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Gluten Free Lemon Cake (No Waste, Whole Lemon Cake)

This gluten free lemon cake is a fabulous cake, and will please just about everyone! Moist, delectable crumb, full-on lemon flavor (from a whole lemon), and a sweet and sticky glaze makes it a winner, all around!

gluten free lemon cake decorated

If you’re counting, this is my fourth “whole citrus” cake recipe. I’ve shared the original Sicilian whole orange cake, then a lemon version, a gluten free orange adaptation, and now this one. 

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I must say, neither of the gluten free cakes taste “gluten free,” in fact, I wouldn’t hesitate to say they are simply just as good as the original recipe!

piece of gluten free lemon cake on a fork

My advice to you is to be sure to get the best quality, organic lemons you can find, preferably the Meyer variety. It’s really worth it for this cake. 

Can I Freeze Gluten Free Lemon Cake?

Absolutely! I freeze my cakes all the time, and they freeze beautifully. I would say keep them in the freezer no longer than a month, though. 

Why not bookmark this lemon raspberry trifle recipe to make with some of this cake?

Individual lemon raspberry trifles trifle recipe whipped cream limoncello

May I Substitute Ingredients?

Although the original version of these cakes are rather flexible, the gluten free versions are not so much. Do not substitute the cream cheese as it’s a vital part of making this cake not taste gluten free, and for giving it its lovely texture.

Try these peanut butter cookies, too! So good, no one will know they are gluten free.

natural gluten free peanut butter cookies

I tried substituting the rice flour with cassava flour, and although it was still good, it wasn’t nearly as good as with rice flour, so I wouldn’t recommend it. 

overhead gluten free lemon cake on a plate

I have a more traditional gluten free pound cake recipe, too. As always, for all my baking recipes, I recommend using a scale for the very best results.

Gluten Free Lemon Cake
(No Waste Whole Lemon Cake)

Make one 8″ cake   Adapted from my Gluten Free Orange Cake recipe

FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW

Ingredients

lemon in a food processor

Glaze

  • organic lemon juice
  • sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)

Directions

Prepare an 8″ springform pan by spraying with oil (or butter) and lining in parchment paper (sides optional, if you want really clean sides), then spray the paper, too.

Place the sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until light and fluffy.

Mix the gluten free flour with the rice flour, Paneangeli powder (or baking powder) and xanthan gum. Add to the mixture in the bowl a little at a time along with the softened butter.

adding butter and flour to batter

Continue to mix until completely blended, then mix in the softened cream cheese.

In a food processor, process the whole lemon until it is almost pureed. It should look like this~

lemon processed in a food processor

Add the processed lemon to the cake mixture and stir until evenly combined, then put the batter into the prepared tin.

pouring batter into pan

Bake for 50-60 minutes (depending on your oven), but test with a cake tester or skewer to make sure the gluten free lemon cake is done before removing from the oven. 

Make the Lemon Glaze

(You can do this just before the cake is ready if you choose.) Prepare the glaze by melting the sugar in the lemon juice and allow to simmer for a few minutes, just until the liquid has a syrupy consistency. The glaze is completely optional, as the cake is great without the glaze, also. Note: if you cook the glaze down a lot, it will form a hard, candy-like topping (I did this by accidentally overcooking it once, and I loved it!)

Spoon and brush over the top of the cake, while it’s still hot, and allow to cool completely before serving.

gluten free lemon cake in a pan, baked

Decorate as desired (if desired!)

gluten free lemon cake decorated

Cut into 8 to 12 slices. 

slice of gluten free lemon cake on a plate

Serve with a cup of tea or coffee, or with a scoop of ice cream, or even a glass of lemonade or shot of limoncello! Delicious, anyway you choose! (Drizzling with this gluten free lemon cake with limoncello isn’t off the table, btw!) 🍋🍸

piece of gluten free lemon cake on a fork

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gluten free lemon cake decorated

Gluten Free Lemon Cake (No Waste, Whole Lemon Cake)

Servings: 12
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Additional Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
An incredibly moist and delicious whole lemon cake that no one will ever guess is gluten free!
4.9 from 29 votes

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 ⅛ cups sugar
  • 1 cup gluten-free baking flour
  • ½ cup rice flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder (or 1 packet Italian Paneangeli vanilla baking powder)
  • ¼ tsp xanthan gum
  • cup butter (softened)
  • c cream cheese (at room temperature)
  • 1 large organic lemon (washed and cut into pieces with the rind - remove seeds)

Glaze

  • 2 oz organic lemon juice
  • ¼ cup sugar

Instructions

Make the cake:

  • Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)
  • Prepare an 8" springform pan by spraying with oil (or butter) and lining in parchment paper (sides optional, if you want really clean sides), then spray the paper, too.
  • Place the sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until light and fluffy.
  • Mix the gluten free flour with the rice flour, Paneangeli powder (or baking powder) and xanthan gum. Add to the mixture in the bowl a little at a time along with the softened butter. Continue to mix until completely blended, then mix in the softened cream cheese.
  • In a food processor, process the whole lemon until it is almost pureed.
  • Add the processed lemon to the cake mixture and stir until evenly combined, then put the batter into the prepared tin.
  • Bake for 50-60 minutes (depending on your oven), but test with a cake tester or skewer to make sure the gluten free lemon cake is done before removing from the oven. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then remove the side of the springform pan.

Make the lemon glaze:

  • Prepare the glaze by melting the sugar in the lemon juice and allow to simmer for a few minutes, just until the liquid has a syrupy consistency.
  • Spoon and brush over the top of the cake, while it’s still hot, and allow to cool completely before cutting.

Notes

  • Try my other gluten-free variation of this recipe: orange

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 234kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 66mg | Sodium: 186mg | Potassium: 45mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 311IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 82mg | Iron: 1mg

 

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4.87 from 29 votes (29 ratings without comment)

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18 Comments

    1. Wonderful, Jennie! Thank you so much! I’d really appreciate it if you could click on the 5 stars above the PRINT button on the recipe cards as it helps with google. :)

  1. I am excited to try this recipe!
    My GF flour already contains xanthum gum, do I still have to add it, plus more rice flour, or can I just use the GF flour mix?
    Thanks, Audrey

    1. Hi Audrey, given that this recipe is super forgiving (seems to work no matter what) I would say skip the rice flour and xanthan gum and just use your baking mix (mine didn’t have the xg). Let me know how it turns out! CC

  2. This sounds absolutely amazing, Christina – the big question for me is this: can I just replace the GF flour, rice four, and xanthan gum with regular flour? Would I still need the cream cheese? I know – its a GF cake but I don’t want to by GF flour when I have so much invested in wheat flour! :)