When I offer people gluten-free lemon cake as an option they don’t always jump on it. But if I give them a sample, that’s a different story. This gluten-free lemon cake is one of my favorite cakes of all time and the favorite of many of my friends, family and clients.
This recipe yields 2 generously tall layers. This way your layer cake will look grand and substantial and will feed 12 or more. I make lots of cakes for clients and there’s nothing worse than a layer cake that’s too small.
Ingredients
The key to the lemon flavor in this gluten-free cake is lots of lemon zest and lemon extract. Lemon zest is the outer layer of the lemon skin and has a strong pop of flavor. If you haven’t used lemon zest before, here is a quick tutorial. I like to add the lemon zest to the milk the night or the morning before and let it sit in the refrigerator. This allows the lemon zest to really give up its flavor into the cake,
Gluten-Free Flour
I have used several different gluten-free flour blends for this gluten-free lemon cake and they all worked well. My custom blend of sorghum, millet and brown rice flours with potato and tapioca starches is my favorite.
Here is my special flour blend that I love for this cake recipe and many more of my gluten-free recipes:
- 1 c sweet white sorghum flour
- 3/4 c millet flour
- 1/4 c brown rice flour
- 2/3 c potato starch
- 1/3 c tapioca starch
If you prefer a store bought blend, I like King Arthur Flour All Purpose Gluten-Free flour the best. See the notes in the recipe for a super simple DIY gluten-free flour blend or my blog post on gluten–free flours.
How to tell when the lemon cake is done
I find it much easier to tell when a gluten-free cake is ready. When the top of this gluten-free lemon cake is set you can be pretty sure it’s done. The surface of the layer will be uniformly set, unlike gluten-filled cakes that can look set but sometimes be under done on the inside. I feel pretty confident that it’s ready without having to drop in a toothpick.
Gluten-Free Lemon Cake
This gluten-free lemon cake is one of my favorite cakes of all time and will soon be your favorite.
Ingredients
- 2½ c gluten-free flour blend*
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 c sugar
- 1 cup milk or alternative milk
- 1 c oil (I prefer sunflower)
- 4 eggs
- zest of 2 lemons
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° and grease and line 2 round 8 or 9" cake pans.
- Zest the lemon and whisk into the oil and milk. Set aside, This will allow time for the lemon zest to give up its flavor to the liquid. I do this the night before I make the cake and store in the fridge.
- Whisk the all dry ingredients, except the sugar, together in a large mixing bowl.
- Beat the sugar with all of the wet ingredients together in another bowl. Beat until the mixture is pale yellow and creamy.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until smooth.
- Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans and bake 35-40 minutes for 8" layers and 30-35 minutes for 9" layers or until the top is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then remove them from the pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.
Notes
*Use a flour blend without xanthan gum or baking powder. King Arthur Flour has a good all-purpose gluten-free flour blend.
This is the gluten-free flour blend I prefer for this cake:
1 c sweet white sorghum flour
3/4 c millet flour
1/4 c brown rice flour
2/3 c potato starch
1/3 c tapioca starch
These flours can all be found(certified gluten-free) at Vitacost.com
This is an easy DIY gluten-free flour blend:
2 c brown rice flour
2/3 c potato starch
1/3 c tapioca starch
