Name: Lemon and Almond Cake with Lemon icing
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Ingredients: 65g unsalted butter, at room temperature; 65g caster sugar; 1 large egg; 35g plain/all-purpose flour; 30g ground almonds; grated rind of ½ lemon; ½ teaspoon vanilla extract; ½ tablespoon milk; ½ plus ⅛ teaspoon baking powder; ⅛ teaspoon fine salt; 150g icing sugar; 4 - 5 teaspoons lemon juice; 30g flaked almonds; grated lemon rind

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A soft, light and fluffy lemon and almond sponge cake with lemon icing. Serve with raspberries and cream or ice cream as a dessert or enjoy this cake with a cup of tea for an afternoon treat. If you think it can’t get any better, you’re wrong, it does! PLUS sweet, delicious summery raspberries topped with a buttery, melt in the mouth lemon and almond sponge. Two for the price of one!

Although I have made both the cake and the pudding many times before, making them together and now posting them together, came about as a bit of an accident. I was supposed to be making the pudding only but had recently made a 2-egg cake and the ingredient quantities were stuck in my head. Half way through making the sponge topping, I realised I had twice as much as I needed. What a fabulous excuse to make a cake as well!

The ingredient quantities given here are, however, purely for the cake. Double the sponge recipe and you can make the pudding as well. For the Lemon and Almond Sponge Pudding with Raspberries, please see here.

This recipe is based on my Classic Sponge Cake/Pudding – Core Recipe; I prepared the batter in exactly the same way, but swapped out half the flour and replaced it with ground almonds, added some lemon zest and vanilla extract and finished the cooked cake with some lemon icing.

We adore almonds in our house and a lot of my recipes will use them. If you are allergic to nuts, go classic! Simply omit them and replace with additional flour as in the original cake recipe.

How to make Lemon and Almond Cake with Lemon icing

It is very quick and easy to make.

Make the cake: beat the butter, sugar, egg, flour, almonds, lemon zest, vanilla extract, milk, baking powder and salt
Transfer to a lined and greased baking tin
Cook and allow to cool on a wire rack
Make the icing: mix lemon juice with some icing sugar and spread over the top of the cake
Scatter over some toasted, flaked almonds and voila! Bon appetit!

Please refer back to my Classic Sponge Cake/Pudding – Core Recipe if you require more guidance on making the sponge topping.

Make the cake:

Toast the almonds and ice the cake:

Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.

Lemon and Almond Cake with Lemon icing

A soft, light and fluffy lemon and almond sponge cake with lemon icing. Serve with raspberries and cream or ice cream as a dessert or enjoy this cake with a cup of tea for an afternoon treat.

Course afternoon tea, Dessert, Morning Coffee, Snack

Keyword Almonds, cake, dessert, lemon, Pudding

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

For the cake:

65g unsalted butter, at room temperature
65g caster sugar
1 large egg
35g plain/all-purpose flour
30g ground almonds
grated rind of ½ lemon
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ tablespoon milk
½ plus ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
⅛ teaspoon fine salt

For the icing and topping:

150g icing sugar
4 – 5 teaspoons lemon juice
30g flaked almonds
grated lemon rind

Instructions

Make the cake:

Preheat oven to Fan Oven 160°C/180°C/350°F/Gas 4
Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
Ensure the butter is at room temperature and soft enough to beat. If not soften it slightly in the microwave. (Be very careful not to melt it though – just do 5 seconds at a time if you are unsure.)
Put all the remaining ingredients in a bowl and whisk thoroughly with an electric whisk until just combined. This should take around 1 minute, and no more.
Transfer to the prepared cake tin and cook in the centre of the oven for 18 – 22 minutes or until the sponge is cooked. It is cooked when:
– the centre feels springy when lightly touched with your finger and no imprint remains
– a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean
– the cake is beginning to come away from the sides of the tin/dish.
Take out of the oven and leave for 5 minutes. Remove the cake from the tin onto a cooling rack. Leave to cool.

Toast the almonds and make the icing:

Toast the flaked almonds in a frying pan. Heat the pan over a moderate heat, add the almonds (no oil or anything else) and cook, stirring every now and then, until the almonds look a little browner than before. It should only take 2 – 3 minutes; do not take your eye off the pan as they can burn easily and quickly.
Transfer to a different bowl as soon as they are cooked. This is to prevent further browning.
Sieve the icing into a mixing bowl and slowly adding the lemon juice, mixing well in between each addition until the desired consistency is achieved. I used 4 teaspoons in the pictures shown.
Spread the icing over the top of the cooled cake, right to the edges. It is OK for it to drip down the sides of the cake.
Scatter over the flaked almonds and grate over a little lemon zest.
Put the kettle on! Enjoy.