Bursting with lemon flavor, this easy lemon cake recipe comes together with no gluten, grains, or refined sugar. You won’t miss any of that! Serve this healthy lemon cake with confidence for a special occasion or to perk up an ordinary day.
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A year or so ago, I read a murder mystery set in Sicily. The details have faded, but the mayhem had to do with the rise of the Mafia and was a page turner.
The most memorable part was the lemons. People were always contending with lemon crops and carting baskets of lemons about on donkeys (or was it mules?). Also cooking with lemons.
They made lemon cake sometimes in the story, so naturally I had to figure out how to make a lemon cake. Without gluten, or grain, or sugar. Lemon cake is just about as good as cake can be. I’m not big on cake, but this is good.
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What Makes the Lemon Cake Work?
This isn’t an authentic Sicilian, or even Italian, recipe. Rather, this is a lemon cake recipe for those of us with dietary restrictions. Whether involuntary, as in an allergy, or a voluntary choice to meet some health goal, the rest of us want a bite of lemon cake now and then too!
Here is how we will achieve a good result:
almond flour
I don’t use almond flour often. Partly because one of my family members used to be allergic to almond and I am not in the habit, and mostly because I’m not sure it’s that great for us, I restrict our almond flour consumption.
It takes a lot of almonds to make flour, and almonds are very high in oxalates and can be inflammatory. Learn more about the downsides here. We aren’t aware of having particular problems with oxalates, but we don’t need any new problems. We have almond flour now and then, just not daily. Or weekly.
Almond flour can be kind of heavy. For that reason, in this recipe I separate the eggs and beat the whites separately, then fold them in with as little mixing as possible to keep as much air in the batter as possible.
If you prefer a coconut flour recipe, try this orange cake with lemon instead. Leave out the chocolate for a similar cake minus the almond.
lemon zest
Some lemon cakes call for a lot of lemon juice. That is fine, except that lemon juice is sour. Cake is sweet. I don’t want much sugar, so I don’t want to use a lot of lemon juice that provokes a need for more sugar to achieve a sweet cake.
Some Italian (and Italian-inspired) recipes call for a whole lemon. Here again, you will need more sugar. Also, there is a danger of the pith making the cake bitter. The other problem I had was that sometimes my food processor left weird bits of lemon even when most of it was ground up fine. Not ideal.
Lemon zest, on the other hand. can be uniformly fine, is not very sour, and lends big flavor to the cake. Not being very sour, the lemon zest allows you to use a small amount of honey. This is not a super sweet cake.
I like to use organic lemons, since the peel would be where anything sprayed on the lemons would land. Still wash the lemon well before zesting, even organic lemons.
honey
Baking with honey can be tricky. The moisture of honey, and it heaviness, affect the final texture. In this recipe, the cake will be a bit heavy and moist. You don’t need a lot of honey, which helps. The result is moist and tender, and, while not a light and airy cake, it is also not excessively heavy.
How to Make the Lemon Cake
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line an 8″ round pan with parchment. Brush a bit of the melted butter around the sides of the pan.
Wash and zest your lemons. I use the fine side of a box grater, but you can use a zesting tool, a knife, or whatever method you prefer. You will use only a tablespoon of the juice, so save your bald lemons and use the juice in something else.
This is a recipe where separating the eggs and beating the whites separately is worth the extra few minutes’ effort. Almond flour can produce heavy baked goods. Beating the whites helps offset that problem.
Beat the egg whites for 2-3 minutes by themselves. Be sure to do the whites first! You need clean beaters for them. If there is any fat on the beaters, the whites won’t whip up well. (You can go from the whites straight to the yolks without washing your beaters.) Stop when you get soft peaks.
Beat the egg yolks for a couple of minutes.
Egg yolks at the beginning– very yellow.
The yolks will lighten in color as air incorporates.
Egg yolks after a couple of minutes of beating– paler with a bit more volume.
Add the rest of the ingredients other than the whites to combine.
Now you are ready to add the whites. Don’t use the beaters! You will over-mix the batter and let out the air you have incorporated with all that beating. Fold the whites into the yolk part of the batter gently with a spoon or spatula.
Mix only as much as you need to in order to get the batter smooth, then spread it into your pan.
Bake about 30 minutes at 350° F until the sides pull away from the edges and the top is browned. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Run a knife around the edges to be sure they aren’t attached, then invert the pan and remove the parchment. Turn cake right side up on a cooling rack or cake plate and cool completely.
Zesty Lemon Cake
Equipment
- 1 8" round pan
- parchment to line pan
- hand mixer or other way to beat eggs
Ingredients
- 4 eggs, separated and room temperature
- 2 C almond flour
- 1/4 C butter, melted
- 1/4 C honey
- 2 lemons, zested (about 2 T zest)
- 1 T lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or use vanilla paste, vanilla seeds, etc.
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line an 8" round pan with parchment. Brush a bit of the melted butter around the sides of the pan.
- Use a box grater (or other method) to zest the lemons.
- Beat egg whites until they are fluffy and form soft peaks.
- In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks for about 2 minutes until they lighten in color. Stir in almond flour, honey, butter, lemon zest and juice, vanilla, baking soda, and salt.
- Fold egg whites into the egg yolk mixture just until combined.
- Spread cake batter in prepared pan smoothly and bake about 30 minutes at 350° F until the sides pull away from the edges and the top is browned.
- Cool 10 minutes in pan. Run a knife around the edges to be sure they aren't attached, then invert the pan and remove the parchment. Turn cake right side up on a cooling rack or cake plate and cool completely.
Serving Suggestions
- plain– it is good by itself, and packs well
- with berries or other fruit– blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries are especially good
- whipped cream is always good!
- whipped cultured cream– for GAPS diet and anyone wanting probiotic benefits
- a mix of fresh and cultured cream whipped together
- for additional lemony-ness, add lemon curd
- make this healthy cream cheese frosting, maybe with some lemon extract or lemon zest
- with a dusting of powdered sugar
Love lemon? Try these lemon cookies or lemon squares!
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Try with orange zest if you want an orange cake!