Somewhere between a dessert and a quick bread, this lemon loaf cake mixes up quickly and gives you a nice moist loaf. But the really good part is the lemony sugar glaze that you pour on top while it’s still warm. So good. Often imitated, never duplicated, it’s one of my most popular recipes and still one of my very favorites.
Some of the best sourdough discard recipes are breakfast recipes, because sourdough bakers typically discard and feed their starter in the morning. And this lemon cake makes the perfect breakfast (or snack! or dessert!) that the whole family will love.
There’s no sour taste, just a bright lemon flavor and plenty of sweetness and tartness from the glaze.
Get a Free + Pretty PDF Recipe Book
Sourdough Sunday Newsletter
Every Sunday evening I’ll send you a sourdough recipe to make that week, straight from my kitchen to your inbox.
And as a thank you for signing up, I’ll send you this e-book with beautiful printable recipes right away. Simple!
You will not be added to any other email lists or my daily newsletter. But if you’re already on my newsletter, you’re welcome to join and receive both.
Table of Contents
Ingredients and Tools You’ll Need
I’ve included baking soda as an optional addition because some readers have reported their cake collapsing after baking. This is usually because your cake is underbaked! But if you want a lighter texture (more of a quick bread), you can add baking soda. I prefer this recipe with just baking powder, which gives more of a pound cake texture.
For the Cake:
- ½ cup vegetable oil (or melted butter)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1½ cups flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ cup sourdough starter discard can be used straight from the fridge
- ¾ cup milk
For the Glaze:
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
Optional Addition:
- 1 teaspoon baking soda add this if you want a lighter cake or if yours has sunk before
You can double this recipe and make two loaves or one larger cake in a 13×9. If you’re looking for a frosted cake for a party, you might prefer this sourdough lemon sheet cake with buttercream frosting.
In the recipe card at the bottom of this post, you can click the 2x button and it will double the ingredients for you.
How to Make
This recipe is easy as can be.
Baking the Cake
Go ahead and preheat your oven to 350 with the rack in center.
Prepare your pan with non stick cooking spray. I like to use a loaf pan so it feels acceptable to serve this lemon cake as a breakfast. But a square cake pan works very well too!
Combine the oil, sugar, and eggs, in a bowl with an electric mixer. It will just take a minute.
In a separate bowl, mix up the dry ingredients, including the baking soda if you’re using it. Add them to the sugar mixture ⅓ at a time. So add ⅓ of the dry ingredients, then stir in the milk. Add another third, stir in the sourdough starter. Add the last third and gently stir.
Finally, mix in the lemon juice and zest by hand. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake the cake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The top will crack. If you’re using a square cake pan, it will be done in 40-50 minutes.
Set the cake, still in its pan, onto a cooling rack and let it cool for about 15 minutes.
Making the Glaze
While the cake is cooling, let’s mix up the glaze. It will all fit in just a small bowl.
Mix up ½ cup of powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, and 2 teaspoons of lemon zest.
Pour it over the slightly cooled cake while it’s still in the pan. After a few more minutes, the glaze will cool and harden. At this point, remove the cake and let it finish cooling on a cooling rack.
When completely cool, slice and serve!
You can always double this recipe and freeze one. Make sure it is fully cooled before you freeze it. Make the lemon glaze after it’s defrosted.
Storage Instructions
Keep this cake at room temperature for up to 3 days – just wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or store in an airtight container. The glaze actually helps keep it moist, so don’t skip it!
Freezing: This cake freezes beautifully for up to 3 months. Let it cool completely, wrap it well, and freeze WITHOUT the glaze. Add the glaze after thawing.
My favorite trick: Glaze and slice the whole cake, then wrap individual slices and freeze them. Perfect for grabbing one slice at a time for lunch boxes or quick snacks. They thaw in about 20 minutes on the counter.
Simple Swaps You Might like
- Make it blueberry lemon by folding in ¾ cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- Switch out the lemon for orange or lime (keep the amounts the same)
- Bake as muffins instead (bake about 20 minutes, makes 1 dozen)
Questions and Troubleshooting
Usually this means it’s slightly underbaked or your leavening agents aren’t fresh. Try adding a teaspoon of baking soda along with the powder for extra insurance.
A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean, and the cake should spring back when lightly pressed.
This recipe gets deep golden brown before it’s actually done – trust your toothpick over the color. Underbaked cake will sink when you pull it out.
Nope, that’s totally normal and actually a good sign it’s properly baked. The glaze will settle into those cracks and make it even more delicious.
Printable Recipe
Glazed Sourdough Lemon Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- ½ cup vegetable oil (or melted butter)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1½ cups flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ cup sourdough starter discard
- ¾ cup milk
For the Glaze
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
Instructions
Make the Cake
- Prep. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with the rack in the center. Prepare a loaf pan or 9 x 9 square cake pan with cooking spray.
- Wet ingredients. Combine the vegetable oil, eggs, and sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer until well combined.
- Dry ingredients and milk. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl and add to the sugar mixture 1/3 at a time, alternating with the milk and the sourdough starter. Mix on low until just combined. Stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest by hand. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake and cool. Bake for 50-60 minutes (for the loaf pan) or 40-50 minutes (for the square pan) until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes in the pan.
Make The Glaze
- In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice for the glaze. Pour over the still-warm cake.
- After the glaze has soaked in and hardened, remove cake from pan and allow to finish cooling on wire rack. Slice and serve once cool.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Love,
I’m looking forward to using my discard for this recipe but I only have mini loaf pans.
