As some of you may know, my partner is always on the hunt for a lemon treat that satisfies his insatiable need for something sour. He routinely buys — and is disappointed by — various lemon cookies, and when I make a lemon dessert, while he enjoys it, he always wonders if it could be tangier.
Well, I finally found a cake that satisfies him. It’s a two-part cake recipe. One part is a lemon cake itself, which is soft, moist, and sweetly lemon. The other part is a lemon sauce, which soaks through the cake as it bakes and infuses it with a tangy lemon flavor that hits all the right buttons.
I’ll tell you one thing about making this cake; it feels really weird pouring something liquid like the lemon sauce mix on the batter before baking it. It works quite well, though; as it bakes, the sauce seeps from the top to the bottom, and soaks in the bottom layer of the cake.
One thing you can do to change up the recipe is to replace the corn starch with custard powder (aff link) for a thicker and creamier sauce. I don’t tend to have custard powder on hand but I intend to try it the next time I make this cake, for sure.
I’ve also seen similar recipes for a chocolate version which I’m very excited to try.
I topped this cake with fresh raspberries and it was very delicious. You can really use any fruit that goes well with lemon, though; blueberries, strawberries, or whatever else suits your fancy.
One word of warning for this cake: it’s not quite as tasty the next day. The sauce tends to congeal in a way that needs to be reheated a bit to soak back into the cake. I recommend either making it for a group that will finish it, or just tempering expectations for day two.
Truly Tangy Lemon Sauce Cake
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- 8×8" Baking Dish
- Rubber Spatula
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1¼ Cup Flour
- 1½ Tsp Baking Powder
- ½ Cup Sugar
- ¼ Cup Butter Melted
- 1 Egg
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice Fresh is best
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Zest About one lemon's worth
- ½ Cup Milk
For the Sauce
- ⅓ Cup Lemon Juice Fresh is best
- 1 Tbsp Cornstarch Or custard powder
- 1 Cup Boiling Water
- ⅓ Cup Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350℉. Grease an 8×8" or 9×9" baking dish.
- In a small bowl, mix the flour and baking powder.
- Cream the butter and sugar together. Add in the egg and beat until it's mixed well, then stir in the lemon juice and zest.
- Mix about a third of the flour m ix into the butter/sugar mix until combined. Add in half the milk and mix. Alternate between half of the remaining flour, the rest of the milk, and the rest of the flour until it's finally all mixed.
- Pour your batter in an even layer along the bottom of your baking dish.
- Make the sauce by stirring together the lemon and cornstarch until it's fully mixed. (I used a milk frother to do this very quickly, but you don't need to.) Add in the boiling water and stir it.
- Sprinkle the sugar over the top of the cake, then carefully pour the sauce over the top. Try to pour slowly and from low and close to avoid carving a divot into the batter.
- Carefully transfer the baking dish to the oven without spilling, and bake for 35-40 minutes. You're looking for the top to start to brown and crack a little.
- Let the cake cool for around 15 minutes, and serve while warm with a topping of powdered sugar and some fresh fruit.