Bright and zesty gluten-free lemon drizzle cake - this loaf cake is super moist with a light and tender crumb. Using a riff on Mary Berry's candied lemon drizzle that hardens like crunchy icing on the outside, this lemon loaf cake is a classic recipe you'll turn to again and again!
Baking cake in a loaf pan instantly brings it into "suitable for breakfast" territory. I don't know if there's a better argument for baking this gluten-free lemon loaf cake.
Adding the crunchy tart lemon icing shell makes it sweet enough to be the perfect dessert or snack cake. That's the beauty of loaf cakes: they work any time of day!
While You'll Love This Gluten-Free Lemon Loaf Cake
More than a dozen test batches of lemon cake later, this final gluten-free lemon loaf cake is now one of my back-pocket go-to recipes. It checks all the boxes. Super moist, yet also magically light and tender, just like my gluten-free lemon blueberry cake, with a crumb that's neither densely heavy nor dry. Rich in bright lemon flavor thanks to the lemon juice and zest in the sponge and the candied lemon icing drizzle on top.
While I've never been able to try a slice of Starbucks' lemon bread on account of the gluten, I've been told this gluten-free lemon drizzle cake rivals that very popular slice, with an even lighter more lemony crumb.
Lemon Drizzle or Lemon Icing?
Using a technique developed by Mary Berry in her famous lemon drizzle cake, this gluten-free loaf gets a lemon sugar drizzle while it's still warm. The glaze hardens into a crunchy icing that crackles as you slice the cake, making the loaf as pretty as it is delicious.
I think most would usually argue the center of a loaf cake is the best, but in this case, I love the crust equally, if not more. With a crackly lemon glaze, the crust is quite possibly the best part. Made of just lemon juice and granulated sugar, the punch of lemon shines over the sweetness, unlike traditional lemon icing made with powdered sugar.
That being said, you could also drizzle with a traditional lemon icing or swirl my glossy 5-minute lemon cream cheese icing over the top (pictured below)!
Recipe
Moist Gluten-Free Lemon Drizzle Cake
Ingredients
- 121 g (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free oat flour
- 112 g (1 cup) Bob’s Red Mill super fine blanched almond flour
- 100 g (½ cup + 2 tablespoons) Bob’s Red Mill sweet rice flour, different from "white rice flour" or "brown rice flour"
- 28 g (¼ cup) Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum, optional, see note
- 1¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (208 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest, from 2-3 lemons
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, from 2-3 lemons
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120 g) crème fraîche or sour cream, room temperature (see note)
- ½ cup (104 g) granulated sugar
- 2½ tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, from about 2 lemons
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush a 9x5 loaf pan with butter and line it with a sling of parchment paper. An 8.5x4.5 pan or 9.25x5.25 pan will also work, but you will need to adjust your baking time. See notes below.
- In a medium bowl, sift together oat flour, almond flour, sweet rice flour, tapioca flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Add the lemon zest and beat until evenly distributed.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until combined and scraping down the sides after each addition. Beat in the lemon juice and vanilla until just combined.
- Add the dry ingredients in two additions, alternating with the crème fraîche, scraping down the sides after each addition and mixing until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth out the top with an offset spatula or spoon.
- Bake on the middle rack for 60-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs. The cake should be golden brown on the outside. The center of the dome should spring back when gently touched. Note: if using a different size pan, your bake-time will vary. For an 8.5x4.5 pan, add 5-10 minutes of bake time. For a 9.25x5.25 (or 9.5x5.50), begin checking for doneness at 55 minutes.
- While the cake bakes, make the crackly lemon drizzle.Whisk together the sugar and lemon juice until smooth.
- When the cake comes out of the oven, pour ½ of the lemon drizzle on the cake and use a spoon or pastry brush to spread it evenly over the surface. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan before using the parchment paper sling to lift the cake and transfer it to a wire rack. Brush the remaining lemon drizzle over the front, back, and sides of the cake and let cool completely, at least 1 hour, before slicing.
Notes
Substitutions:
Gluten-Free Oat Flour: Oat flour adds the lightness and structure for the fluffy crumb. If you don't have oat flour, you can make your own by grinding gluten-free rolled oats in a blender or food processor until fine, then sifting out any larger pieces. While I have not tested subbing out the oat flour, the best substitute for oat flour in this recipe would be to use Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 flour by weight. Alternatively, I would recommend subbing out the oat flour by weight with a combination of sorghum flour and a tad more tapioca flour (I personally would use 100g sorghum flour and 21g more tapioca flour). If you try this sorghum flour substitution, do not leave out the xanthan gum. Almond Flour: Almond flour adds moisture to the cake, so I would only recommend substituting the almond flour with a comparable flour, such as hazelnut flour or chestnut flour by weight. For nut-free version, replace the almond flour with 74g (½ cup) millet flour and follow the recipe as written. Sweet Rice Flour: I tested a grain-free version of this cake using almond flour, coconut flour, and tapioca flour that was very good, but needed a bit more tweaking. When I'm able to test it a couple more times, I'll update the post with that grain-free option. Tapioca flour: Tapioca flour adds just a little more softness and loft to the crumb. My test loaf without tapioca flour wasn't quite as tall and beautiful, but if you need to sub it out, I would recommend arrowroot starch, potato starch, or using equal parts more oat flour and sweet rice flour, by weight. Xanthan gum: This loaf cake is also delicious without xanthan gum, but won't be quite as tall, domed, and fluffy. Xanthan gum helps with the structure and texture, but if you don't have any, you can still make this recipe! Crème fraîche: In side by side comparisons, I preferred the loaves made with crème fraîche. Slightly thicker and richer with higher fat content, crème fraîche creates a moist and beautifully domed loaf. You can sub in sour cream cup for cup. The tested with sour cream were still very delicious, although slightly less domed. This, however, hardly affected the flavor. While I haven't tested it, you could also try subbing in mascarpone or buttermilk.- Update: One reader tested with buttermilk and had great success. Another reader subbed in canned coconut cream for the crème fraîche and said it was excellent.
