Name: Lemon Sour Cream Cake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 250g (2 cups*) all-purpose flour; 2 teaspoons baking powder; ¼ tsp baking soda; ½ teaspoon salt; 200g (1 cup) granulated sugar; 1 ½ Tablespoon lemon zest; 60ml (¼ cup) fresh lemon juice; 3 large eggs; 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract; 190g (3/4 cup) full-fat sour cream (or natural yogurt); 105g (½ cup) olive oil or vegetable oil; 140g (1 ¼ cups) powdered sugar; 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; Splash of milk

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A super simple lemon sour cream cake that’s light and fluffy, with bright lemon flavor. Top it with powdered sugar or a lemon glaze.

A simple lemon cake like this is lovely to whip up quickly when expecting guests. The cake batter is simple, flavored with fresh lemon juice and lemon rind. The added sour cream gives a little richness and a tender crumb.

This cake has no butter. It’s made with vegetable oil instead. This creates a really moist lemon cake. It also means there’s no need for an electric mixer to cream butter. I use a similar recipe in this lemon yogurt loaf cake too.

Ingredients

Find the ingredient amounts for this lemon sour cream cake recipe written in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here is a rundown of what you will need.

Granulated sugar
Fresh lemons
Large eggs
Vanilla extract
Full-fat sour cream
Vegetable oil
All-purpose flour
Baking powder
Baking soda
Salt

Lemon icing

The cake can be dusted with powdered sugar or make a tangy lemon glaze. Here’s what you will need for that.

Powdered sugar
Lemon juice
Milk

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C, grease, and line an 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper.

Combine flour, baking powder, soda, and salt in a small bowl. Set this aside.

In a large bowl, add the granulated sugar and lemon zest. Use your fingers or a fork to rub the zest into the sugar to release the lemon oils. Do this for around two minutes.

Add the lemon juice, eggs, oil, sour cream and vanilla, and beat well to combine.

Whisk through the dry ingredients until combined, but don’t over-mix the batter.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and gently spread it out with a butter knife or offset spatula.

Bake the cake for around 40-45 minutes until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, with a few moist crumbs.

Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing it and letting it cool to room temperature on a cooling rack.

The cooled cake can be dusted with icing sugar or drizzled with a lemon glaze to serve.

Glaze

Mix confectioners sugar, fresh lemon juice, and a splash of milk in a medium bowl to make a thick but pourable glaze.

Drizzle it generously over the top of the cooled cake.

Storing

Leftover lemon cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. The cake can also be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 3 months.

Try this Carrot Sheet Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting next!

Variations and substitutions

The sour cream can be substituted with full-fat natural or greek yogurt
Swap the lemon for fresh lime juice and zest, or use grapefruit!
Fold through fresh blueberries for extra color and texture.
If you want to make this a lemon layer cake, you can bake this in two 8-inch pans instead. The baking time will be less as they will be thinner.

For another delicious cake, try this Dutch Apple Cake!

More lemon recipes