lemon loaf cake
Cakes by Flours and Frostings

Light tangy lemon loaf!

 

I always remember the day I baked my first cake. I was absolutely giddy with joy! And I will always remember the day I came upon the Fondbites Bakealong group on Facebook. This is a wonderful group where the group head and baking powerhouse Subhashini bakes a recipe with a step by step tutorial on Monday and the rest of the group bakes it by the end of the week. It really has helped me evolve as a baker !


Which brings us to this Lemon loaf ! Prior to this I had never tried any lemon or lime flavored bake. It will be too tangy . The hubby will definitely not like it. Lemon cakes and cupcakes are meant to be made with those lovely plump yellow lemons that I have seen on Nigella’s show and Masterchef , where do I find those now ! Zesting a lemon is a pain. My reasons were figured out in my mind.

 

lemon loaf cake

Until one Monday morning , I saw this lemon loaf on my Fondbites Fb feed . One bite of this cake and all my prior reasons were proved so wrong !

This is a soft and moist loaf cake , that i have drenched with a lemon-sugar syrup. It has a delicious soft crumb with just the right balance of sweet and tangy ! You could of course skip the syrup .. dust it with some icing sugar or have as is .. its totally gorgeous on its own!

lemon loaf cake

Lemon loaf cake

A light and perfectly tangy lemon loaf cake with syrup
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Ingredients
  

  • 112 grams or 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 2 eggs at room temperature
  • 200 grams or 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 190 grams or 11/2 cups all purpose flour / maida
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 120 ml or 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 tsp lemon or lime zest
  • 60 ml or 1/4 cup juice of one lemon or lime for syrup
  • 3-4 tbsp icing sugar for syrup

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your oven to 160 C. Grease and flour a loaf pan (8x 5×3).
  • Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
  • Using your mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
  • Add sugar, lemon zest and beat until light and fluffy (5 -6 mins)
  • Beat in the eggs (one by one) for a couple of minutes until well incorporated.
  • Alternately add the flour mixture in 3 additions and butter milk in two, starting and ending with the flour ( 1/3 of flour – 1/2 of buttermilk -1/3 of flour- 1/2 of buttermilk – 1/3 of flour).
  • Pour into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake at 160 C for 45-50 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the centre should come out with few moist crumbs.You ll see browning of sides and top.
  • Cool in pan for about 10 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, mix the lemon juice and icing sugar to make the syrup.
  • Invert the cake onto cooling rack (right side up) and brush with syrup.
  • Now just wait until cool!

Notes

This loaf cake stays good in an airtight container for upto 3 days 
This cake tastes better after resting few hours or overnight .
If you dont have buttermilk , you can make a quick substitute by adding 1/2 tablespoon vinegar to a scant 1/2 cup milk ( let it rest for 5 mins ) or mix 1/4 cup curd and 1/4 cup water.
My measuring cup is 240 ml. 
 
lemon loaf cake

Now just wait until cool! The loaf tastes even better when left to soak in the syrup ( mature) for a day, but if you are impatient like me, just slice and enjoy. Its soft , moist but like a sponge soaked in juices. The best part about this cake is the tang of the lemon on your tongue and the scent of it in the air !

20 thoughts on “Light tangy lemon loaf!”

  2. Hi.. do we use a handmixer for every stage or only for beating the butter ? And by buttermilk do u mean diluted yoghurt ?

    Reply

    1. Sorry..another doubt. I make confectioners sugar at home. So for the syrup should I make the usual version of confectioners sugar with cornflour ? Or just sugar

      Reply

    2. Hi Deep… you can use the hand mixer for all stages. By Buttermilk , you can either use half quantity curd and half curd quantity water. Or add a tablespoon vinegar to a cup of milk and let it curdle for 5 minutes. Both will do. And for the sugar , simple powdered sugar is fine. Do let me know how the cake turns out… happy baking !

      Reply

  4. Hi.. I did try it and it turned out very well.. soft n spongy.. pefect tea time snack!! We generally prefer less sugar so I only used about 120gm but it still turned out great.. thanks for sharing this recipe!

    Reply

  5. Hey Pavithra… thanks for the heads up…dont know how I missed that! Its 1 cup (200 grams) , just updated the recipe… if you try it, do let me know how it turns out!Happy baking…!

    Reply

  6. The cake looks yumm.. was just gonna try it and realised u havnt mentioned the amount of sugar going into the cake.. only sugar for syrup is mentioned..

    Reply

    1. Hey Pavithra… thanks for the heads up…dont know how I missed that! Its 1 cup (200 grams) , just updated the recipe… if you try it, do let me know how it turns out!Happy baking…!

      Reply

      1. Hi.. I did try it and it turned out very well.. soft n spongy.. pefect tea time snack!! We generally prefer less sugar so I only used about 120gm but it still turned out great.. thanks for sharing this recipe!

        Reply

  7. The cake looks yumm.. was just gonna try it and realised u havnt mentioned the amount of sugar going into the cake.. only sugar for syrup is mentioned..

    Reply

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