You’ll love this Almond Flour Lemon Cake for a quick and easy gluten-free dessert. It has a moist and tender crumb and it’s bursting with fresh lemon flavor. Serve this lemon cake with a dusting of powdered sugar or top it with whipped cream and fresh fruit!
When I need a simple dessert and I’m short on time, this lemon almond flour cake is one of my go-to recipes. It’s also been a reader favorite since I first shared it in 2021.
Since sharing it, however, I’ve had a few questions/comments about adding extra lemon flavor. So, I decided to tweak the recipe to make it more lemony, and mirrored it after this almond flour orange cake.
In short, the changes involve more lemon zest and the addition of lemon juice, as well as another 1/2 cup of almond flour and an extra egg to give the cake a better rise. I also made a few changes to the recipe instructions, including how to prepare the whipped topping.
If you love this recipe, you’ll also want to try my almond flour lemon poppy seed cake!
Table of contents
What makes this almond flour lemon cake recipe so good?
- The cake itself (minus the topping) just requires 7 ingredients and takes about 10 minutes to whisk 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.
- You also don’t need to supplement the almond flour with any other type of flour.
- The cake is tasty enough to enjoy on its own, but also works with whipped cream, a dusting of powdered sugar or even chocolate frosting (like this chocolate avocado frosting).
Ingredients and substitutions
Below is a brief overview of the ingredients and recommended substitutions. The recipe card at the end of this post includes the exact quantities used.
- Almond flour – You’ll need fine blanched almond flour for this cake. Make sure you use almond flour and not almond meal, which has a coarser texture. Also, ensure that the almond flour has been weighed according to the recipe or measured using the spoon and level method. (If you use too much almond flour, it will throw off the texture of this 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 color compared to granulated sugar.
- Eggs – Four large eggs will help this flourless cake rise and add moisture. You’ll also want them at room temperature so they easily incorporate with the other ingredients.
- Lemon – For the burst of fresh lemony flavor in this lemon cake, you’ll need 2 tablespoons of lemon zest and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. So, you’ll need about 2 medium lemons. Use organic lemons if you can and make sure you wash and dry the lemons before zesting.
- Oil – I used olive oil but extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil or vegetable oil will work as well.
- Baking powder – For leavening.
- Salt – To enhance the flavor of the other ingredients. I used fine sea salt, but you can also use kosher or table salt.
- Whipping cream – If you opt for the whipped topped, you’ll need a cup of heavy whipping cream.
- Powdered sugar – To sweeten and help stabilize the whipped cream, you’ll need 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar. Feel free to use more for a sweeter and thicker whipped cream.
- Strawberries – Or your fruit of choice (also optional).
How to make lemon cake with almond flour
Below is a brief overview of the steps to make this recipe along with photos. For further details, please see the recipe card at the end of this post.
Difference between almond meal and almond flour
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 color.
For the best texture in this cake, I recommend using almond flour. The recipe hasn’t been tested with almond meal.
Recipe variations
- Double the recipe and make two 8-inch round cakes for a layer cake.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract or almond extract for even extra flavor.
- To keep the cake dairy-free, instead of topping it with whipped cream, top it with coconut whipped cream.
- Instead of strawberries, top the cake with blueberries, raspberries, cherries or peaches.
- Top it with your favorite chocolate or vanilla frosting.
- Serve it with a scoop of s’mores ice cream.
Measuring ingredients
For convenience, US cup measurements are included in the recipe card for this recipe. To ensure greater accuracy, however, weight and volume measurements are also provided. So, if you see grams (g), you’ll want to use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients, and if you see milliliters (ml), you’ll want to use a liquid measuring cup. Smaller quantities of ingredients are provided in teaspoons and tablespoons.
Storage and freezing tips
If you leave the whipped cream off of the cake, you can store it in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days or in the fridge for up to a week.
Cakes with the whipped cream topping should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge 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 topping with whipped cream and serving.
Key recipe tips
- Grease cake pan. To ensure the cake doesn’t stick to the pan, grease the bottom and sides well. I also like to line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper for easy release.
- Measuring flour. If you don’t have a kitchen scale to weigh your almond flour, be sure to measure it using the spoon and level method. Otherwise, you may end up with too much flour for the recipe.
- Thick batter. 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.
- Lemons. Zest your lemons first, then squeeze the juice from them. You can use a zester (like a microplane) or the smallest holes on a box (cheese) grater to grate the zest.
- Let cake fully cool. Let the cake cool before topping it with whipped cream. This also gives the cake time to firm up so it doesn’t turn out crumbly (which can happen with almond flour cakes that haven’t had a chance to cool).
Recipe FAQs
I haven’t tested this cake with any other type of flour. As almond flour is gluten-free with a high fat and moisture content, a 1:1 substitution with other flours is not recommended
I’ve only tested this recipe with cane sugar and granulated sugar. A reader noted below that they made it with monk fruit, but I have not tested it myself. I would caution against liquid sweeteners as it will make the batter too runny and the cake will likely turn out a little mushy.
This cake is best made in an 8-inch round cake pan or even an 8-inch square pan. As the recipe doesn’t make a large amount of batter, if you go with a larger cake pan, the batter will spread too thin and not bake up very high.
I prefer the finer texture and lighter color of almond flour when baking cakes, so I haven’t tested this recipe with almond meal. If you can’t find almond flour, you can make your own by blending raw blanched almonds until they rich the consistency of a fine flour.
