Learn how to make this lemon loaf cake with this easy recipe, with ground almond, lemon zest, and sour cream, that makes a moist lemon cake with a tender, yet sturdy crumb. The cake is glazed with a lemon drizzle when it's still hot to add more lemon flavour. Great for slicing and wrapping for snacks, but can also be dressed up with vanilla ice cream and berries for a simple dessert.
Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Brush with softened butter and flour an 8½x4½ inch (21.5x 11.5 cm) loaf pan OR a 9x5 inch (23x12.5 cm) loaf pan or a fluted 6-cup (1.5 L) loaf pan. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. If the flour seems lumpy, you can sift it through a metal sieve to get out all the lumps!
In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar for at least 5 minutes until light and fluffy and well mixed. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl often to make sure the mixture is evenly whipped.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing in between each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed.
Add the vanilla. Stir it in until all the ingredients are evenly mixed.
Add the sifted flour mixture, alternating with the sour cream, while stirring it in on low. You may want to finish mixing with a spatula to make sure the ingredients are all combined and to make sure there isn't any butter and sugar stuck to the bottom of the bowl.
Transfer the lemon loaf cake batter to the prepared loaf pan. Bake the cake on the middle rack until baked through. You'll know it's done because it will have cracked a little in the middle, it will pull away from the edges of the pan, a cake tester will come out clean, and the internal temperature will register around 100 °C (212 °F). It takes about 65 to 75 minutes to bake this cake in my experience.
Lemon syrup
While the cake is baking, make the syrup ahead of time so that it cools down.
In a small saucepan, combine the lemon juice and the 50 grams (¼ cup) of granulated sugar. Heat it until all the sugar is dissolved and it comes to a boil, then remove the saucepan from the heat and let it cool at room temperature.
Let the cool cake in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minute to firm up, then invert it onto a wire rack.
Using a pastry brush, immediately brush the cooled syrup on the hot cake, all over the top and sides. Use all the syrup. If you want you can poke a few holes on the surface to encourage the syrup to soak in further.
Let the cake cool completely before icing and slicing (at least 2 to 3 hours).
Lemon icing
When the cake has cooled completely, make the icing.
In a small bowl, whisk the icing sugar with 15 mL (1 tablespoon) lemon juice. The mixture will be very thick. Pour it on top of the cake and using a spoon, nudge the thick icing gently so that it drips down over the edge, decoratively.
Serve plain or with fresh raspberries (optional).
Notes
For this recipe, I used a fluted loaf pan from Nordic Ware, which has an elaborate pattern, reminiscent of bundt pan shapes. It has a 6 cup capacity, like most 8.5" x 4.5" loaf pans. I used 2 lemons total for this recipe: I used the zest of both lemons in the cake batter (starting by making lemon sugar) and then most of the juice was used to make the syrup, holding back 15 mL (1 tablespoon) to make the icing.