Homemade Limoncello Cake
The zesty and sweet flavors of Italy are quite apparent in this delicious Limoncello Cake. Made with fresh lemon zest and Limoncello liqueur, this delicious cake is perfect for any occasion. So why not treat yourself or your guests to a slice of this simple cake that will transport your taste buds straight to the Mediterranean coast.
I was asked by a reader a few years ago if I could make a Limoncello cake, she had tried it on her visit to Cinque Terre. Between the owner and her English and the visitor and her Italian she didn’t quite catch the whole recipe.
Although what she did catch was enough for me to understand the ingredients and more or less the procedure. Although I did change it up a bit, meaning it took me a few times to get it just how we liked it. And I hope you like it too!
Italian cakes are a little different from what I was normally used to, meaning, they are either very simple or sometimes they are made with Apples or Pears or even Ricotta cheese, I also learned that Italians love to add Lemon zest and or juice to their cakes.
They are usually served plain or with a dusting of powdered sugar or sometimes with a simple glaze. They are also denser and sometimes drier. But after eating this Classic Bundt Cake or this Yogurt Cake, I could never say no to a slice of an Italian cake!
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Recipe Ingredients to make a Limoncello cake recipe
- Flour – all purpose flour or cake/pastry flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Eggs – Room temperature 3 large eggs and 1 egg yolk
- Sugar – granulated sugar
- Oil – vegetable oil, I use corn oil or sunflower oil or you could use a light olive oil
- Limoncello – either store bought or Homemade Limoncello – room temperature
- Lemon zest – one whole lemon
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.
Why use room temperature ingredients?
Room temperature ingredients help to produce light tender baked good, in this case a cake. The ingredients will come together smoother with a lump free batter. Room temperature egg whites beat up fluffier. Using cold ingredients could deflate the stiff egg whites.
How to make a Limoncello Cake
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl either with a hand mixer or a stand mixer beat the egg whites until stiff peaks appear.
In a large bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and creamy. Then add the oil, limoncello and zest, beat until smooth.
Stir the dry ingredients into the yolk mixture and combine, then gently fold in the egg whites until combined.
Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pan.
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached. Let cool in the pan for about 15-20 minutes then move to a wire rack to cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar or glazing.
If you want to fancy it up you could glaze it with a simple Lemon glaze. Combine some powdered sugar with a little lemon juice or limoncello and combine until smooth and desired thickness. Drizzle over the completely cooled cake.
What is the origin of Limoncello?
There are a few stories about the origin of Limoncello, the origin of the liqueur was born in Southern Italy at the Amalfi coast and also Sorrento. One story tells us that the great Sorrento families would always off their guests a taste of the then experimental limoncello.
Of course in the city of Amalfi there are those that insist that origin is even older. They say that limoncello was used by fishermen and farmers especially in the morning to fight the cold.
And thirdly there are some who say that the first recipe originated inside a monastery. Whatever story is true it cannot be argued that Limoncello has become part of Italian Culture all over the world.
To defend itself against imitations, it has the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). Meaning the authentic and original Limoncello is the one produced in the Sorrento area and only in some areas of Campania.
Limoncello FAQs
If you can’t find Limoncello then you can substitute with lemon flavored Vodka.
This cake can be baked either in a round cake pan, a bundt pan or even a loaf pan.
How to store a Homemade Cake
The cake should be stored in an airtight container or a covered cake dish. It will keep at room temperature for approximately 4-5 days, or keep it in the fridge for up to 5-6 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.
The cake can also be frozen. Wrap the cooled cake tightly in plastic and place in a freezer safe bag or container. It will keep for up to three months in the freezer.
I hope you enjoy it and if you have ever been to Cinque Terre or it’s on your bucket list, then this Limoncello Cake with its wonderful lemon flavor will be a tasty memory of your visit to Italy. Enjoy.
Homemade Limoncello Cake
Equipment
- 1 hand beaters or stand mixer
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all purpose flour or cake/pastry flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1 egg yolk (room temperature)
- 1½ cups + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (325 grams total, if you double the recipe then double this amount)
- ½ cup vegetable oil (I use corn oil or sunflower oil) you could substitute with light olive oil
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons Limoncello (room temperature) (72 grams total, if you double the recipe then double this amount)
- zest 1 lemon (room temperature)
For room temperature, remove from fridge 45-60 minutes before using.
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350F (180C). Grease and flour a 9 inch (23 cm) bundt pan or 8 inch (20 cm) cake pan.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a medium bowl beat until stiff peaks appear the 3 egg whites.
- In a large bowl beat the 4 yolks and sugar until light and creamy (about 3-5 minutes). Then add the vegetable oil, limoncello and zest, beat until smooth.
- Stir the flour mixture into the yolk mixture and combine, then gently fold in the egg whites until combined. Spoon into the prepared cake pan. Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before dusting with powdered sugar. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Updated from September 8, 2018.
Hi..
So wanted to try this cake. .but much smaller. Was thinking of using 2 eggs and all other ingredients correspondingly.
and bake in a smaller pan. Is it okay to omit the egg yolk…will it make a difference?
Hi Oopa, ok I think it would be better to use 1 whole egg and and 1 yolk. The yolk adds moisture. So if you are halving the eggs then you also need to half all of the ingredients. Hope that helps. Let me know. Take care!
