Egg Yolk Lemon Cake
This is not your ordinary lemon cake – this Egg Yolk cake has the best moist and tender crumb and fresh lemon juice and zest for a bright citrus flavor. The perfect anytime cake for breakfast, dessert, or snacks!
Ever wondered what to make with leftover egg yolks? I like to make these egg yolk cookies and of course this Lemon cake.
I’ll never get tired of cakes – making them or eating them! Whether they’re fancy or just deliciously simple like this egg yolk lemon cake, I just can’t get enough.
And this easy lemon cake is always a favorite. It’s made with egg yolks plus a few other baking essentials. The yolks add richness and moisture – you don’t have to worry about a dry cake with this recipe.
The texture is similar to a pound cake or sponge cake, and each bite is bursting with lemon flavor. It’s really so easy to make, but don’t let how simple it is fool you – it’s a wonderful homemade lemon cake for any occasion.
I love a slice for breakfast or a snack with a cup of coffee. Or dust it with powdered sugar and serve it for dessert after dinner. Everyone will love a taste of this lemon egg yolk cake, I can promise you that.
Ingredients
- Room temperature egg yolks
- Granulated sugar
- Room temperature 2% milk
- Vegetable oil
- All-purpose flour – or Cake/Pastry flour
- Baking powder
- Lemon zest
- Lemon juice
- Salt
How to make Cake/Pastry Flour
For every cup of all purpose flour, remove two tablespoons and replace with two tablespoons of corn starch. Be sure to sift the flour and cornstarch together a couple of times, this way it is sure to be properly combined and lump free. Cake flour in cakes will give you a very tender texture and fine crumb, it will also help the cake to rise.
How to Make Egg Yolk Cake
You can use a 9″ cake pan or a 9 to 10″ bundt pan or tube pan for this recipe. Grease and flour the pan and preheat the oven to 350°F.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl.
In a separate large bowl (or in a stand mixer), beat the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Mix in the milk, oil, zest, and juice.
Beat the flour mixture into the creamed mixture a little at a time. Once it’s all added, beat the batter until smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake the cake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow the lemon cake to cool in the pan before turning it out onto a plate.
If you worry about your cake falling or not baking thoroughly then a bundt pan is always a great option.
Topping Ideas
For this lemon egg yolk cake, I prefer to keep it simple with just a sprinkle of powdered sugar over the top. For a fancier dessert, you can serve slices of the cake with toppings. Here are some ideas:
- Whipped cream
- Vanilla ice cream
- Fresh fruit like blueberries, raspberries, or sliced strawberries
- Fruit sauces or syrups
- Preserves like strawberry jam or apricot jam
- Chocolate sauce
- You could also drizzle the cake with a lemon glaze before serving
Can you use orange for this recipe instead of lemon?
Yes, you can easily make this an orange cake by swapping the lemon juice and zest with fresh orange juice and zest.
How to store it
Store the cooled baked cake at room temperate either wrapped in plastic or in a covered cake container. It will keep for up to 3 days at room temperature. You can also store the cake in the fridge, just be sure to make it airtight or it will dry out, it will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge, bring it to room temperature before serving.
How to freeze a cake
Once the cake is completely cooled, double wrap it with either foil or plastic wrap and then place in a freezer safe bag. It will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let the cake thaw overnight on the counter before serving.
At our house, we eat cake any time of day and this lemon egg yolk cake is the perfect one to make. Enjoy!
More Cake Recipes to Try
Egg Yolk Lemon Cake
Ingredients
- 3 large egg yolks (room temperature)
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (130 grams)
- 1 cup + 2½ tablespoons milk (room temperature – I use 2%) (275 grams)
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (I use sunflower or corn oil) (50 grams)
- 2 cups all purpose flour ( or cake/pastry flour) (260 grams)
- 1¾ teaspoons baking powder
- zest 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
EXTRAS
- 1-2 tablespoons icing/powdered sugar
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350F (180C). Grease and flour a 9 inch cake pan or 9-10 inch bundt pan.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the mixing bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy approximately 5 minutes. Add the milk, oil, zest and juice beat to combine.
- Beat in the flour a little at a time, beating between each addition. Beat until smooth 1-2 minutes. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for approximately 30 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick. Let cool in the pan then move to a plate. Dust with powdered sugar before serving. Enjoy!
Good cake!!
Hi Bob, thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it. Take care!
This is a 5 star cake – light, very soft crumb, not too sweet, subtly flavoured. I could eat the whole thing.
Hi Hannah, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it. Take care and have a great week!
Mine is in the oven now. I used cashew milk bcz I dont drink dairy. I also used olive oil as a healthier option and cut the sugar back by a bit. Added lemon emulsion in addition to the juice and rind for more lemon flavour and stirred in blueberries. Hoping it turns out nice!
Hi Jody, hope you like it. Let me know. Take care!
So simple and easy to make and the kids love it! Followed your recipe and it rurned out great. Thank you
Hi Emina, thanks so much, so glad the kids loved it. Take care!
Mine turned out a bit dense, maybe did not whip it enough- I used a handheld mixer not a stand mixer (and so I must confess- did not whip it the full 5 minutes)
It also needs more lemon flavoring- decided to make a lemon glaze to fix that.
I like that it uses egg yolks, occasionally left over in the course of baking other things.
I will add more lemon juice next time or lemon flavoring.
I was very unhappy with my cake as well! Followed the recipe to a T made it with Organic milk and eggs, cake flour, lemon juice and zest from fresh lemons! Mistakenly gave some to a friend without tasting it and was embarrassed after eating some. Wondering what went wrong????
Hi Lisa, sorry for the late response, but I was remaking the cake and so did my daughter. It worked for us, it’s a simple Italian cake with a lemony taste. Did you beat it for the full 5 minutes? Let me know.
I’m not sure what went wrong, but my cake ended up having the texture somewhere between a pound cake and tire tread! I used melted butter instead of oil (cooled down, not hot), cake flour (1 cup + 2 tablespoons), and 4 medium yolks because that is what I had. Was that still too many egg yolks? I had just used my baking powder to make biscuits so I know it was still working. Any advice?
Hi Diane, I will remake the cake just to make sure it is ok. Thanks for letting me know. Take care!
I don’t understand people that don’t follow a recipe and then have the audacity to ask the author what went wrong. Geez.
Does it work to double this recipe in a Bundt pan?
Hi Jeanne, I wouldn’t double the recipe, if you have small bundt pan I would use that. Take care!
This was amazing! I swapped the lemon out for orange like the notes said I could and added a bit more oil + juice than I should’ve, but it still turned out great! This recipe is quite forgiving. 🙂
Hi Selene, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed the cake. Take care!
It’s been in the oven for more than half an hour, but seems dense and there’s no crust on the top. The toothpick came out dry, but the cake looks white.
Hi Annie, if it’s dry then it’s ready. The colour also depends on the type of eggs, some yolks are more yellow than others. Hope that helps.
Haven’t tried this yet but I wonder if you’d recommend infusing the cake with a sugar syrup after baking to moisten it. I find that many cakes benefit from syrupping.
Hi Laurie, if you want you can, can’t go wrong with a sugar syrup. Let me know how it goes. Take care.
My cake did not rise and became doughy
Hi Fateme, sorry it didn’t work out, could be your baking powder has expired or was no longer active. It is a denser cake but it shouldn’t be doughy. Maybe it didn’t bake long enough or your oven temperature could be off.
Egg yoke lemon cake is excellent!
We just loved it. I kept going back for just one more slice.
Hi Barbara, thanks so much, this is one of my favourite Italian cakes. Take care and have a great weekend.