Either for a celebration or for no reason, this One Layer Lemon Sour Cream Cake will bring you a little happiness. Moist & citrusy. The recipe uses mostly basic baking pantry items. All you need to grab are lemons and sour cream.
Hey, it’s me! I’m back with a new recipe this week.
It has been a month since we’re shelter in place. Although I have lots of time on hands, it’s not easy to do recipe testing. Some ingredients have been hard to find at times, like eggs, milk, cheese, pork, pasta, brown sugar, and yeast. I’m trying my best and hope you will bare with me.
Luckily, this cake doesn’t require too many ingredients. Outside of the normal baking pantry items, lemons and sour cream are all you need to get. An easy & tasty cake is what we really want right now. Either for a birthday celebration, anniversary or no particular reason, this cake will bring you a little happiness.
This cake is fairly basic. Beat the butter with sugar, then add eggs, sour cream, lemon zest & lemon juice. Combine dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Bake until toothpick comes out pretty clean. Frosting is a buttercream with a bit of sour cream, lemon zest & lemon juice. It’s creamy with a hint of citrus flavor & sourness. Cake is very moist with the help of sour cream.
It’s a rustic cake, so I’m keeping the decoration simple. I just ran an icing spatula through the frosting back and forth to create a stripe pattern. Nothing fancy, but looked decent. If you have some berries on hand, you can definitely put a few on top. Also, this cake can be store in the fridge if you can’t finish. Let it come back to room temperature before serving.
Hope this cake will be satisfying and brighten up your day. Stay healthy! ❤️
One Layer Lemon Sour Cream Cake
Ingredients
- 180 grams all purpose flour (1½ cups)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 113 grams unsalted butter (at room temperature)(1 stick)
- 198 grams sugar (1 cup)
- 2 large eggs (at room temperature)
- 113 grams sour cream (1/2 cup)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Lemon Sour Cream Frosting:
- 226 grams unsalted butter (at room temperature)(2 sticks)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1½ tablespoons lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 170 grams powdered sugar (1½ cups)
- 57 grams sour cream (at room temperature)(¼ cup)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F (177˚C). Lightly grease a 9-inch round baking pan. Line the bottom with a parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
- In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth. Add sugar and beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down the side of bowl as needed. Add sour cream, lemon zest and lemon juice, beat for 1 minute. Add flour mixture and beat on medium speed for 25 seconds. The mixture is thick. Use a spatula to fully incorporate the flour if needed.
- Transfer the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Remove from oven and let the cake cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
- For the frosting, in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and salt. Mix again. Add powdered sugar and beat over high speed until smooth with no lumps. Add sour cream and vanilla, and beat for 1 more minute to combine.
- To assemble, run a sharp knife around the edges of the cake pan and invert the cake into a plate or your hand. Remove the parchment paper. Place the cake on a cake stand or large plate. Spoon about ¾ of the frosting over the top of the cake. Add more frosting if needed. Gently smooth the top with a spatula and creat stripe pattern if desired. Serve.
Notes
- You can use a square baking pan for this recipe as well.
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest is about zest of 2½ lemons. I would get 5 lemons for this recipe.
- For storage, cake can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. Let the cake comes down to room temperature before serving.
Hi I just made this cake- smells delicious- waiting after dinner to try. I have to say tho – the recipe made way too much frosting – way too much, I have enough for another cake. I followed everything as written. I have to question the “2 sticks of butter”? is this correct? The frosting was very “fluffy”.
Excited to try this after dinner tonight.
Hi Linda, I can’t wait for you to try the cake. Let me know how you like it.
For the frosting, I did use 2 sticks of butter. I used about 3/4 of the frosting total. I prefer a thicker layer of frosting on top. Not as much as a cupcake, but a decent amount. Some people like to have even more. So I make sure the recipe includes a good amount of frosting. But you don’t have to use all of it. ?
Hi
Yes the Cake is Delicious. Thank you.!!!!!
So happy to hear that! Thank you for trying it out! ?
My five year old who won’t eat anything decided he wanted lemon cake out of the blue. We tried FIVE different online recipes and this one was BY FAR the best. We’ve now made it four times, although we make cupcakes instead of a cake and simply reduce the baking time by about 10 minutes. Also, I don’t add sour cream in the frosting, as per my five year-old’s taste. I’ve even substituted with cassava flour as a gluten-free guiltless option and that works too. I will now make virtually anything you put online because you are a genius. Thanks for the taste of sunshine in these otherwise challenging times!
Awww, thank you so much for the sweet comment, Oona! I’m so happy that you & your son enjoyed this cake! I’m excited to find out that even cassava flour work with this recipe. Thank you for letting me know. Oona, you have made my day! Stay safe & healthy! ☺️❤️
Can you freeze any leftover frosting
Hi Debbie, I haven’t tried that, but you should be able to.
I made this cake after trying another recipe with disappointing results. I doubled it to make a 2 layer cake and it turned out great – very happy with the final product. Thanks for a great birthday cake (for me)!!
Happy Belated Birthday Pam! So glad to know that you’re happy with the result. Thank you for giving the recipe a try! Hope you had a wonderful birthday! ?
that is one AMAZING cake! Just the perfect size, followed the directions exactly~except only used one stick of unsalted butter for frosting, came out great! The lemon is not overpowering, I will definitely make this again! Thank you!
Thank you so much Mary! We love this cake and so glad you do too. Have a great day! ☺️
Love lemon and this cake and icing were easy and very satisfying. I made it in a square pan and kept all ingredients the same. I did use all of the frosting…I had all ingredients on hand and was very satisfied with my choice. Thank you
Lokness!
Thank you Donna! This is one of my favorite cakes. I’m so happy to know you enjoyed it too. Have a wonderful week! ?
Going to try this soon, has anyone added blueberries? If so any changes to suggest?
Hi Jackie, blueberry is a great idea! Love to hear how it comes out. I wouldn’t change anything.
I added sugared blueberries around the base of the cake.
This cake was incredible! So delicious, melt in your mouth. It was easy to make. I served it for dessert on Mother’s Day and it was a bit hit! I decorated the top with fresh raspberries and edible flower sprinkles. Since there were no leftovers I might make one just for myself ha ha!!
Thank you for the sweet comment, Jaime! Love to hear that you enjoyed the cake. Haha, I won’t tell anyone that you make another one for yourself. 😜
A bit too much frosting, but I love good frosting! I put it all on! Haven’t eaten it yet, but it smells divine!