Lemon Almond Flour Cake

You’ll love this Lemon Almond Flour Cake for a quick, easy and crowd pleasing dessert. It has a tender crumb with fresh lemon flavour. Serve this lemon cake with almond flour on its own or with the toppings of your choice!

When I need a simple dessert and I’m short on time, this lemon almond flour cake is one of my go-to recipes. (Along with this almond flour chocolate cake)!

It’s an easy, no-fuss flourless cake with basic ingredients. You can serve it as a simple snack cake, pile it high with whipped cream and fresh berries, or top it with chocolate avocado frosting for a decadent dessert.

If you haven’t baked with almond flour yet, I highly recommend giving it a try. While it’s more expensive than all-purpose flour, it creates a moist and tender texture in baked goods. It also adds a chewy texture to cookies like these almond flour blondies, almond flour peanut butter cookies and ginger molasses cookies.

Why you’ll love this lemon almond cake

• You need just 7 ingredients and 10 minutes prep time to whip this lemon cake together.
• Unlike some other almond flour cake recipes, you don’t need to separate your eggs or whip together the egg whites for this recipe.
• There’s no need to break out the electric mixer. The cake batter comes together with just a whisk and a spatula.
• The cake is tasty enough to enjoy on its own, but also works with whipped cream, a dusting of powder sugar or even chocolate frosting.

Details on the ingredients

Almond flour – You’ll need 2 cups of almond flour for this cake. Make sure you use almond flour instead of almond meal, and ensure that the almond flour has been measured using the spoon and level method. (Using a measuring cup to scoop the flour out of the bag will just pack the almond flour into the measuring cup and result in too much flour for the cake).

Sugar – This cake has been tested with both cane sugar and granulated sugar, so you can use either one. Cane sugar is usually found in the organic section of grocery stores and has a slightly coarser texture and golden colour compared to granulated sugar.

Eggs – Three large eggs will help this flourless cake rise. You’ll also want them at room temperature so they easily incorporate with the other ingredients.

Lemon zest – For the burst of lemony flavour in this lemon cake, you’ll need the zest from one medium-sized lemon (or about 1 tablespoon). You can use a zester (like a microplane) or the smallest holes on a box (cheese) grater to finely grate the zest.

Oil – I used extra virgin olive oil but you can use the oil of your choice.

Baking powder – For leavening, you’ll need one teaspoon of baking powder.

Salt – Just 1/2 a teaspoon to enhance the flavour of the other ingredients. You can use kosher or table salt.

Difference between almond flour and almond meal

Both almond flour and almond meal are made from raw ground almonds. Almond flour, however, is more finely ground and made with blanched almonds that have the skins removed.

Almond meal is made from almonds with the skins on, and therefore, has a coarser grind and a darker colour.

For the best texture in this cake, I recommend using almond flour. The recipe hasn’t been tested with almond meal.

How to make almond flour lemon cake

In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. You may need to sift these ingredients together if your almond flour is lumpy (which can sometimes happen if you store it in the refrigerator).

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil and lemon zest.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients, and use a spatula to gently fold the ingredients together. Be careful not to over mix.

Pour the batter into a greased 8-inch round cake pan and use a spatula to spread it out evenly.

Bake on 350F for 26-28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. The cake will have golden brown edges that pull away from the sides of the pan.

Frequently asked questions

Storage instructions

If the almond flour cake is unfrosted, you can store it in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days or in the refrigerator for a week or more.

Frosted cakes should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoyed within 3-4 days.

You can store pieces of the unfrosted cake in a single layer in a freezer safe container. Or you can wrap the unfrosted cake in plastic wrap, place it in a resealable bag and store it in the freezer for up to 2 months. Defrost at room temperature before frosting and serving.

Recipe variations

• Double the recipe and make two 8-inch round cakes for a layer cake.
• Instead of lemon zest use orange zest. Or, you can even try this almond flour orange cake recipe!
• To keep the cake dairy-free, instead of topping it with whipped cream (as pictured in this post), top it with coconut whipped cream.
• Instead of strawberries, top the cake with blueberries, raspberries, cherries or peaches.
• Top it with your favourite chocolate or vanilla frosting.
• Serve it warm with a scoop of s’mores ice cream.

Additional recipe tips

• To ensure the cake doesn’t stick to the pan, grease it well. You can even line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper for easy release.
• Make sure you measure your almond flour correctly (spoon and level). Otherwise, you may end up with too much flour for the recipe.
• The batter will be thick so make sure you use a spatula to smooth out the top once the batter is in the cake pan. This will help it bake up level.
• To ensure the batter mixes together evenly, use room temperature ingredients. (For this recipe, that also means the almond flour, if you store it in the refrigerator like we do).

More desserts using almond flour

• Almond Flour Carrot Cake
• Lemon Raspberry Almond Crumb Cake
• Peanut Butter Banana Protein Donuts
• Blueberry Skillet Cookie
• Avocado Banana Cookies

If you make this lemon cake with almond flour, I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below!

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