Gluten-Free Lemon Drizzle Cake
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A beautifully classic Gluten-Free Lemon Drizzle Cake Recipe made with sorghum flour, almond flour and no xanthan gum. Ultra moist and lemony loaf cake encrusted with an icy lemon drizzle which is incredibly quick and easy to make.
This gorgeous Gluten-Free Lemon Loaf Cake with a simple drizzly lemon icing is a classic recipe which you need up your sleeve for an everyday baking triumph. It’s hard to find anyone who will refuse a damp citrusy slice. It’s so quick and easy to make, freezeable if needed, and an utter charmer of a bake suitable for special occasions or an everyday afternoon tea.
Why You’ll Love This Gluten-Free Lemon Drizzle Cake
- Ultra lemony flavour. This cake has a bright lemon flavour thanks to the copious amounts of lemon zest.
- Beautifully moist texture.
- Easy. This is a classic easy bake which packs in maximum flavour for minimal effort.
- Quick to make. Just 10-15 minutes to make the sponge, 60 minutes in the oven, 2 minutes for the simple lemon glaze.
- Fuss-free gluten-free flour blend is made with just sorghum flour and almond flour.
- No xanthan gum. This cake doesn’t need it. The crumb is already perfectly tender and the bake holds together very well thanks to the extra egg and the almond flour. READ MORE >>> Why I never bake with xanthan gum.
Watch to see how to make it
Sometimes it helps to see a visual of what I'm talking about. So watch the video to see what it looks like to make your lemon drizzle cake.
Simple gluten-free flour blend
This gluten-free cake recipe just uses 2 single origin gluten-free flours which you can mix together for a perfect balance of texture and structure which goes to show you don't need complicated flour blends or xanthan gum for successful gluten-free baking.
Sorghum flour
Sorghum flour is a naturally gluten-free wholegrain flour. It is ground from the wholegrain kernel of sorghum which is an ancient cereal grain common to Africa and Australasia.
Its earthy sweet vanilla flavour is a beautiful counterpoint to this very lemony cake and it adds a gorgeous soft texture and delicate crumb to this classic gluten-free lemon drizzle loaf cake.
You can buy sorghum flour from most specialist organic health food shops (Bob's Red Mill is a great brand of choice) but failing that it is available through Amazon.
READ MORE >>> The Ultimate Guide to Sorghum Flour
Almond flour
You are looking for blanched and ground almonds. There is a bit of labelling confusion over almond flour which is sold as ‘ground almonds’ in most major UK supermarkets and found in the baking aisle. If you want to know what exactly you are looking for then check out this post >>>Is Almond Flour The Same As Ground Almonds. The almond flour add moisture and structure to your drizzle cake, without it the cake will be too crumbly and dry.
✨I do not recommend swapping the flour options here for a commercial all-purpose flour. However if you are allergic to nuts, you can swap out the sorghum and almond flour together for an equal weight of my Homemade All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour mix.✨
Ingredients needed
Lemons. Choose medium to large lemons. Preferably unwaxed.
Caster sugar. A fine white baking sugar but you can substitute for granulated sugar.
Butter. Choose good quality unsalted butter so you can control the salt content.
Eggs. This recipe uses 5 medium eggs, about 50g each (weighed without shell). If you can only access large eggs then weigh the eggs to achieve the right amount.
Sorghum flour. A wholegrain gluten-free flour.
Almond flour (ground almonds in UK). It adds structure and moistness to the cake thanks to its high protein content.
Salt. Choose sea salt to bring out the flavours of the cake. Kosher salt is a good soft sugar to use but do avoid table salt.
Baking powder. For rise and a tender crumb. Check the brand is gluten-free.
Granulated sugar. These thick white sugar crystals make the best drizzle topping but you can use caster sugar.
How to make Gluten-Free Lemon Drizzle Cake
For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post.
Wet ingredients. Beat sugar, softened butter and lemon zest until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well.
Dry ingredients. Whisk the sorghum flour, almond flour, baking powder and salt then add into the rest of the cake mixture and mix well until you have a smooth cake batter.
Bake. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 55-60 minutes.
Drizzle. Gradually stir lemon juice into the icing sugar to make a thick drizzle that is just pourable but not runny.
Spoon over the top of the cake still in the tin.
Cool the cake for 1 hour in the tin before removing the cake to a cooling rack.
Expert Tips
Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature before you being so they mix together well, even the eggs.
Beat the butter and sugar for at least 5-6 minutes. The mixture should be really light and creamy.
You can use the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment to make the cake batter or a large bowl and an electric hand mixer.