I haven’t used the batter for this cake to make cupcakes, but if you’re looking for an almond flour cupcake recipe, try these vanilla almond flour cupcakes!
More almond flour cake recipes
- Almond Flour Coffee Cake
- Almond Flour Carrot Cake
- Almond Flour Chocolate Cake
- Almond Flour Strawberry Cake
- Almond Flour Banana Cake
- Cherry Almond Cake
- Almond Flour Coconut Lime Cake
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below!
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Almond Flour Lemon Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cooling Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 28 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 43 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American, Canadian
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
You’ll love this Almond Flour Lemon Cake for a quick and easy gluten-free dessert. It has a moist and tender crumb and it’s bursting with fresh lemon flavor.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 1/2 cups (260g) fine blanched almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120g) cane sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil (or extra virgin olive oil)
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest (about 2 medium lemons)
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
For the topping:
- 1 cup (240ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- Sliced strawberries (or your choice of fruit)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease the bottom and sides of an 8-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the almond flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil, lemon zest and lemon juice.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and use a spatula to gently stir together until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Be careful not to over mix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and use an offset spatula to spread it out evenly.
- Bake for 25-28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. The cake will have golden brown edges that pull away from the sides of the pan.
- Let cool for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the whipped topping, place your mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for 5 minutes. Add the whipping cream and powdered sugar to the chilled bowl and beat together on medium-high until stiff peaks form.
- Spread over the cooled cake and serve with strawberries.
Notes
- For the best texture, I recommend using fine blanched almond flour instead of almond meal.
- If you don’t have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method to measure the almond flour.
- You can substitute granulated sugar for the cane sugar.
- The batter will be thick so make sure you 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.
- Be sure to check out the other sections above the recipe card for more detailed advice and suggestions for making this recipe.
Excellent recipe. Texture is perfect. The rise was just right. AND I used 1 good squeeze of juice from the medium lemon along with the tablespoon of its zest. The only surprise was it baked up sooner than expected. So, heads-up. A keeper. Thanks!!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Meg!
I melted coconut oil instead of olive oil, then zested the lemon and zested some ginger, whisked with the eggs. Instead of sugar i used monk fruit with erythitol. I have a round 9 inch silicone pan from Aldi’s which I love using since nothing sticks to it. I baked for 25 minutes and it came out delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Rachel! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for sharing your substitutions.
I have a 9 inch round pan. How do I increase the ingredients to make a higher cake?
Hi Rachel. Thanks for your question. The cake recipe is meant for an 8-inch round pan. I haven’t tested it as a larger cake in a 9-inch round pan so, unfortunately, I’m not able to advise on that.
about to make this cake for what feels like the hundredth time! so many ways to serve it -grilled peaches with ricotta and pistachios, prosecco strawberries, I’ve even stirred in sprinkles to make it a confetti cake! it’s incredibly easy, definitely recommend trying this recipe for a gluten-free go-to!
Thanks Rae! I’m so happy to hear you’ve been enjoying the recipe!
I did make this recipe and as I said I was going to do I substituted the cane sugar with Lakanta Monkfruit baking sweetener with Erythritol (65 grams). that is a one to one ratio recommended on the Lakanta package. It lacks the depth of flavor and the moisture of regular cane sugar but my type 2 diabetic husband likes it. In the future, I will continue my research on baking with erythritol as I find something lacking every time I use it. Structure, moisture, depth of flavor. But most importantly its not bad for diabetics or any one else for that matter. Thank You, tis is a really good recipe.
Thank you for letting me know how the substitution worked out. I’m glad you liked the recipe!
Can I double the recipe and make it in a larger pan or will it be too dense?
Hi Cathleen. I’ve never tried baking the doubled recipe in a larger pan. I would be concerned about it baking unevenly. If you decide to double it, I recommend baking it in two 8-inch pans.
Can you add a little lemon juice to this cake to boost the lemon flavor?
Hi Maria! I haven’t tried adding lemon juice to the recipe, so I’m not sure how the extra liquid and the acidity from the lemon juice would affect the batter. If you would like more lemon flavor, I would try adding more lemon zest. Hope that helps!
Thanks. I purchased some lemon extract and I’m testing out the recipe this weekend (I’m adapting the recipe to make it more low carb for ny friend and nut free for me) so if I feel like it needs a smidge more I’ll probably use that.
Can you use monk fruit instead of sugar?
Hi Denella. I’ve never baked with monk fruit so I’m not sure if it will work in this cake recipe.
Hello, I am about to make this and I will be substituting the cane sugar with Lakanto “Monkfruit baking sweetener with erythritol” . It says it “bakes and browns like sugar.” I’m putting it to the test and will let you know. My husband is type two diabetes and it’s his birthday. He is Italian and loves almond flour everything. I’ll let you know how it bakes up. Warning this sweetener is expensive… but gets good reviews from the very strict guidelines of vegan purists.
Yes, I love using almond flour for baking. As you noted, it adds a lovely texture, fluffy and chewy at the same time.
This cake looks terrific – beautiful texture, and I bet it tastes awesome!
Thanks Ben!
Another awesome recipe! I have never used almond flour for baking before, so thanks for all the tips on using it. Will definitely have to try this. Great pics!!
Thanks Terry! I hope you give almond flour a try!