The BEST Lemon Curd Loaf Cake - Confessions Of A Baking Queen

Lemon Curd Loaf Cake is the perfect afternoon treat. Serve with a cup of tea, you just can't beat lemon cake. This lemon cake is swirled with lemon curd all throughout for an extra tangy-sweet dessert! Use homemade or store-bought lemon curd!

Lately, lemons have been ruling my house. And you know what I don't hate it. I love lemon on just about anything, squeeze it on top of some soup, with salmon, in my tea, in a cake...you get it.

My mom has a lemon tree so I am lucky enough to have fresh lemons pretty much whenever I want. Last week I made my tart lemon curd recipe, the recipe makes a fair bit so I had leftovers, what to make I thought? So many ideas- Eton mess, lemon curd biscuits, cheesecake with lemon curd, lemon layer cake with lemon curd filling, then I decided on a lemon loaf cake that would be swirled with lemon curd.

I based the recipe loosely off of my wildly popular lemon and raspberry loaf cake. I love that in this lemon curd loaf cake you can see the swirls of the lemon curd. This was the perfect treat, my whole family loved it. I hope yours does too!

The texture of this lemon cake is thick, soft, and dense, this is not a light and airy cake, but that's what I love about it!

Bake It 'Til You Make It!

First things first, you need lemon curd, you can make your own but keep in mind it does need to chill in the fridge for a few hours or you can use store-bought.

Baking is a science and to really achieve the best results I highly recommend investing in a kitchen scale. This OXO Kitchen Scale is the one I use and is also the number one recommended kitchen scale by Cook's Illustrated. Think about it -what one person scoops into a "cup" is completely different from what someone else scoops!

Baking for success

Bake for 40 minutes then place a piece of foil on top to prevent the lemon curd from turning too dark, place back in the oven for an additional 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Everyone's oven is different so I highly suggest checking the cake at a total of 55 minutes just in case your oven runs very warm.

While most everyone has had success with this recipe a few readers complained of an underbaked cake. So I recently made the cake again, at 30 minutes I added a lightly greased piece of foil on top of the cake to cover it and prevent it from browning too much. Then I let it cook for another 20 minutes, at this point the cake was perfectly done. I do find that doing less swirling to the outside edges of the cake helps prevent any super dark spots on the cake from the lemon curd.

Easy, Sweet, and Tart Lemon Glaze

Another lemon loaf cake recipe I love is my Lemon Zucchini Cake or my Lemon Pound Cake try one of these next!

★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!

More Lemon Recipes

• Raspberry Swirl Lemon Cheesecake
• Blueberry Lemon Loaf Cake
• Lemon Creme Brulee
• Lemon Olive Oil Cake

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

Loaf Cake

• 188 grams (1 ½ cup) All-Purpose Flour
• 1 ½ Teaspoon Baking Powder
• ½ Teaspoon Salt
• 200 grams (1 Cup) Granulated Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Lemon Zest (Roughly 2 medium lemons)
• 4oz (½ Cup) Unsalted Butter, at room temp.
• 2oz (¼ Cup) Vegetable Oil
• 2 Large Eggs, at room temp.
• 3 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
• 4oz (½ cup) Greek Yogurt or Sour Cream
• 4oz (½ cup) Lemon Curd (Homemade or Store-bought)

Lemon Glaze

• 125 grams (1 Cup) powdered sugar, sifted
• 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 Teaspoon Lemon Zest
• Splash of Cream

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Instructions

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Loaf Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C and grease a 9X5 loaf pan.
2. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a bowl of an electric mixer or large bowl with a handheld mixer combine sugar and lemon zest for 3-4 minutes- this helps infuse the sugar with a stronger depth of lemon flavor.
4. Add the butter and mix for 3-4 minutes, so it's nice and fluffy. Then the oil and mix for another minute or two.
5. Next, add the eggs one at a time. Mix in lemon juice (mixture make look curdled that is totally fine). Add the Greek yogurt, mix to combine. Gently fold in the dry mixture. 
6. Place ⅓ of lemon loaf batter in the prepared pan and place ⅓ of lemon curd in dollops on top use a butter knife to slightly swirl the curd, repeat two more times ending with lemon curd.
7. Bake for 30-40 minutes then place a piece of foil on top to prevent the lemon curd from turning to dark back for an additional 10-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean**  Let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before inverting out of the pan, carefully flip right side up and let cool for an additional 30 minute before starting glaze.

Lemon Glaze

1. While the cake is cooling prepare lemon glaze. In a bowl combine powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and, heavy cream. Drizzle on top of the cake when it is completely cool. Store cake in an airtight container, store in the fridge to last longer.

Equipment

1lb Loaf Pan

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Cordless Hand Mixer

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KitchenAid Stand Mixer

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OXO Kitchen Scale

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Small Angled Spatula

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Notes

***While most everyone has had success with this recipe a few readaers complained of an underbaked cake. So I recently made the cake again, at 30 minutes I added a lightly greased piece of foil on top of the cake to cover it and prevent it from browning too much. Then I let it cook for another 20 minutes, at this point the cake was perfectly done. I do find that doing less swirling to the outside edges of the cake helps prevent any super dark spots on the cake from the lemon curd.

• Author: Elizabeth Waterson
• Prep Time: 15
• Cook Time: 70
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: American

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