Can I use any size loaf pan for this gluten-free loaf cake?
For the sake of standardizing this gluten-free lemon drizzle cake recipe, I measured over a dozen loaf pans and learned every loaf pan is different. Even two pans that say they're the same size, are not actually.
While I found the cake had the most beautiful loft and domed shape in the true 9 x 5 loaf pan (measured by the inside of the top opening), it also works just as deliciously in any size pan you've got. Adjust the baking time accordingly: the smaller pan will bake a taller loaf and will need more baking time, while the larger pan has a shorter loaf that will need a few minutes less baking time.
Should I use a glass or metal loaf pan?
I recommend using metal loaf pans. Because my recipe calls for lining the loaf pan with a sling of parchment paper, I found no difference between using non-stick versus not, or very light pan versus a medium-colored one.
However, do not use a glass loaf pan. Because this cake bakes for an hour, the more insulating glass pan is more likely to create a much crisper and darker crust that isn't as tender. Your cake may also end up drier as a result.
Kerry Porter -
This lemon cake came out excellent. The texture was better than any other GF cakes I’ve made. In used goat milk Kefir in place of mascarpone, I also added blueberries.
Tanya -
This recipe is absolutely delicious and is a go to for our family. Even non-GF family members and friends are impressed and want the recipe. Thank you for your absolutely delicious recipes Sarah! I am a huge fan.
Mal -
I recently made this lemon cake and it came out perfectly, which is a lovely thing in GF baking. It is a delightful dessert for the depths of winter. I really have to thank you for all the GF recipes you've developed over the years. I've been following along since 2019. I began a strict GF diet in 2008, when bean flour, almond meal, and rice flour seemed to be the only options for baking (eek). Pamela's pancake/baking mix saved the day then, but over the years I've greatly preferred baking with a wide array of flours tailored to the recipe. I've found 1 to 1 type GF flour mixes to be terribly boring taste-wise, though I do understand why folks rely on them. It has always been and continues to be a challenge to find GF recipes using specific flours, rather than a generic baking mix, so I thank you from the bottom of my GF heart for all you have done! Allergy Free Alaska also has good GF recipes with specific flours. Although it is more work, I take great satisfaction in carefully weighing and mixing different flours, enjoying the varying textures, colors, smells, and tastes. Another recipe I've been happy with recently is your cardamom-cranberry coffee cake. The blondies, peanut butter cookies, and snickerdoodles have become favorites! I appreciate all of your work and always look forward to checking your website for new recipes. Thank you!
Heidi -
Can I use a Bundt cake pan? Thank you
Sarah Menanix -
I had also been dreaming about this in a bundt pan! I have not tested it yet, but I think it should work just fine.
I think you'll need more batter to fill a 10-cup bundt pan, so I would scale the recipe to use 4 eggs instead of 3:
161g gluten-free oat flour
149g superfine blanched almond flour
133g sweet rice flour (different from "white rice flour" or "brown rice flour")
37g tapioca flour
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional)
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
½ + 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
½ + 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
150g (just under 11 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
277g granulated sugar
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons lemon zest (from 2-3 lemons)
4 large eggs, room temperature
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 2-3 lemons)
1.5 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
154g crème fraîche or sour cream, room temperature (see note)
To prepare the pan: Soften 2 tablespoons of butter so it is the consistency of thick mayonnaise then use a pastry brush to brush a thick layer of butter on the inside of a 10-cup bundt pan with butter, taking care to get butter in all the nooks and crannies. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of oat flour into the pan and rotate and tap the pan to dust the entire inside with flour. Tap the pan upside down to remove excess flour.
Stacy -
This was excellent! Simple and delicious. Love that you're a Bob's fan and that you have weights for everything...one less thing for me to do! Thanks for a great recipe.
Mary -
I made this subbing cassava flour for the sweet rice flour and buttermilk for the creme fraiche. It was delicious! The perfect loaf for afternoon tea on a gloomy winter day.
Sheri Nix -
Lemon cake always reminds me of my mom, it was one of her favorites. However, she called it 'Lemon Pound Cake'. Sometimes she added poppy seeds, and baked it in a bundt pan, then she called it 'Lemon Poppyseed Cake'. A little Pound Cake History – "The name (Pound Cake) comes from the fact that the original pound cakes contained one pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. No leaveners were used other than the air whipped into the batter."
Alene -
I wonder if Meyer lemons would work? I have a small bunch of them and want to use them before they spoil. Thanks!
Sarah Menanix -
Yes - definitely! A couple of my tests used meyer lemons just because that's the kind of lemon tree all my neighbors have.
Carol -
This recipe looks wonderful! In addition to being gluten free, I also don’t eat dairy (except for butter). Do you have any thoughts for replacing the crème fraîche? What about almond milk yogurt? Coconut milk has a higher fat content, but would change the flavor I think.
Sarah Menanix -
Good question! The almond milk yogurt may work, but I just worry the cake will turn out a bit more dry than with creme fraiche or sour cream, so I think you're right to look for something with higher fat. The coconut milk is a great idea - or coconut cream. In this case I would probably use the thicker cream - I've made vegan biscuits using coconut milk and it doesn't affect the flavor at all, so I think the lemon here would overpower any coconut flavor (and if you get a hint of coconut, it will pair with the flavors nicely). I've seen elsewhere online folks have suggested dairy-free sour cream (such as soy) or a 50/50 combo of dairy-free sour cream and dairy-free cream cheese. I think any of those last options should work! If you try it, please let me know!