Don’t worry if your mixture curdles when you add the eggs, there is a lot of eggs in this cake and it is inevitable. It won’t affect the finished bake though as the mixture will come back together when you add the flour.
This cake uses a 2 lb loaf tin.
Bake the cake in the centre of the oven.
You can recognise that the cake is baked when it is golden brown and you insert a cocktail stick (or skewer) into the middle of the cake and it is removed without any wet crumbs clinging to it.
You want the drizzle mixture to be a very heavy sludge. So add the lemon juice gradually until it reaches the desired texture as that will create the beautiful frosted appearance.
To avoid spoiling the look of the sugar crust the best way of removing the cake from the tin is to turn it out onto your hand before setting it down onto the wire rack.
Wait until it has completely cooled before cutting.
FAQs
This cake will keep well for up to 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature.
Absolutely, this cake freezes very successfully. Allow the loaf cake to cool to room temperature then wrap well in both plastic wrap and aluminium foil. The cake will keep well in the freezer for up to 2 months.
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Gluten-Free Lemon Drizzle Cake
Ingredients
- 2 lemons
- 175 g caster sugar
- 225 g unsalted butter - room temperature
- 5 eggs - medium
- 140 g sorghum flour
- 100 g almond flour - (ground almonds in UK)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 175 g granulated sugar
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan assisted oven / gas mark 4 and line and grease a 9 inch x 5 inch loaf tin.
- Place the sugar, butter and zest from the lemons (save the juice for the drizzle) in a large mixing bowl and beat on a high speed for 5-6 minutes until very light and creamy. Scrape the sides down every so often.
- Add the eggs in one at a time and beat well.
- Whisk together the sorghum flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt then beat it into the rest of the cake mixture.
- Pour the cake mixture into the tin and smooth down the surface.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack.
- Juice the lemons then gradually stir the juice into the sugar in a bowl to make a thick sludgy mixture. You may not need all the lemon juice depending on how big the lemons are. You want the sugar to be just pourable but not runny.
- Spoon the drizzle over the cake still in the tin so that the cake is completely covered in sugar.
- Cool the cake for 1 hour in the tin so that the sugar has formed a solid crust then remove the cake from the tin to finish cooling on the wire rack.
Video
Notes
Pro tips
- Tip #1 Beat the butter and sugar for at least 5-6 minutes. The mixture should be really creamy.
- Tip #2 You want the drizzle mixture to be a very heavy sludge. So add the lemon juice gradually until it reaches the desired texture as that will create the beautiful frosted appearance.
- Tip #3 To avoid spoiling the look of the sugar crust the best way of removing the cake from the tin is to turn it out onto your hand before setting it down onto the wire rack.
Love this recipe, great texture.. cannot tell it's gluten free. Only comment is that I couldn't get the icing to work using granulated sugar so remade using icing sugar with the lemon juice which we preferred.
Have recommended From the Larder to lots of friends.. fabulous, thank you.
That's great to hear! The granulated sugar icing is very crunchy - not smooth like an icing sugar version - either finish off the cake well so I'm happy you enjoyed it!
Going to try this. I bake with sorghum flour all the time. Love it. My husband hates lemon, so I use lime (his fav) or orange. Should be great. Think I will decease sugar by a little. Granddaughter hates sweet items. My family has very adament feelings. I'm good with whatever.
Let me know when you do try - I'd love to hear what you think!
Hi Georgina,
I'm keen to try this, but wondering if I can cut the sugar back and by how much. It seems a lot of sugar. Can I halve it, di you think?
Hi Annette, you can certainly cut out some of the sugar. I usually recommend no more than 20% as after that it starts to affect the structure of the bake. However, the recipe is yours to experiment with.
took this to a potluck and everyone raved! It's delicious AND easy! And the combination of flours is perfect - not stodgy like some gluten-free recipes. Really an excellent recipe - thank you!
Bobbie
Hi Bobbie - I'm so happy you hear you enjoyed the recipe!! Thank you for giving your feedback!
Perfect! I love it! I used Meyer lemons, and I used 4 because they were tiny. I also used 5 extra large U.S. eggs, and it was all delicious! I am on a fodmap diet right now to figure out my stomach issues, and I could eat everything that is in the cake. I was amazed that only sorghum flour and almond flour, with lots of butter and eggs, could make something so good! Thank you so much!
I'm so happy you enjoyed the recipe - thank you Alene!
I'm still eating it, 3 days later! I adore it. It's fine on the kitchen counter, covered. If you like lemons, definitely make this! You won't be sorry.