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Simple Glazed Sourdough Lemon Cake

Somewhere between a dessert and a quick bread, this sourdough lemon 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 original sourdough discard recipes and still one of my very favorites.

close up view of sliced sourdough lemon pound cake

Glazed Sourdough Lemon Cake

A sweet and delicious lemon cake with a crackly yummy glaze. Do not skip the glaze, the cake relies heavily on it!
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Serving Size 12 slices

Ingredients 

For the Cake

  • ½ cup vegetable oil (or melted butter)
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • cups flour
  • 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

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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.
    large mixing bowl with oil, eggs, sugar
  • 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.
    finished cake batter in mixing bowl
  • 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.
    brown, baked cake

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.
    thick lemon glaze with zest
  •  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.
    wire rack with glazed cake

Video

Notes

Having trouble with your cake sinking?  Try adding a teaspoon of baking soda along with the powder.  Cakes can also sink if they are underbaked: this recipe looks very browned before it bakes through.
Can be frozen if allowed to cool completely and then wrapped tightly.  Glaze after it’s defrosted.
Be sure to try cinnamon sugar blueberry sourdough muffins if you love this cake!
Calories: 242kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 259mg | Potassium: 47mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 64IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 1mg

The beauty of this recipe is that it’s simple enough to make all the time. Afternoon tea party, spring breakfast time, after school snack, whenever.

close up of sliced lemon loaf on wooden board.

There’s no need to wait for anything to ferment or activate or rise; your discard can go straight from the fridge to your mixing bowl.

Kitchen Wisdom

There’s something wonderfully frugal about this cake it turns something you might throw away into something delicious. Just like our grandmothers would save bread ends for pudding or whey from cheesemaking for baking, we’re putting that excess starter to work.

Tips for Success

Let the cake cool for exactly 15 minutes before glazing so the glaze to partially sinks in but still creates a nice finish.

Don’t skimp on the lemon zest – it’s where most of the flavor comes from.

A few readers have noted that their lemon cake has collapsed after baking. Since receiving that feedback, I’ve added some baking soda to the recipe to help leaven it further.

The baking soda is optional and will produce a lighter cake. I never use the baking soda. I prefer it with only baking powder because it has a denser, more pound cake-like texture.

The two most common causes of this are an underdone cake or inactive baking powder/ baking soda. Make sure your cake is fully baked by using a cake tester or a toothpick and remember that baking powder and baking soda should be replaced every 6 months.

finished cake in loaf pan.
this cake is fully baked and is deep golden brown

The cake will look quite brown before it’s fully baked trust your cake tester more than the color. If it’s underbaked it will sink when you pull it out.

Ingredients and Equipment

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Sourdough discard: Can be used straight from the fridge – any level of activity is fine 

Fresh lemons: Essential for both juice and zest – bottled juice won’t give you the same bright flavor

Baking powder: Must be fresh (within 6 months) for proper rise

oil, milk, lemons, starter, flour, sugar, on wooden board

 Equipment: While an electric mixer makes things easier, you can make this by hand. A loaf pan or 9×9 square pan both work beautifully

 Boston International Ceramic Nesting Prep Bowls, 3 Sizes, Painterly Lemons Original Heart Bread Loaf Pan Stoneware Loaf Pan, Green Meatloaf Pan, Loaf Pans For Baking Bread, Nonstick Bread Pans, Retangular Bread Baking Pan for Kitchen Lemon Zester Grater, Citrus Zester Grater with Handle, Kitchen Gadgets for Cheese, Lemon, Chocolate, Nutmeg, Ginger, Fruit, Vegetable, Stainless Steel Micro Cheese Grate, Dishwasher Safe(Narrow)

 

Make It Your Own

  • Swap the lemon for orange or lime.
  • Add 1/2 cup of poppy seeds for a classic lemon poppyseed loaf.
  • Try melted butter instead of oil for a richer flavor.

Storage & Serving

Perfect for breakfast with coffee, as an afternoon snack, or dressed up with whipped cream for dessert.

  • Keeps well at room temperature for 3 days when wrapped tightly
  • Freezes well; let it cool completely, wrap well, and freeze without the glaze. Add the glaze after thawing.
  • But for easier serving for snacks or busy mornings, I like to glaze and slice the cake them wrap and freeze individual slices.

Common Questions

Why did my cake sink in the middle?

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.

