add the sugar and mix on high speed for 3-5 minutes.
5. Add one egg at a time, mixing the batter at high speed after each addition.
6. Now, add the juice of about 1 ½ lemons, about 1 teaspoon of lemon zest, a few drops of lemon essential oil (if using), flour, baking powder, and the sourdough starter. Gently mix on low until combined. Do not over-mix!
7. Transfer the dough to the glass baking dish and spread it evenly (with a rubber spatula).
8. Bake for 35-50 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
9. Use the same toothpick to poke a lot of holes in the cake.
10. For the glaze, mix the juice of the remaining 1 ½ lemons, powdered sugar to taste, and a few drops of lemon essential oil (if using). Spread the glaze evenly over the cake.
11. If you like, you can sprinkle powdered sugar on top.
12. Enjoy!

You can also make little individual cakes by baking them in canning jars. I show you exactly how to bake a cake in a jar in this post.

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Handheld mixer

Lemon zester

Lemon juicer

Glass baking dish

Lemon essential oil

Other sourdough recipes you might enjoy:

Sourdough Easter Cake

Sourdough Life-changing bread

Sourdough No-knead Artisan bread

Let me know if you have comments or questions. Also, would you like me to post a properly fermented sourdough cake recipe?

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