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’m about to try this recipe, but it calls for one large Meyers lemon (300 g). I grew some nice large Meyers lemons but when I put one on the scale, it was only 75 grams. It takes 4 big lemons for it to weigh 300 g. I can’t imagine a lemon bug enough to weigh 300 g. So should the amount be just one large lemon or four (to equal 300 g)?
Hi Kristina, I think your scale is off. If you have a large lemon, it’s impossible for it to weigh 75 g. I just weighed a few of my lemons and they’re all around 230-250g. I put two smaller ones on the scale together and they weigh over 300g. I can send you the photo to your email with a pencil in the pic for scale. I would not put 4 lemons in the cake as there will be much too much rind. Do you have another scale to use? I would say to use 2 small lemons, however if they truly weigh 75 g they will be too small and the cake won’t be right. :(
I was going out of town for a week but had a Meyer lemon that was ripe, so I sliced it and packed it in sugar and extra lemon juice (from one lemon) to cover it. Left in in the refrigerator for a couple of months. Used it for this recipe (added only 1/2 cup of sugar, poured off some of the juice for the glaze. Excellent cake!
Wow, that sounds wonderful! Thanks for letting us know. I just keep Meyer lemons in an open ziploc bag with a paper towel inside in the fridge and they last for months (FYI), but this idea is similar to what I do with the skin of my citrus. I chop it finely and layer in a jar with sugar. Great for cakes, too!
When a bumper crop of lemons, I freeze them whole and drop in processor for smoothies. Should work for this and no extra liquid. The smoothie is never bitter and I don’t add sugar
Great to hear, Carolyn! I will freeze some now and test it out. Do you partially defrost them before processing? That’s what I think would work best.
Christina
I’ve measured the flour, sugar and lemons according to the grams and then measured according to cups amount. They don’t compare evenly. Do you think the grams measurement is more accurate or the cups measurement?
Absolutely the grams are precise and correct. I would never use cups if I could. This cake is extremely flexible, so even if you use the cups, it will still turn out, but that’s not always the case. Enjoy, Florence!
Hi Christina,
I am unable to find Meyer lemons in the Netherlands, but I made this cake successfully anyway. I took two lemons with edible peel and simmered them in boiling water fir about 30/40 mins. Then I took them out and left them out to cool. It’s amazing how much bitterness goes into the water. Then I open them over a bowl and take the seeds out. I purée it together with the yogurt and the butter and I add an extra 80 grams sugar to counteract some of the bitterness. This made a beautiful cake! Thank you for the recipe. As soon as I find organic oranges I will try the orange one too!
Linda, Thank you so much for your tip when not being able to find Meyer Lemons. I will try this method making this cake again
I have a question about freezing the cake? Would you freeze it before or after adding the glaze?
Hi Gwen, I’ve done both. It’s less sticky to freeze without, but I feel like it doesn’t absorb the glaze as much when it’s done later, so up to you. :) Enjoy!
Wondering if you could process the lemon minus the seeds, as you did for the lemon cake & freezeit in a canning jar to make another cake when the lemon season is over?
That’s a really good idea, Mariana! My only concern would be extra liquid when the lemon is defrosted, however, since the recipe is so flipping flexible, it might just work! I think I’ll test it out, too! Let me know how yours comes out when you make it! Thanks for the idea as I have lots of lemons right now. :)
I make whole orange (200gms) muffins in my food processor and before end of orange season freeze 200gm blocks of processed orange so I can make them out of season. Works well.
Brilliant! Thanks for sharing!!