What would be the conversion for those?
I would guess about 45 minutes, but I would start checking at 35 🙂
Absolutely delicious! I love everything about this lemony sourdough loaf.
Hello! I have tons of sourdough starter waiting in my fridge to be used. Can I use the starter as is, straight out of the fridge or should I feed it first and wait a bit before making the recipe.
Thanks in advance.
straight from the fridge 🙂
I made this recipe a few weeks ago and it was amazing! I baked it again today and realized after the fact that you had altered it to add more baking soda. While it was still good, I much preferred the text slightly denser texture of the original recipe (I had zero trouble with it deflating). The new recipe felt a bit too soft and oily by comparison, and it browned much quicker. I did a full 60 minutes the first time, and on the second go the outside looked almost overdone by 50. It’s definitely a keeper, but next time around I’ll go back to just the baking powder.
I know, I like the denser more cakey texture too! But so many people were having the same issue! I’m going to just go back to the original and put a note in. ????
I made this last night and OH MY GOODNESS it is DELICIOUS!!!! No problems with cake sinkage either. I’ve been trying out all kinds of sourdough recipes while we shelter in place and absolutely loved this! Thank you!!!!
I’m so happy to hear this Meggie! Happy sourdough-ing 🙂
First time using sourdough starter for cake. Loved how it turned out—soft and moist. Thanks.
yay I’m glad you’ve found a new use for your starter!
super simple to make. great way to use your discard! And the taste is fabulous. I especially loved the glaze. Very refreshing!
Wonderful! So glad you found a new use for that sourdough discard!
Hmm… I tried this recipe today. The lemon cake looked perfect in the oven, I used a loaf pan, adjusted the oven temperature to 325, baked 70 minutes until golden brown, toothpick came out clean, glazed while hot, then the cake fell flat, like others experienced. Wondering if the recipe needs baking soda in addition to baking powder and salt due to the sourdough starter. Still cooling. May try again another day. Thanks for sharing your lovely recipe. I’m looking forward to my first taste.
hi Leslie! this is so mysterious to me as we make this cake all time and yet other have had the same problem! next time I make it I will add baking soda and if it still taste fine I will. add it to the recipe. thanks for letting me know 🙂
Hi Katie, I was wondering if it would be possible to replace the baking powder with baking soda and what the ratio would be? I know they work slightly differently, but with shortages I haven’t been able to find any baking powder in stores..
Thank you!
yes, as long as you are adding the lemon juice to the recipe! they will react and perform similarly to baking powder. 🙂
Hi there
Wondering if you can use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil?
yes that should work fine, but I’ve never tried it personally 🙂
Tired of biscuits and pretzels so I googled and made this. It’s soooo good. Even all 3 of my girls love it. They said it was better than “coffee shop” lemon loaf 😉
aw yay! this is my girls favorite too!
Followed exactly as directed and it turned out fabulous!! Delicious and easy!
The weirdest thing happened! I took my loaf out of the oven, and it looked beautiful! I mean it could have been in a cookbook! And no more than seconds later, it collapsed! What happened?
yikes! the most frequently reason for this is that it underbaked. Here is a really helpful article about this: https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/aug/05/fine-cooking-offers-tips-to-avoid-sunken-quick/
Made this tonight and it was fantastic! I made some modifications to make it vegan (1Tbsp flax meal + 2.5Tbsp water to replace each egg, and equal volume of oat milk for the milk) and it turned out perfectly. Will definitely be making it again.
I’m so glad! thank you for the vegan modifications 🙂
Thank you for this! I’m going to make it tomorrow morning now that I know I can make it vegan!!!
I could really use some help here. The cake rose beautifully in the oven, I baked it at 350 F for 60 minutes. Used a toothpick to check, but the cake collapsed after it came out of the oven.
Any suggestions would really be appreciated. I’d like to make it again. Very good flavour. ????
Erika, I’m sorry that happened! I’ve never experienced that with this recipe, but I have had things like banana bread collapse on me. Did you use a loaf pan or cake pan? The two biggest reasons something like this would happen are 1. the cake wasn’t totally cooked (but it sounds like it your case it was) 2. your oven is running hot. I found this article which might help https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/aug/05/fine-cooking-offers-tips-to-avoid-sunken-quick/
Thanks so much, I’ll give it a try
What size loaf pan will work best?
mine is 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2
Made this recipe adding some crushed up frozen raspberries and it was a huge hit with my husband and especially my 7 year-old son!
Have you tried it as muffins?
I never have but I bet it would be delicious! the only issue would be the glaze
I am going to try muffins tonight. Any suggestions on changing the cooking time???
My husband and I just had our first slices of this delicious cake. I’ve been baking up a sourdough storm, and this easy and thrifty recipe has definitely earned a place in our regular rotation. It’s the perfect combination of moist, sweet, and a little tangy. I will serve it with pride!
Victoria, thank you so much for letting me know! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I was looking for ways to use my sourdough discard because I didn’t want to waste it and this was incredible! I am so glad I found this recipe. It is so easy and so good… I think I could eat the whole loaf!
I’m so glad you liked the recipe! I agree, its so hard to waste the discard, especially now
I made this today and the family loved it. What a great way to use up discard!
I replaced half of the butter with unsweetened applesauce, which made it denser but still tasty.
I also bumped the lemon juice up to a tablespoon as we love our lemons here ????
that sounds delicious! glad you liked the recipe 😉