Lemon Cake a delicious moist Italian Cake, and all you need is a tablespoon for measurement. Fast and Easy and so good. The perfect Breakfast, Snack or Dessert Cake Recipe.
Lemon Cake
Lemon CakeGive me a tablespoon and I will give you a Cake! A delicious moist Lemon Cake at that.
I first tried this cake a little while ago at a friend’s house. To tell the truth it was delicious but a little on the sweet side for me. But that didn’t stop me from asking for the recipe.
And as it turned out this was another one of those you-gotta-love “Italian Desserts”.
This Tablespoon Lemon Cake was along the same lines as my Easy Yogurt Cake that was given to me in yogurt cup measurements! But this cake is actually called Torta dei 12 Cucchiai / 12 Tablespoon Cake.
I actually remade this cake a few times until I got it right, or as the Italian declared now this is a Lemon Cake!
And that was to bring a couple of ingredients down to 10 tablespoons instead of 12, and to add a little more of this and a little less of that.
And that is why it’s called the “Tablespoon Cake”.
How to make Lemon Cake
- Beat egg and sugar until light and fluffy
- add zest and juice, milk, oil and combine
- Add flour and baking powder and beat until smooth
- Pour into prepared cake or bundt pan and bake.
- Simple, Easy and so good! And all you need is a tablespoon!
Italian Lemon Cake
If you have noticed Italians are not big on lots of creams or frostings. A simple dusting of powder sugar is all that is needed on most desserts.
Unless of course we are talking about Tiramisu. But again it is not an overly sweet dessert.
What baking pans can I use for this Cake?
- An 8 inch or 9 inch round cake pan.
- An 8 inch bundt pan.
- An 8 x 8 x 1 1/2 inch (20 x 20 x 4 cm) square pan.
- A 9 inch Loaf pan.
More Delicious Lemon Dessert Recipes
Tips for making this Lemon Cake a success
When I received comments from readers who have tried this cake and it rose and then when it came out of the oven it sank, I really wanted to discover why this was happening. So …
I decided to make it changing up my beating speed. I started out beating the eggs and sugar on low speed but then turned up to medium high. I continued to beat the ingredients going from medium to medium high.
And yes the cake rose and then sank almost immediately once it was out of the oven.
I then made the cake again, this time beating the whole time on low speed (speed #1) and the cake came out perfect. So remember beat on low speed, and the eggs and sugar must be beaten at least 5-7 minutes. All ingredients should be room temperature.
If you are having trouble with this cake, a reader mentioned beating the flour into the mixture by hand instead of with a mixer. A whisk or spatula would work for this.
Be sure to watch the Video at the top of the post!
Should I add make at own risk?! 🙂
How to adjust the recipe for high altitude
- Decrease baking powder by 1/8 teaspoon
- Decrease sugar by 1/2 tablespoon
- Increased both oil and milk by 1 tablespoon each
- And increase the temperature to 375F. Thanks to Linda for writing in and letting me know.
I use both lemon juice and lemon zest in this recipe. Some insist that the zest has more lemon flavour than the juice.
The zest is the oil of the lemon and is therefore filled with the pure lemon flavour.
The juice holds the acidic tart taste of the lemon. Just be sure to grate only the yellow part of the lemon and no white part. The white part will add only bitterness. And you don’t want that!
So grab your tablespoon and let’s make a Lemon Cake. Enjoy!
Tablespoon Italian Lemon Cake
Ingredients
- 24 tablespoons all purpose flour (1 1/2 cups) (195 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 16 tablespoons sugar (1 cup) (200 grams)
- 2 large eggs*
- zest one lemon*
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice*
- 10 tablespoons vegetable oil (your choice I use corn or sunflower oil) (105 grams)
- 10 tablespoons milk* (133 grams)
TOPPING
- 2-3 tablespoons Icing/powdered sugar for dusting finished cooled cake
*Room temperature, remove from the fridge 45-60 minutes before using.
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350F (180C), grease and flour an 8 or 9 inch cake (20-22 cm)
- In a small bowl whisk together the flour and baking powder.
- In a large bowl beat on low to medium speed (low is best but no higher then medium speed) sugar and eggs until very fluffy and light. Approximately 5 minutes.
- Then add the zest, juice, oil and milk, beat until combined. Then add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until smooth.
- Pour into prepared cake pan and bake for approximately 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan then remove to a cake plate.
- Let cool completely before dusting with powdered / icing sugar. Enjoy!
**All tablespoons (and teaspoon) are level not heaping.
Notes
Nutrition
Nancy Ely says
Could rice flour be substituted?
Rosemary says
Hi Nancy, no sorry it won’t work, because there is no gluten in rice flour it won’t turn out.
Jo-Ann says
I just made this cake and it smells divine. If I wanted a larger cake could I just double the amounts?
Rosemary says
Hi Jo-Ann, thanks so much, I hope you like it, and yes just double the ingredients.
RL says
I haven’t tried this recipe yet but am interesting in doing so. But in trying to figure out how one slice has 19 gm of saturated fat: I’m just not seeing it. Can you please confirm or reverify the saturated fat calculation?
I was hoping that by seeking out recipes with no many eggs, no butter, good quality oil, that a piece of cake would not blow out a daily allotment of saturated fat. I have looked up the total amount of saturated fat in the fatted components: the oil (~1.8 gm/slice), the egg (~2.5 gm/slice), the milk (~0.5 gm/slice) – it doesn’t seem to add up to a whopping 19 gm saturated fat.
So your clarification would really be helpful to people like me who are seeking a treat of cake without fearing the fat. many thanks!!
Rosemary says
Hi RL it could be off, it isn’t necessarily 100%. Your calculations seem more accurate. Thanks
Karla says
I made an Italian dinner for my husband’s birthday and found this cake for dessert. I followed the instructions to beat on low/medium low and mixed the flour in by hand with a whisk. It turned out perfectly. I used a microplane for the zest. This had a wonderful lemony flavor and great texture. We’ll be having this cake again. My husband loved it.
Rosemary says
Thanks so much Karla, so glad you both enjoyed it. And Happy Birthday to your husband. Have a great weekend.
Wendy Simpson says
Hi! I only have a 10 inch bundt pan. Will this turn out ok or can you suggest some modifications to the recipe for the larger size?
Rosemary says
Hi Wendy, It should work in the bundt pan. Let me know how it goes.
Liz says
I was hoping to use this recipe today until I noticed the confusing instruction regarding the pan size. a 8 or 9 inch cake pan then Make sure you use the correct size pan, I use a 7 inch bundt pan, anything larger than a 7-8 (preferable 7 inch) will just come out flat. Also for a regular bundt cake I question the amount of 1 1/2 cups of flour!
Rosemary says
Hi Liz, sorry about that, I have corrected it, it should be 8 or 9 inch will work just fine. I hope you like it.
Suzanne says
This looks delicious, thank you for sharing!