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One Layer Lemon Sour Cream Cake

April 16, 2020 By Lokness 21 Comments

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.

One Layer Lemon Sour Cream Cake #cake #lemon #sourcream #easyrecipe #frosting #baking #easydessert #dessert #dessertrecipe | The Missing Lokness

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.

One Layer Lemon Sour Cream Cake #cake #lemon #sourcream #easyrecipe #frosting #baking #easydessert #dessert #dessertrecipe | The Missing Lokness

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.

One Layer Lemon Sour Cream Cake #cake #lemon #sourcream #easyrecipe #frosting #baking #easydessert #dessert #dessertrecipe | The Missing Lokness

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 #cake #lemon #sourcream #easyrecipe #frosting #baking #easydessert #dessert #dessertrecipe | The Missing Lokness
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4.84 from 6 votes

One Layer Lemon Sour Cream Cake

1 (9-inch) round cake
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword baking, dessert, easy dessert, lemon cake, lemon frosting, lemon sour cream cake, one layer cake, sour cream cake
Servings 8 people
Author Lokness

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

  1. You can use a square baking pan for this recipe as well.
  2. 1 tablespoon lemon zest is about zest of 2½ lemons. I would get 5 lemons for this recipe. 
  3. For storage, cake can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. Let the cake comes down to room temperature before serving.
(Cake recipe adapted from Recipe Girl)
(Frosting recipe adapted from Cupcake Project)

Filed Under: Cook, Dessert/Sweet Tagged With: baking, cake, dessert, easy, lemon, one layer cake, sour cream

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. linda Shapiro says

    April 17, 2020 at 1:12 pm

    5 stars
    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.

    Reply
    • Lokness says

      April 17, 2020 at 3:17 pm

      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. ?

      Reply
      • linda Shapiro says

        April 17, 2020 at 3:54 pm

        5 stars
        Hi
        Yes the Cake is Delicious. Thank you.!!!!!

        Reply
        • Lokness says

          April 21, 2020 at 7:18 am

          So happy to hear that! Thank you for trying it out! ?

          Reply
  2. Oona says

    July 15, 2020 at 8:38 pm

    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!

    Reply
    • Lokness says

      July 16, 2020 at 10:17 am

      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! ☺️❤️

      Reply
      • Debbie says

        January 26, 2025 at 11:30 pm

        Can you freeze any leftover frosting

        Reply
        • Lokness says

          January 27, 2025 at 6:42 am

          Hi Debbie, I haven’t tried that, but you should be able to.

          Reply
  3. Pam S. says

    October 12, 2020 at 7:03 pm

    5 stars
    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)!!

    Reply
    • Lokness says

      October 13, 2020 at 3:41 pm

      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! ?

      Reply
  4. Mary says

    January 3, 2021 at 3:57 am

    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!

    Reply
    • Lokness says

      January 3, 2021 at 9:04 am

      Thank you so much Mary! We love this cake and so glad you do too. Have a great day! ☺️

      Reply
  5. Donna J Levenstien says

    February 5, 2021 at 5:36 pm

    5 stars
    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!

    Reply
    • Lokness says

      February 8, 2021 at 1:58 pm

      Thank you Donna! This is one of my favorite cakes. I’m so happy to know you enjoyed it too. Have a wonderful week! ?

      Reply
    • Jackie says

      August 15, 2022 at 3:53 pm

      Going to try this soon, has anyone added blueberries? If so any changes to suggest?

      Reply
      • Lokness says

        August 16, 2022 at 12:18 pm

        Hi Jackie, blueberry is a great idea! Love to hear how it comes out. I wouldn’t change anything.

        Reply
        • Julia says

          May 31, 2025 at 12:44 pm

          I added sugared blueberries around the base of the cake.

          Reply
  6. Jaime says

    May 12, 2025 at 6:52 pm

    5 stars
    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!!

    Reply
    • Lokness says

      May 13, 2025 at 7:41 am

      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. 😜

      Reply
  7. Julia says

    May 31, 2025 at 12:40 pm

    4 stars
    A bit too much frosting, but I love good frosting! I put it all on! Haven’t eaten it yet, but it smells divine!

    Reply

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  1. 2020 Top 6 Recipes | The Missing Lokness says:
    December 31, 2020 at 11:34 am

    […] One Layer Lemon Sour Cream Cake – This easy cake is made with mostly baking pantry items. All you need to get are lemons & […]

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