Perfect mix – tart, tender lemon cake and sweet, creamy icing! This Iced Lemon Loaf recipe is a must make recipe for lemon lovers!
During the cold, dark winter months, there’s nothing like the bright flavor of lemon to add a little sunshine to your day!
We’re lucky that we have an abundance of local citrus, and fresh lemons are easy to come by.
Which works out well because I love lemon desserts like this easy Iced Lemon Loaf Cake recipe!
You can decide just how lemon-y you want your loaf to be.
The cake isn’t overly lemon-y by itself; instead, it’s more of a sweet, tender lemon vanilla cake.
The glaze has a hint from the zest and adds another layer of lemon flavor.
If you really want to amp up the lemon, use the syrup.
The combination of the syrup, cake, and glaze gives this loaf a nice tart tang and makes it perfect for adding a little sunshine to any blah winter day!
More lemon dessert recipes!
- Lemon Coconut Cookie Recipe
- Lemon Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
- Lemon Poppyseed Cream Cheese Muffins
Iced Lemon Loaf Recipe
Ingredients
Loaf Cake
- 2 c . all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp . baking soda
- 1/2 tsp . baking powder
- 1/2 tsp . salt
- 1/3 c . vegetable oil
- 1/4 c . low-fat sour cream
- 1 c . granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 c . fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp . vanilla extract
- 1 tsp . lemon zest
Syrup
- 2 T . granulated sugar
- 1 T . fresh lemon juice
- 1 T . water
Icing
- 1 c . powdered sugar
- 2-3 T . milk
- 1 T . lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk vegetable oil, sour cream, and sugar together until combined.
- Whisk in eggs.
- Add lemon juice and vanilla extract; whisk until well-combined.
- Whisk in dry ingredients until combined.
- Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let loaf cool in pan for 10 minutes.
- While loaf is cooling, whisk together sugar, lemon juice, and water.
- Bring to a boil, whisking constantly.
- Boil for 2-3 minutes, or until sugar has dissolved.
- Remove to wire rack, and lightly brush syrup over warm bread.
- Let bread cool to room temperature.
- Whisk powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, and lemon zest together.
- Add in additional milk as needed to get thick but pourable consistency.
- Pour over the top of cooled bread.
- Let icing set before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Vivian says
I couldn’t make the recipe, because there’s some kind of glitch in it (on my computer at least) where the ingredients show:
1 tsp ?2 . baking soda
• 1 tsp ?2 . baking powder
• 1 tsp ?2 . salt
1 c ?2 . fresh lemon juice
I couldn’t understand that. But I just thought I’d let you know. :)
Kate says
Thank you!! There was a glitch, and I appreciate you letting me know so that I could fix it. Thanks again!! =)
Lynn says
I would love to have this recipe but there is an ad that will not close. The ad covers the recipe!
Kate says
Thank you for letting me know about that, and I apologize that that happened! Please let me know whether or not you were able to get the recipe.
Sammie says
This lemon loaf looks gorgeous. I’m mad about lemon flavours in sweet and savoury foods. I like that this is a relatively low fat recipe. Definitely one to try thank you. Sammie.
Kate says
Thank you so much!