How can I tell it’s fully baked?

A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean, and the cake should spring back when lightly pressed.

Like all the best recipes, this cake is quick for busy weekdays but good enough for company. Keep this one in your back pocket, and be sure to let me know how you like it.

another view of cake.
picture of smiling female

By Katie Shaw

Katie lives in Virginia with her husband, three daughters, a chocolate lab, and over thirty chickens. She loves creating simple tutorials for sourdough, bread, and soap. Her recipes, articles, and YouTube videos reach millions of people per year.

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Recipe Rating




241 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Delicious! Definitely double this recipe if you plan on sharing. I followed the original recipe and didn’t add any baking soda. It depoofed a bit but didn’t shrink, a minute or two longer in the oven would have worked – next time! I did add a tablespoon of poppyseeds when I stirred in the lemon juice and zest. This recipe is a keeper!

  2. I was super excited about this recipe. I’m only a year into baking with sourdough but I love it so much. I travel around in Pinterest to find unusual was of using discard. I am in love with this cake. I wish I’d have had lemon zest buti did not. Next and that a definitely yes I will make again. Years ago we recieved a subscription someone had gotten us at Christmas. It was a lemon cake covered in dark chocolate frosting. This texture of cake reminds me of it. I’m definitely going to make a chocolate glaze to pour over next round.
    Thanks lovin sourdough

  3. 5 stars
    Holy crap this was amazing everyone loved it. I didn’t have a real lemon so I used bottled lemon juice and organic lemon extract instead and it worked fabulously. I also used active starter instead of discard just for fun and it came out so light and fluffy. Definitely making this one again thank you for sharing your recipe!!

      1. 5 stars
        I just made this and went to rate it because it came out so perfectly. I noticed I already left a comment last year though lol 😂 but apparently I made the same adjustments and it came out just as perfectly as last time. This time though I did use cake flour instead of AP and it worked very nicely too. Thanks again again!

  4. 2 stars
    Not sure what happen? I measured everything by weight and followed the recipe to the tee. It came out dense and not much flavor. Because of all the other comments were outstanding, I thought great, I’ll give it a try. For me, I would not make it again. Maybe you will have better luck, if you want to try making it.

  5. 5 stars
    I’ve made this cake twice. The second time I used orange zest & juice. Both cakes came out perfect. Thank for sharing your recipe, it’s a keeper in my personal cookbook.

  6. 5 stars
    I made this a while ago and it was a huge hit. I’d like to make it again. Do you think it can be made into a bundt cake?

  7. 5 stars
    I have been meaning to make this for months and finally did! It was delicious and I’m bummed I waited so long to make it. It’s moist and dense and not overly sweet. I’m going to make it again next week and double it to put one in the freezer!

  8. Delicious! I substituted buttermilk for the milk and doubled the lemon juice & zest. I did not add baking soda. A perfect, dense pound cake. I will definitely make this recipe again. Thanks!

  9. 5 stars
    I’ve made this twice and it’s come out perfect each time. I use coconut sugar and I use a very sweet EVOO that you can bake with. I also added the tsp. of baking soda as suggested. I’m diabetic the use of coconut sugar and Anna Flour make this a nice treat that barely messes with my levels. But only one slice a day!

  10. 5 stars
    Just made this today. I prefer muffins, so I baked 16 muffins at 25-30 minutes. They turned out great, really delicious! Thanks for the recipe to use up sourdough discard!

  11. Thanks for this recipe. Mine is still in the oven but is behaving strangely. Can you share what size loaf pan you used? I think that may be my issue.

  12. 4 stars
    I made this yesterday & it turned out great! I used honey instead of sugar, coconut oil, and added cinnamon + nutmeg. I mixed it all together & still turned out very well. The crumb was fairly dense, similar to pound cake, but that’s probably because I didn’t use granulated sugar / baking soda. I might also try cake flour next time for a more fluffy texture.

    1. thanks for writing this! I was searching the comments to see if anyone had added blueberries. Did you coat your cranberries with flour before adding them?

  13. 5 stars
    Great recipe!! The only changes I would make next time is more lemon juice and zest in the cake. I couldn’t pick up on the lemon flavor. The glaze was perfection. Mine did fall (right before my eyes), but it wasn’t that big of a deal to me. Turns out my baking powder was expired. I’m having so much fun with my sourdough starter. Thanks for the great recipe!!