Nathan's Lemon Cake Recipe (2024)

Great summer recipe. We reduced cake sugar to just 1C but otherwise made it per ingredient list. This immediately became a family favorite. We highly value recipes made from basic ingredients and this is a great one. One process adjustment we had to make. The glaze gets “solid” very quickly. We made the frosting in a metal bowl so we just put it in a larger metal bowl with hot water which warmed up the glaze enough to make it more easy to manage. On the flip side, we really like how the glaze firms up and stays firm once on the cake.

I followed the directions exactly as written. This cake is totally flat and dry with only a hint of lemon. It was a huge disappointment for all of the effort.I even added extra zest and lemon extract.

Just made this cake tonight and the whole family loved it. I made the recipe exactly as specified and I highly recommend it. For some reason, I had been under the impression that the icing was supposed to be more of a glaze or something thinner... and I was delighted to find that it's a nice, thick frosting- just the way I like it. And the lemon taste of the cake and the frosting... oh my! I love this cake and will definitely make it again!!

Hey guys! Do you have any recommendation for helping the cake to rise better (I saw some of the comments saying it had some rising trouble)? Also, what will happen if I use regular buttermilk? I am having a hard time finding nonfat buttermilk. I am super excited for this recipe I want it to be perfect!! Thanks

I really love this cake!! 😋 Can I make this cake eggless or dairy-free?

I am not a very good cook and this was an easy recipe. My mother wanted a lemon cake for her birthday. The frosting is so delicious and lemony. The cake was moist and not too lemony so it was a perfect balance. The frosting is very glaze-like and would have liked a thicker frosting...however it tasted so good....that I dont' care now. I overcooked the cake a bit and set it at 32 minutes so I would check the cake a few minutes early. It really depends on your oven.

i really must try this cake!

Followed your recipe and got a very nice spongy cake.my kids loved the cake

Is it enough batter for a 9x13?

i made this cake for my Daughters birthday, she loves all things lemon, and it was a hit. I followed the recipe exactly. The one thing different I did, was make a lemon curd filling for the center and make extra frosting to frost the entire cake. My Daughter loved it as well as the whole family. My Husband said the cake tasted even better the next day and to be sure and save the recipe. Thank you for sharing the recipe, I will be making it again and again.

My baking time was 5 minutes longer and it probably could've used another 5 minutes more. The serving size is impossibly small. Would be excellent with a few raspberries or blueberries on the side. Really pretty too. Overall the difficulty level was acceptable so I'd make this one again. For the family's use, I'd probably just bake the batter in a 9x11 pan and then cut it into squares - easier to store that way in the fridge too.

Loved this cake recipe! I followed the directions except on the icing I added 1/4 c powdered sugar and half a block of softened cream cheese.. Perfect!!! I think I may use one tbsp lemon zest next time as well. Delicious recipe!!

I read the reviews and knew I had to try this for my son's 7th birthday party (he requested a lemon cake) and boy oh boy it didn't disappoint! Everyone was raving about it and every little crumb was devoured. I am making it again for his kid's birthday party! My only suggestion is to increase the recipe for a larger cake because it wasn't very big if you're feeding more than 8 or so people. I followed the recipe perfectly. ENJOY!!

This cake is always a hit!! I made the cake to the recipe specifications, but used icing from 'vanilla cake with italian meringue frosting' on myrecipes site (the icing has lemon curd folded into it which is great with this cake). In between the layers I put some raspberry preserves, then topped with lemon curd, then topped with halved raspberries. Also just before serving I put some raspberries on top. This is a great spring/summer cake! I used homemade lemon curd from the 'pistachio pavlovas with lemon curd' recipe on myrecipes site. MAKE THIS CAKE! All these 5 star reviews can't be wrong!! ;)

This cake is delicious! The best scratch cake I 've made!

This is the best lemon cake I have ever had or made! I decided to use a single square 9 x 9 pan as other reviewers mentioned that baking the cake in two 9" cake pans resulted in flat cakes, and I wanted a light and fluffy thick cake. The icing was divine and I had no issues with getting it to thicken. I did not sift the confectioner's sugar beforehand and I added extra lemon juice for a deeper lemon flavor. I also cut the butter back in the icing to 1/8 cup as there was no reason to add all of that butter (and additional calories)! The icing was glossy and thick, full of lemon flavor, and the cake was light, fluffy and moist. Also, baking the cake in one pan was incredibly easy! I highly recommend this recipe, with the modifications that I made. Also, the presentation was beautiful!

very delicious cake. I was too lazy to make layers and poured all the batter into a 10x13 pan and it baked just the same. Didn't need as much frosting. The frosting needed a little something in my opinion.

