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Magical Lemon Cake

Cakes· Desserts· Icing

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There is nothing like using a super easy reliable recipe, changing out one ingredient and it still working just as perfectly taste and texture wise!

Posted August 3, 2015, Updated December 17, 2025

Magical Lemon Cake with lemons

 

It was the case this weekend when I wanted to use up some gorgeous looking lemons from my parents tree, so I decided to play around with my Magical Orange Cake recipe and use Lemons instead, and it was a success.

So much so that I am going to try it with a few different sorts of fruits over the summer and see how I get on! I know many have tried this recipe with mandarins and it worked beautifully with those too.

This recipe is so easy that it is just 5 ingredients, one of these being whole lemons, you can easily use 3-4 small ones. But you read right, the entire lemon is used, except for the stalky bit at the top!

Magical Lemon Cake Slice

 

The downside was that my lemons had pips, so I had to do a fair bit of slicing and dicing to remove all of them – what I would do next time is work with the lemons over a bowl so that I do not lose any of the lovely juice while taking out pips! But it needs to be done as with this recipe the entire lemon goes in the cake!

I was not sure what effect this would have with the lemons bitterness compared with a sweet orange but I can assure you it is lovely, lemony & sweet.

Magical Lemon Cake

 

You could serve this cake in a loaf tin also with a lemon glaze over the top, using vanilla icing or as I have done here a subtle lemon icing to lift the flavours even further.

So here is the recipe, a food processer is needed for the blitzing of the lemon but you could easily do this in a blender and transfer the pulp to a bowl if need be.

Magical Lemon Cake Step by Step

 

So enjoy this simple one pot wonder of a cake!

Now for the Magical Lemon Cake recipe

Magical Lemon Cake

Magical Lemon Cake

Yield: 20
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

Delicious Lemon cake using whole lemons,

Ingredients

  • 2 Medium-Large Lemons, Meyer recommended, washed & pulped, skin and all! (I remove the green stalk bit , the pips and the hard end pieces of both ends) Or 3-4 small lemons
  • 125g Melted Butter
  • 1 Cup Sugar, 240 grams
  • 2 Medium Eggs
  • 1 1/2 Cups Self Raising Flour, 205 grams

Lemon Icing

  • 1 1/2 Cups Icing Sugar, 205 grams
  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp Vanilla
  • 1 tsp Butter Melted
  • Up to 1-3 TBSP water

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180 Degrees Celsius
  • Prepare a cake tin with baking spray - I use my ring tin, but you can easily substitute any 20-25cm tin
  • Blitz the washed, quartered lemons NOTE: remove all pips before you add to the food processor and search once blitzed for those you missed. Remove the pips over a bowl to ensure you do not lose any of the juice, fiddly but worth it!
  • Add the butter, sugar and eggs to the lemons and combine well
  • Add the Self Raising Flour to the mixture and blend until the mixture just comes together
  • Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 30-40 minutes - always checking early to ensure it does not overcook. Test with a knife or skewer to ensure the knife comes out clean or the cake springs back to the touch in the centre.
  • Remove from the oven to cool for 5-10 minutes
  • Remove cake from the tin to a wire rack and cool completely before icing.
  • ~~Lemon Icing~~
  • In a medium bowl add the Icing Sugar, melted butter, vanilla and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, stir to combine and add a tsp of water at a time until you have the consistency of stiff peanut butter. Taste the icing to see if it is lemony enough for you and add more lemon juice to the mixture if required. If flavour right but not spreadable enough add a few drops of water at a time until you have a lovely smooth spreadable icing.
  • Spread the icing over the cooled cake and store in an airtight container.
  • Enjoy!
    • Nutrition Information:
    Yield: 20 Serving Size: 1
    Amount Per Serving: Calories: 235Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 33mgSodium: 52mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 1gSugar: 43gProtein: 1g

    JustAMumNZ.com, occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although justamumnz.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

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    © Just a Mum
    Cuisine: New Zealand / Category: Cakes
    This recipe results in a light, fluffy delicious cake that I just know will become your favourite go to cake when the citrus is overflowing at your place!

    Magical Lemon Cake top view

     

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    Happy Baking!

    Anna

    Comments

    1. Bob (sir is optional) says

      Mine turned out a wee bit bitter, used medium to large Mayer lemons x 2 and all done exactly to the recipe. The cake was eatable and I do enjoy slightly tangy cakes. I did however notice that the pith was a bit thicker on the lemons used this year so maybe that’s where the extra tangy bite came from. My wife and I both thought maybe two small to medium lemons would be a great starting point for this recipe and if necessary upgrade to one small and one medium large lemon .
      Well that’s my ten cents worth .

