Gluten Free Lemon Cake

5 from 10 votes

This Gluten Free Lemon Cake is a lemon lover's dream! It's a soft eggless lemon cake that's surrounded by a delicious lemon buttercream frosting! It's tangy yet sweet; the perfect blend of flavors! Not only is it gluten free andeggless, but it's nut free and can easily be vegan!

Prep Time50

Cook Time35

Chill Time20

Total Time1 45

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan

Servings: Slices

Calories: 727kcal

Author: Lee

Ingredients

For The Lemon Layer Cake

2 ¼ cups multipurpose gluten free flour (I use a gluten free multipurpose flour with xanthan gum already in it)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ¾ cups milk
½ cup light brown sugar , packed
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons, vegetable oil
2 tablespoons lemon zest (from about 3 medium lemons)
¼ cup lemon juice (about 2 medium lemons)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For The Lemon Buttercream Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick, room temperature
8 cups confectioners' sugar
¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about the juice of 2 medium lemon)
2 teaspoons lemon zest (from about 2 medium size lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup plus 2 teaspoons water , room temperature

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For The Lemon Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease and line two 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
Wash and dry all 6 lemons. Take a zester and zest 6 lemons. Put the zest in a little bowl and cover with plastic wrap so it doesn't get crunchy. Set aside.
Take 4 lemons, cut them in half and juice them. Make sure to remove any seeds if they get in the juice. Set aside.
There should be about ½ cup of juice total. If there isn't enough, juice another lemon.
In a large bowl whisk together the 2 ¼ cups multipurpose gluten free flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the 1 ¾ cups milk, ½ cup light brown sugar, ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, ¼ cup lemon juice, 2 tablespoons lemon zest and 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract.
Slowly add the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. It if gets too thick, switch to a spatula.
Divide the batter evenly into 2 greased and parchment lined 8 inch cake pans and smooth the tops with a butter knife.
Bake the cakes in the center rack at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes until slightly springy when carefully touched.
Remove cakes from oven and let the cakes cool almost completely in the pans for 15 mins before trying to remove. Then remove from pans and let cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
Once cool, slice both cakes in half horizontally. Now you have 4 thin layers of cake.
If your cakes have dome tops, you can take a thin layer off the tops of the cake with a knife, to make a flat surface.

For The Lemon Frosting

In a large bowl of an electric mixer or using a hand held mixer, beat the 1 cup room temperature butter or vegan baking stick until it is smooth and creamy. About 2-3 minutes.
Slowly add the 8 cups confectioners’ sugar, ¼ cup lemon juice, 2 teaspoons lemon zest and 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract. Beat until combined; it will be thick.
Slowly beat in the ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons water a little at a time until you get the desired consistency. You may not need to use it all.

Assembling The Cake

Place one layer of cake on a cake plate/stand. Scoop ⅕ (about 1 cup) of frosting on top of the layer and use an icing spatula to spread it around.
Place another layer of cake on top; repeat this same process. Do this with 3 layers of cake.
Once you get to the last layer of cake, place it bottom (or flat) side up so the top of the cake is nice and flat. Use an icing spatula or a butter knife to frost the top and a thin layer on the sides of the cake.
You should only use a fifth of the frosting on the top and sides combined; this is a semi-naked cake.
Pop the entire cake uncovered in the fridge for 15-20 min so it’s more stable to work with.
Remove from the fridge and take the last ⅕th of buttercream and put it into a piping bag. Create swirls going all the way around the top rim of the cake.
If desired, sprinkle some white nonpareils or sprinkles on top of the frosting swirls. I also love to put some lemon slices just for decoration and some lemon zest.
If there is extra frosting you can add more to the sides of the cake if desired.

Notes

Vegan: Use a dairy-free gluten free flour, vegan sugar, vegan baking sticks, non-dairy milk and vegan sprinkles.

All Purpose Flour: I cannot test this due to celiac disease, but use 2 ¼ cups packed AP flour (378 grams) and only 1 ½ cups of milk (354.88 ml).

Storing: Once the lemon cake is cut into, it’s best to cut the entire cake into slices, remove the lemon slices on the top and wrap each slice in foil and store in a zip top bag in the fridge. Eat extra slices within 2 days.

When ready to eat, let the slices sit on the counter, in the foil for about an hour or until the cake is room temperature and soft.

Freezing: If not eating all the extra slices within 2 days, take the slices wrapped in foil (without the lemon slices on top) and place in the zip top bag and freeze them. You can keep the slices frozen for up to 30 days.

When ready to eat, put the slices in the fridge the night before or leave them out on the counter for 2 hours prior to eating or until the cake is room temperature and soft.

Nutrition: The info below is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.

Nutrition