Delicious! This was a big hit at thanksgiving. Very moist and tasty, and the icing was excellent. Great recipe!!

Deliciously Lemony!

This was delicious and perfect for a summer night get together. I used one deep pan instead of 2 and cooked it 45 mins then cut it in half. Saved one pan of cleaning! I thought it had plenty of lemon flavor to it. Everyone loved it and I added raspberries on top. Nex time I may put some raspberry filling inside between the layers.

I made this cake today, for my sister's birthday.^^ It was so delicious!! Totally a huge hit! This cake smells wonderful, looks good, and tastes even better... so delicious! dense, and very moist. We all love it! Thanks so much~~^^

This cake was moist and delicious -- huge hit at birthday party. The frosting presents a problem though because the recipe is frustratingly vague about whether the powdered sugar should be sifted and whether that should be before or after measuring. I sifted mine to prevent lumpy frosting but the frosting was far too runny with three cups of pre-sifted powdered sugar. So I kept sifting and adding until it got closer to the consistency of the frosting in the photo. I still had to guess when it was right and once I got it on the cake I saw it was still slightly too thin. My advice: sift the powdered sugar, start with three cups, and just keep adding sifted sugar until the frosting gets to your desired thickness. The quarter cup of lemon juice will definitely prevent it from becoming too sweet. I like the flaked coconut suggestion below and I bet this cake would also be good with limes subbed for the lemon, or perhaps even half lemon and half lime?

This has the perfect tangy/sweet taste one looks for in a lemon cake.....very refreshing! It was also a very dense cake, not unlike Barefoot Contessa's Lemon Yogurt Cake which is a loaf cake. She uses basically the same ingredients opting for yogurt instead of buttermilk. This one is nicer for company/presentation, hers is a good everyday loaf cake. Both taste the same to me. We enjoy both very much!

I added 1/2 cup shredded coconut to the icing. It was fantastic! It added texture both visually and to the taste and also was a perfect complement to the lemon flavor. The cake was a huge hit!

I made this cake for my mom's birthday two days ago and it was a big hit with the family. My family all raved about it and my mom really loved it. I will make this cake most definetly in the future. What was funny, my family thought it was not too sweet at all but it does call for 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 3 cups of powdered sugar.

My daughter requested a lemon cake with lemon frosting for her birthday...I think she's chosen a different flavor each year. I typically have problems with homemade cakes turning out too dry and too dense for my taste so I decided to google search a recipe instead of my usual cookbook options. SO glad I came upon this one...Moist and flavorful and just the right amount of fluffiness. I used 9 inch pans which left the cakes a little on the "flat" side but they were super easy to smooth icing over and looked just perfect for my happy girl. She pronounced it her favorite birthday cake ever!!! I did add a thin spread of raspberry jam and lemon curd between the two layers-but it really wasn't necessary-I may skip that part next time. I also followed another user's suggestion to use organic lemons for the cake because of the large amount of zest used-absolutely a must for me in the future (the difference in the fragrance at the supermarket alone was convincing).

This cake was very delicious and moist enough without being too heavy. My children and husband loved it. I liked the icing the most.

This cake is amazing. I just made them into regular cupcakes and mini cupcakes. They are perfect. I'll say that the liners did not want to stick to them after they are perfectly baked (but I don't consider that a downside actually... I hate wasted cake on those liners). At first I was a bit bummed at how little lemon I taste, because I'm used to buying the boxed stuff... this cake is amazing. It's a perfect balance. :) Gonna make a lemon raspberry frosting to top this, and it will be fantastic.

I'm giving this cake five stars simply for the fact that I took it to a barbecue gathering tonight and people made a point to tell me how good it was. And, oh yeah, when I went to retrieve my cake stand at the end of the evening there wasn't a crumb left- even though there were many other beautiful and yummy desserts at the party! I will, certainly, make it again!

The cake was great!! Really lemony and really tart. Made it for my boyfriend` family - it was gone within 2 hours and it wasnt even an occasion! I just dropped it off and put it in their fridge! The cake came out just a little more dense then i thought, but i think it is because i modified it a little - baked it in one pan and then cut in half to put the icing in between. I will definitly make it again

This cake is fabulous! The perfect taste of lemon!

A perfect birthday cake. Very moist--even when I thought I might have overcooked it. This is a keeper.