      Reply

      • justamumnz says

        Hello Sir Bob, I think you are right in that the thick pith will cause the outcome to be more bitter, I hope it works out better for you next time. Anna 🙂

        Reply

    2. Jane says

      I made this with 2 meyer lemons and used oil instead of butter, turned out great! Another time I used 2 oranges (thin skin) and it had a slight after taste of bitterness similar to marmalade, it was OK but no one likes marmalade in my house, so I liked it better with the meyer lemons. funny I thought the lemons would be more bitter 🤷‍♀️ lol

      Reply

      • justamumnz says

        Have you seen my orange cake? Just uses one Orange, but it will depend on the Orange as to the taste. Not usually bitter.

        Reply

    3. Nicky says

      I’m not a baker, but this was amazing and so easy. A beautiful light moist masterpiece. I used one orange and one lemon.

      Reply

    5. Sharon Barr says

      Hi I have made lemon curd , how would this cake turn out if I used the lemons I have left over from the curd? they have some juice still left in then?

      Reply

    6. Sonia says

      I made this yesterday and it was a huge hit with my teenagers! Such a lovely texture and incredible flavours, and so easy to make in the kitchen whizz. This will be one I will make regularly. Thank you!

      Reply

      • justamumnz says

        I haven’t tested it with GF flour sorry but I do know many followers can substitute it in a lot of my recipes. Let me know how you get on.

        Reply

    9. Kathy says

      I have found if any sneaky pips get in then they make a bitter cake especially if they get whizzed thru the cake

      Reply

    10. Debra says

      Mine was great but when I cooled the cake it flopped. Not sure why. It still tasted good. Used a ring tin too. Will try again.

      Reply

      • Alice Meynell says

        I cooked mine at 160 in a fan oven for nearly an hour, it came out perfectly. If your cake flops it’s often because it’s cooked too hot, too quckly

        Reply

    12. Karl says

      Very much would depend where in the world lemons are being obtained from. Meyer lemons are sweet and not so much pith. If you tried this with lemons in the UK it’d be exceptionally bitter, too much pith and lemons are extremely sour here. Would need to boil the skins and change the water a number of times before use. Would be better just to zest the lemons and blend the fruit part, though that removes the magic aspect.

      Reply

      • Alice Meynell says

        I’ve just made it with four small UK lemons and it’s delicious. A little bitter, but in a very good citrussy lemony way. WIll definitely make it again. It doesnt need the icing i found, the texture is moist enough. I’d love to try it with Meyer lemons, but I highly recommend it with ordinary uk ones too! If you don’t like the bitterness, maybe use one orange with two lemons?

        Reply

    15. Sylvia says

      Sorry but this cake has turned out bitter and heavy…made exactly to the recipe..not happy at all with it. Can’t serve it to guests.

      Reply

      • justamumnz says

        I’m sorry to hear that. It does happen from time to time and appears to depend on a few factors. In this case it’s based on the lemons used. Normally it’s a light and fluffy cake.

        Reply

    16. Rob Pinington says

      After blitzing the lemon do you add the other ingredients into the food processor and mix them in there too, or put lemon pulp & other ingredients into a bowl and mix with a spoon?

      Reply

    18. Renee says

      Hi there, I am wanting to make a lemon layer cake (only 2 layers to make one big cake), and am thinking of using your lemon cake recipe because my oven won’t fit 2 tins on one rack (which is what most recipes require).

      So I was wondering, do you think making 2 of your lemon cakes will be a good size? Or will it be too much and I should only make one, and maybe cut in half to make the 2 layers?

      I am wanting to put lemon curd between the layers and frost it with lemon cream cheese icing. Does this sound like it’d taste good with your lemon cake?

      Sorry for all of these questions!
      Thanks xx

      Reply

      • justamumnz says

        Hi, you can definitely make cakes with one cake per rack if your oven fits two racks. Just set to multi bake or fan forced and watch them but I do it all the time. Only time I might not is for a sponge. Making two cakes would be lovely if you are looking for a larger cake. Be sure the lemons are a lovely quality and sweet, remove the pips. I also have a delicious lemon drizzle cake in my ebook in my online shop. Otherwise your ideas sound lovely.

        Reply

    19. Clare says

      Love this cake. So easy to make & so moist. Do you think you could replace the lemons for feijoas and it would work as well?

      Reply

      • justamumnz says

        Hi yes it would be the lemons. All lemons are so different. I learned today from my Dad the PH of the soil plays a big factor in the sweetness and juicyness of the lemon. Sorry it didn’t work out as you’d hoped.

        Reply

    23. Tash says

      Just made this lovely delish lemon cake and it is Devine. I love that it uses whole lemons too.

      Reply

      • Judi Harding says

        I made this cake today for my daughter-in-law’s 30th birthday. I took note of the comments regarding the cake being a bit bitter for some. I chose to quarter the lemons, remove the flesh from the skins and then peel the rind off, discarding the pith. I tried the pre-cooked mixture and it tasted fine. I have iced it with a lemony cream cheese icing, as requested!

        Reply

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