Lemon Coffee Cake
Coffee cake is one of the best baking recipes you can have in your repertoire — you’ll be remiss to find someone who doesn’t enjoy the sweet, light flavor of a well-made coffee cake! This cake is extra special because it adds both lemon zest and juice, bringing a citrusy, bright flavor to match perfectly with the sweetness throughout the cake.
Why is it called coffee cake? Coffee cake is called that because it is a delicious dessert that pairs beautifully alongside coffee, not because it has coffee in the batter itself. It’s typically a cinnamony, sugary cake that perfectly complements the rich notes of coffee. This recipe for lemon coffee cake kicks the flavor up a notch adding light citrusy notes alongside the already delicious and sweet batter.
How to store lemon coffee cake? You can store coffee cake covered with plastic wrap either in the fridge or on the countertop at room temperature. The cake will last up to one week in the fridge, but only a few days if left at room temperature. Regardless, I recommend covering the cake with plastic wrap to keep it as fresh as possible.
Can a lemon coffee cake be frozen? Yes, you can freeze a lemon coffee cake in order to serve it up to two months after baking it. For best results, I recommend baking the cake according to the recipe instructions, letting it cool completely, wrapping it in plastic wrap, and storing it in a freezer-safe zipper bag in the freezer. To gently defrost the lemon coffee cake, let it sit in the fridge overnight.
The texture you’re looking for with the streusel topping in this recipe
How long does lemon coffee cake bake? This lemon coffee cake bakes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 1 hour. This ensures that the batter is fully risen, the crumble is lightly browned, and the cake is light and fluffy. If you’re having trouble determining if the cake has finished baking, I always recommend keeping it in the oven for an additional few minutes. An over-baked cake is always better than an under-baked cake!
How do you know when lemon coffee cake is done baking? You can easily determine when any cake is finished baking by inserting a toothpick or fork into the center of the cake and seeing if any batter sticks to it when removed. If the fork comes out clean, the cake is finished baking. If it has any batter or wet crumbs sticking to it, the cake needs to bake for additional time. Always air on the side of caution and bake the cake for additional time if you think it may be under-baked.
Why is sour cream used in a pound cake or coffee cake? Sour cream is a great ingredient to use in baking to bring moisture to a cake batter as well as a tanginess that balances sweet desserts beautifully. In a pinch, you can substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream to achieve similar results.
How to make lemon coffee cake:
Lemon Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 stick butter, melted
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tbsp lemon zest, packed
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- Pinch salt
- 1 stick (1/2 cup or 8 tbsp) butter, room temperature
- 1 cup cane sugar
- 1/2 tbsp lemon zest, packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray an 8x8 baking dish with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, prepare the streusel. Add all of the ingredients to the streusel and mix them together with a fork. This method enables you to make big, soft crumbles of the streusel while still incorporating it fully. Set the streusel aside.
- In a separate small bowl, mix together the dry ingredients for the cake batter: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk the ingredients together until they’re fully combined and set them aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the wet ingredients for the cake batter: room-temperature butter, cane sugar, lemon zest, eggs, vanilla extract, milk, sour cream, and lemon juice. You can either use a stand mixer or a hand mixer to make the batter.
- Once the wet ingredients have been mixed together thoroughly, add the dry ingredients gradually, incorporating them fully between each addition.
- Pour the batter into the baking dish and top with the streusel.
- Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, until the cake is light and fluffy and the streusel has browned.
- Let the cake cool slightly before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Note: When testing this recipe I ended up needing about 3 lemons.
Optional cinnamon sugar layer: mix ½ cup brown sugar with 1 tsp sugar. Layer half of the batter into the pan, layer the cinnamon sugar evenly across the batter, and top with the rest of the cake batter. Continue with the directions as is and top with the buttery crumble.