Simple and tasty. I made 1/4 of the recipe (but with 1 tablespoon of both rind and juice), divided the batter into 6 cupcakes, and baked for approximately 16 minutes. That reduces the calorie count to 211 per cupcake. They rose perfectly and were very moist and lemony.

This is an outstanding lemon cake. I've made this at least 5 times. It hard to believe that the calories and fat have been scaled back because it is absolutely delicious. Moist, lemony, just incredible. Huge keeper.

Oh so good. For those of you that said it did not raise enough, be sure to use 8" pans. Mine raised beautifully. I made this for a birthday party. I cut the layers in half (4 layers). I then put "Microwave Lemon Curd (Yummy) between the layers and finally put the icing on the top and sides of the cake. There wasn't a crumb left. I plan on making this again for Mother's Day this year. Microwave Lemon Curd recipe can be found on allrecipes.com

This cake was fabulous. I had no issues with lumps and even had to add a bit of extra lemon juice to make the icing a little thinner. I'm going to make it again using orange next time.

Love the lemon flavor and it was nice and moist, but my cake did not rise very much so was therefore very dense and I followed directions except for having to substitute for the buttermilk as I did not have any on hand. I used 1 Tbsp lemon juice + enough milk to make 1 cup for the buttermilk substitute, but could that have made the outcome so dense? I will try again when I have buttermilk and hopefully it will be a little less heavy.

I made this for my 29th b-day party and it was AMAZING! very lemony flavour and it helps that its juiced by real lemons rather than lemon from concentrate. would def recommend for anyone's b-day. serves 16 and yet i only have a few pieces left, people just loved it! my only problem was that the frosting was a bit much...so much that i had to wipe the plate clean b/c it was soo gooey and that someone remarked how it kinda looked like sausage 'n' gravy but yea i would half the icing mixture and do something creative w/ the lemon rinds like i spelled out my name and my age and had little fireworks coming out and it looked great!! would totally make again, and i love that everyone loved it soo much!! total keeper!! :)

I made this for a holiday party, and it was as simple to make as it was delicious. There were no leftovers andi already have requests from several people in attendance to make this for their birthday cake. The cake is very moist and so lemony. The presentation of the cake is lovely as well.

Made this for Father's Day - delicious! Everyone from 5 to 80 years loved it. Like some others said I would probably add more lemon juice to the cake for a bit stronger flavor. The only thing that didn't turn out like the picture was the frosting. I followed the instructions but it was way runnier than the photo which made it look like it was thick and just went over the edge. Mine ran all the way down the cake so I need to play around with the juice/powdered sugar amounts.

Incredible! Used recipe to make "Texas Size" cupcakes for my neices bithday. Awesome recipe! Well worth the steps because it tastes fresh, not artificially flavored. So long box mix! Improvised my own buttercream recipe by adding lemon juice and salt. Salt makes the lemon flavor explode. Top with lemon zest and you have an absolute winner.

This cake was fantastic, like something you would get from a nice bakery. I took it to a potluck and received rave reviews including many shocked people who couldn't believe it was homemade. I highly recommend this recipe. I used organic lemons so there wouldn't be any chemical residue since so much zest was used. I will certainly make this one again.

I made this for my father's birthday. It was a huge hit with everyone, even the people who "don't like cake". It's tart and light and really easy to make. I will make it again and again.

WOW! I've tried a lot of lemon cakes since I'm lucky enough to have my own lemon tree, but this one is tops. Wonderful texture, assertive lemon flavor, just enough richness and just enough icing. I'll be making this recipe for a long time.

This cake was phenomenal--moist and perfectly lemony. I made it for my husband's birthday and the whole family raved about it. I did modify the recipe a bit--sliced each layer in half and spread with lemon curd and raspberry jam in the middle, frosted it with Italian Meringue frosting, then decorated it with fresh raspberries. My new favorite cake!

This cake was outstanding. Wonderful flavor and texture. Would be lovely at a baby or bridal shower. I followed the instructions exactly and it turned out great! I also used this recipe to make a chocolate-orange version. I substituted orange for the lemon and added 2/3 cup coco powder and a little extra orange juice to the frosting recipe. It was also delicious!

This cake was a great hit at our barbeque. It was so moist and the icing was delish!!! Next time, however, I will add a little more lemon juice to the cake mixture. My son, who usually only eats chocolate cake, came back for seconds! Will definately make again.

This is one of the best dessert recipes I have ever made. The cake is so moist and delicious and the lemon is just the right amount. I altered it a bit to bake in a 9 x 13 because I don't have a 9 in cake round. I almost like it better that way because the servings are smaller (which of course means you can have more, right?).