Hi Rosemary
I have made this cake countless times and it’s a winner light, fragrant and beautiful crumb. In Australia and I use self raising flour as it’s easy and I only add 220 gm sugar.
Served with a cheeky shot of Sorrento limoncello and an espresso makes a perfect afternoon
Hi Patricia, thanks so much, so glad you like the cake, sounds perfect how you serve it. Take care and have a great week!
I made this cake in a heart shaped pan for a Mother’s Day gathering. A bit nervous how it would turn out but it cooked perfectly. The texture was good, however a bit heavy and dense for my liking. Also, I eliminated a half cup of sugar so the sweetness wasn’t too much. It could have used more lemon flavor and if I make it again I might add a touch of lemon juice to the mixture. I don’t like powdered sugar toppings so I made a mascarpone/lemon spread which was, literally, the icing on the cake! Topped it off with freshly grated lemon rind and it was enjoyed by all.
Hi Lynda, thanks so much, yes Italian cakes are denser than other cakes. Good idea with the mascarpone spread. Take care.
I actually haven’t tasted to cake yet – but am so disappointed that it fell, especially after testing done, not sure what went wrong
Hi Christine, sometimes a cake will fall if your baking powder has expired, if you open the oven door too soon, if your oven is not heating at the correct temperature (you can check with a thermometer). Make sure your ingredients are room temperature that can help too. Hope that helps.
do you cool in the pan or cool on rack before dusting ?
Hi Denise, I usually cool in the pan, remove the cake then dust with powdered sugar.
Despite cooking this cake for 10 minutes more than suggested, the cake is wet inside. It tastes fine, my husband said it is one of the best cakes I ever made, but I know it isn’t right. I measured exactly. Could the problem be that the butter and sugar needed to be airier. Suggestion welcome.
Hi Helen, no it could be because your oven was too hot (the temperature could be off) or just bake it longer, if it’s browning on top too much, cover it with foil and continue baking until it’s set. Hope that helps. Glad you liked it though.
I have made this cake twice, and everyone loves it.
First time, I followed suggestion of less sugar, more limoncello, cake had good texture but still not enough lemon for me.
Second time, I added juice of one lemon to liquids. I actually added half to sugar/egg mix and half to oil/limoncello mix, delicious!!
Also, I made a limoncello syrup to drizzle over it and the crowd went wild!! (equal parts sugar/limoncello 1/2 cup, juice of 1 lemon, lemon rind), boil, cool)
The eggs DO make a difference. First time I used store bought, same issue as everyone else, second time I used fresh eggs and my mixture came creamy as described in original recipe.
Hi Martina, thanks so much for giving a well detailed response. Interesting on the fresh eggs. Take care.
I also did not get the light and creamy result when I beat yolks and sugar together. My mixture stayed bright yellow and granulated. Also can this cake be made with less sugar, it was Very sweet.
Hi Karen, I am starting to think it’s the difference between European eggs and North American, and yes you can remove some of the sugar, try with 1/2 a cup less. Let me know how it goes.
I cut the sugar back to 200 grams and upped the limoncello to 1/2 cup (there is sugar in the limoncello, too) and it came out great! Because sugar bakes as a liquid, anytime you reduce the amount of sugar you should increase your liquids, just FYI.
Tastes incredible! I had a problem with the sugar and yolk mixture though. It would not turn creamy even after 5 minutes. I ended up going about 8 or 9 minutes with no luck. Scared to overmix, I stopped at that point. My cake ended up deflating and not looking very pretty. I’m sure it was user error:). But again, tasted perfect and I wanted to eat the entire thing in one sitting!
Hi AW, I wonder if it has something to do with European eggs, if you do it again, just go for the 5 minutes. I am glad you liked the taste though. 🙂
Love it!
Thanks Kay, glad you liked it.
I made this cake today and it is fantastic!! Thanks!!
Hi Jacqui, thanks so much so glad you enjoyed it. Take care.
Do you use caster sugar, confectioners sugar or just granulated? I cannot get the yolks and the granulated sugar to get creamy (stays granulated), even after beating for about ten minutes. (Can’t say I didn’t try!), I noticed someone else had this same comment. Thank you for any guidance.
Hi DS, I used granulated sugar, creamy meaning it after about 3-5 minutes the mixture becomes lighter and thicker. I hope that helps.
This didn’t have much lemon flavor but it was very moist. Served with blackberries and raspberries so it was very pretty. Wouldn’t make again.
I added Lemon Curde to the recipe for an added kick.
I have a couple of questions I wanted to ask. I want to make this cake and I want to use a angel food cake pan. What size? A nine or 10 inch? Can I use that? And also if I wanted to use lemon curd how much would I use for this recipe?
Hi Angela, I would go with a 9 inch pan and it should be fine. Do you mean a lemon curd for a filling? That would depend on how much filling you like. I assume 1-1 1/2 cups. Let me know how it goes.
Wonderful recipe. I made the cake. Crust was crumbly when I cut it, so the next time I tried cupcakes. Still delicious, but the top wasn’t as beautiful and I missed all the crunch of the crust. Stick with the bundt pan. Thanks.
Hi Beth, thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it.