Sicilian Whole Lemon Cake (Using an Entire Lemon: Peel, Juice and Pulp)
Sicilian whole lemon cake is a moist and delicious crowd-pleasing dessert. This flavorful cake uses an entire lemon, peel, juice and pulp, for an amazingly lemony result!
Given the continuous rave reviews of my Sicilian whole orange cake, I now bring you, Sicilian whole lemon cake!
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After making this cake several times, I’ve adjusted the sugar and made a few other changes to compensate for the difference in sweetness between oranges and lemons. However, please note that best results will come from Meyer lemons, although you can use Eureka or other more sour lemons by adding. a little more sugar.
If you fortunate enough to have access to Meyer lemons, you may also want to try this recipe: the best lemon drop martini you’ll ever have!
You could also try making posset, an incredibly easy and rich dessert!
And my favorite pancakes: lemon ricotta pancakes!
This isn’t a light cake, but a uniquely moist, flavorful, and bit more dense type of cake. It has a big crumb and sticky glaze, and I’ve never heard anyone try it and not gush with compliments! If you like a sweeter cake, you may want to add a little more sugar (especially if using Eureka lemons) as this isn’t overly sweet at all.
If you’d like to make a full size bundt cake instead, use this Meyer lemon cake recipe for a full sized cake (with glaze or icing).
In case you want to buy the PaneAngeli baking powder, I’ve added a link below in the recipe ingredients. It looks like this~
Sicilian Whole Lemon Cake
adapted from my Sicilian Whole Orange cake serves 12
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
NB: I use Meyer lemons which are much less sour than Eureka. I would recommend using a little more sugar if you don’t have Meyer lemons.
Ingredients
- eggs
- sugar
- flour
- Paneangeli (or baking powder)
- butter
- Greek yogurt
- lemon
- vanilla extract
Directions
Make the Whole Lemon 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.
Sift the flour with the baking powder/PaneAngeli then add to the mixture in the bowl a little at a time along with the softened butter. Continue to mix until completely blended, then stir in the yogurt (and vanilla, if using).
In a food processor, process the whole lemon until it is almost pureed. It should look like this~
Add this 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 whole 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 water, 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 and allow to cool completely before cutting.
Yes, it’s hard to wait, but the moist lemon cake will cut more easily if it’s cool first.
Garnish with a twist of lemon or a few lemon slices, or just serve plain. So good!
Enjoy with a cup of tea or glass of limoncello!
Sicilian Whole Lemon Cake
Special Equipment
- 1 cake tester optional
- 1 brush optional
Ingredients
Cake:
- 3 eggs
- 1 ½ cup sugar
- 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 2 ½ tsp baking powder or 1 packet Italian Pane Degli Angeli vanilla baking powder
- ⅓ cup butter softened
- ⅓ cup Greek yogurt plain
- 1 Meyer lemon organic, washed and cut into pieces (with the rind, but remove the seeds)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract ONLY if using plain baking powder
Glaze:
- 1 oz lemon juice
- 1 oz water
- 2 ⅞ Tbsp sugar (a little less than 3 Tbsp)
Instructions
Make the Whole Lemon 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.
- Sift the flour with the baking powder then add to the mixture in the bowl a little at a time along with the softened butter. Continue to mix until completely blended, then stir in the yogurt and the vanilla, if using.
- In a food processor, process the whole lemon until it is almost pureed.
- Add this 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 whole 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 water, 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 and allow to cool completely before cutting.
- Yes, it’s hard to wait, but the moist lemon cake will cut more easily if it’s cool first.
- Garnish with a twist of lemon or a few lemon slices, or just serve plain.
Notes
- NB: I use Meyer lemons which are much less sour than Eureka. I would recommend using a little more sugar if you don't have Meyer lemons.
Nutrition
More lemony bakes~
Lemon Cheesecake Blueberry Swirl Bars
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I made the whole orange cake at the end of orange season. Loved it. Now its coming into lemon season and a friend gave me a bag of Meyer lemons. The thing is, even the largest one doesn’t weigh 300 grams. I’ve never seen one that size. Maybe they’re smaller here in Northern California. So should I use two lemons that equal 300 grams? The biggest I have is 195 grams.
Oh yes, Jan! I just use 1½ lemons or 2 if I don’t have a big one (I do get them 300g sometimes). Still turns out great either way. Enjoy and glad you liked the orange cake! Stay tuned for a twist on that cake later today (sign up for my free subscription if you haven’t yet.) :)
Hello Christina! A friend made your Whole Orange Cake, said it is fabulous and sent me the recipe. Confession: I am a pretty good cook but I am also the World’s Worst Baker! In fact, the past year I have a young friend who is in culinary school do my baking for me. It’s a win-win as the cakes I serve now perfect and every student needs extra money. My question for you is: Can the Whole Lemon Cake be made in a Bundt pan? If so, should the recipe be 1 1/2 times it is as written? Thank you so much for giving us delicious authentic recipes!
Hi Sharon, yes, that’s exactly right! 1.5x = bundt size. I’ll have to check, but I think I added this information to my orange cake, but will have to add it here too, if it’s missing. What a great arrangement you have with the culinary student! Enjoy the lemon cake! :)
Alas, don’t have Meyer lemons here around Paris but it will still be wonderful, just the same! Lovely recipe, Christina – and thanks for linking to my almond lemon cake version too!
Hi Christina,
I’ve made both your Sicilian Whole Oorange cake and the Whole Lemon cake, and they are both a huge hit with my family — thank you! My question: why do your instructions say to beat the EGGS and SUGAR together first, instead of BUTTER and SUGAR first? My lemon cake came out a bit chewy one time, and I suspect I might have over-beat it after adding flour and butter. Could you please clarify? Thanks much, and LURVE your recipes!
Hi Gia, good question, and thank you so much! As you know, this is based on another blogger’s recipe and that’s the way she made it. Here’s why it’s staying that way. My mother once started making this cake and did it with butter and sugar first and it did not turn out the same as it usually does. The texture wasn’t as good and so I wouldn’t recommend it. I think as with anything, the more you make it, the better you get at it. You probably won’t overbeat it in future, right? :) Thanks again and please leave a star rating if you haven’t already (within the printable recipe card.) Enjoy!