Tablespoon Italian Lemon Cake
This Italian Cake is a delicious moist Lemon Cake, originally made with a tablespoon to measure all the ingredients. It’s fast and easy and so good. The perfect breakfast, snack or even dessert Cake Recipe.
Give 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. It was delicious and of course I asked for the recipe. And as it turned out this was another one of those you-gotta-love “Italian Desserts” recipes.
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 Cucchiai / Tablespoon Cake.
Recipe Ingredients
- Flour – either all purpose or cake/pastry flour
- Baking powder – be sure it hasn’t expired
- Sugar – granulated
- Eggs – large and room temperature
- Lemon – zest and juice
- Vegetable Oil – I use corn or sunflower oil although I am sure a light olive oil would also work.
- Milk – either whole or 2% milk
- Powder/Icing Sugar – for dusting the cooled cake
How to make Pastry/Cake 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 a Lemon Cake
- Pre-heat oven to 350F (180C), grease and flour an 8 or 9 inch cake (20-23 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.
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. Although if you do want to fancy it up a bit for a dinner dessert you could add a scoop of ice cream or top it with this tasty Blueberry Sauce. Lemon and blueberry are a perfect combination!
Why bake with room temperature ingredients?
With cakes and other baking, it’s always better to use room temperature ingredients. So, take any cold ingredients out of the refrigerator an hour ahead of time or sooner if it’s cool in your kitchen. Room temperature ingredients blend easier, creating a silky batter, which will help to create a light tender baked good.
How to check if baking powder is still good
Place 1/2 teaspoon of powder in a small bowl, pour 1/4 cup of boiling water over it. It should bubble up immediately and very strongly, if it does it’s still good, if it doesn’t, time to buy a new tin.
What baking pans can I use for this Cake?
Be sure to grease and flour the pans very well especially a bundt pan, if it is a fancy one it will need extra attention so you get every crease.
- An 8 inch or 9 inch round cake pan.
- An 8 or 9 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.
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.
Never open the oven while the cake is baking before 30 minutes has passed, opening an oven door early can cause a cake to fall.
Bake the cake as soon as the batter has been mixed and poured into the pan, don’t let it stand around, this can also cause the cake to flatten.
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.
The difference between lemon juice and zest
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!
How to store the baked cake
Store the cooled baked cake at room temperate either wrapped in plastic or in a covered cake container. It will keep for up to 4 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 the 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.
So if you are looking to make an Italian cake then I hope you try this Lemon Cake recipe and be sure to let me know what you. Enjoy!
More Delicious Lemon Dessert Recipes
Tablespoon Italian Lemon Cake
Ingredients
- 24 tablespoons all purpose flour (1 ½ cups)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 16 tablespoons sugar (1 cup)
- 2 large eggs*
- zest one lemon*
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice*
- 10 tablespoons vegetable oil (your choice I use corn or sunflower oil) (½ cup + 2 tablespoons)
- 10 tablespoons milk* (½ cup + 2 tablespoons)
EXTRAS
- 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 round cake pan (20-23 cm).
- In a small bowl whisk together the flour and baking powder.
- In a large bowl beat on low speed sugar and eggs until very fluffy and light. Approximately 5 minutes.
- Then add the zest, juice, oil and milk, beat until combined on low speed. 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
Updated from May 30, 2018.
Could you use lemoncello instead of lemon juice?
Hi Judi, sure that would work too. Let me know how it goes.
This is absolutely amazing. Just really, really perfect.
Hi Nicola, thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it. Have a wonderful Sunday.
We have just devoured this cake! I reduced the sugar and added a handful of frozen blueberries in the batter at the end and a tablespoon of poppy seeds. I didn’t have the deflated cake and it turned out super fluffy and light! Delish!!! This recipe is is a keeper! This is completely unrelated but some ads keep popping up on your site and its impossible to get rid of them which is quite annoying. Even writing this review, I had the ad in the way and just couldn’t get rid of it.
Hi Nash, thanks so much so glad you enjoyed it. And thanks for letting me know about the ads, I will let them know. Take care.
I did the recipe exactly as written and found it to be not lemony enough and too sweet. The second time I added another tbsp of zest, did only 7 tbsp of oil and added 2 tsp of almond extract and it was perfect. I followed the directions of beating slow and I got a wonderfully moist and fluffy cake that rose nicely
The cake taste great but my bundt pan was too big so it was flat. We ate it anyway. I now see the suggestions.
I agree. The cake very nice but following the portion in the recipe yields a small flat cake. 1/2 the height of the pictures and I have a standard bundt pan. I do think I will reduce the sugar if i make this again.
I made this to celebrate my Birthday. I changed the flour to oat flour and used coconut oil and almond milk in order to make it gluten and dairy free. It came out super super moist and fluffy. I only cooked it for 25 min and it could’ve been baked a little longer, but it was a big hit in my household
Hi Tabitha, thanks so much, and thank you for letting me know about making it gluten free! Happy New Year.
I’m not a baker! This was a very informative article. Love all the details broken down.
Next time I was more of a lemon hit. Think I will double or even triple the zest.
Thanks for the ingredients.
Hi Hope thanks and yes you sure can double or triple it. 🙂
I stuck to the recipe using a kitchen scale and beating eggs and sugar on low for 6 minutes but the cake still sank. It tastes delicious and the texture is still fluffy but after a few minutes of coming out of the oven it sank. Regardless, I will enjoy it.
Hi Susanne, usually when cakes sink it could be because your oven temperature is off or your baking powder has expired. Let me know.
Could rice flour be substituted?
Hi Nancy, no sorry it won’t work, because there is no gluten in rice flour it won’t turn out.
I just made this cake and it smells divine. If I wanted a larger cake could I just double the amounts?
Hi Jo-Ann, thanks so much, I hope you like it, and yes just double the ingredients.
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!!
Hi RL it could be off, it isn’t necessarily 100%. Your calculations seem more accurate. Thanks
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.
Thanks so much Karla, so glad you both enjoyed it. And Happy Birthday to your husband. Have a great weekend.
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?
Hi Wendy, It should work in the bundt pan. Let me know how it goes.
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!
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.
This looks delicious, thank you for sharing!