Sicilian Whole Lemon Cake (Using an Entire Lemon: Peel, Juice and Pulp)
Sicilian whole lemon cake is a moist and delicious crowd-pleasing dessert. This flavorful cake uses an entire lemon, peel, juice and pulp, for an amazingly lemony result!
Given the continuous rave reviews of my Sicilian whole orange cake, I now bring you, Sicilian whole lemon cake!
After making this cake several times, I’ve adjusted the sugar and made a few other changes to compensate for the difference in sweetness between oranges and lemons. However, please note that best results will come from Meyer lemons, although you can use Eureka or other more sour lemons by adding. a little more sugar.
If you fortunate enough to have access to Meyer lemons, you may also want to try this recipe: the best lemon drop martini you’ll ever have!
You could also try making posset, an incredibly easy and rich dessert!
And my favorite pancakes: lemon ricotta pancakes!
This isn’t a light cake, but a uniquely moist, flavorful, and bit more dense type of cake. It has a big crumb and sticky glaze, and I’ve never heard anyone try it and not gush with compliments! If you like a sweeter cake, you may want to add a little more sugar (especially if using Eureka lemons) as this isn’t overly sweet at all.
If you’d like to make a full size bundt cake instead, use this Meyer lemon cake recipe for a full sized cake (with glaze or icing).
In case you want to buy the PaneAngeli baking powder, I’ve added a link below in the recipe ingredients. It looks like this~
Sicilian Whole Lemon Cake
adapted from my Sicilian Whole Orange cake makes one cake
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
NB: I use Meyer lemons which are much less sour than Eureka. I would recommend using a little more sugar if you don’t have Meyer lemons.
Make the Whole Lemon Cake
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)
Prepare an 8″ springform pan by spraying with oil (or butter) and lining in parchment paper (sides optional, if you want really clean sides), then spray the paper, too.
Place the sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until light and fluffy.
Sift the flour with the baking powder/PaneAngeli then add to the mixture in the bowl a little at a time along with the softened butter. Continue to mix until completely blended, then stir in the yogurt (and vanilla, if using).
In a food processor, process the whole lemon until it is almost pureed. It should look like this~
Add this lemon to the cake mixture and stir until evenly combined, then put the batter into the prepared tin.
Bake for 50-60 minutes (depending on your oven), but test with a cake tester or skewer to make sure the whole lemon cake is done before removing from the oven. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then remove the side of the springform pan.
Make the Lemon Glaze
Prepare the glaze by melting the sugar in the lemon juice and water, and allow to simmer for a few minutes, just until the liquid has a syrupy consistency. Spoon and brush over the top of the cake and allow to cool completely before cutting.
Yes, it’s hard to wait, but the moist lemon cake will cut more easily if it’s cool first.
Garnish with a twist of lemon or a few lemon slices, or just serve plain. So good!
Enjoy with a cup of tea or glass of limoncello!
Sicilian Whole Lemon Cake
A moist and dense cake make with an entire lemon.
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 c (300g) sugar
- 1 3/4 c (275g) all purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder (or 1 packet Italian Pane Degli Angeli vanilla baking powder)
- 1/3 c (100g) butter, softened
- 1/3 c (100g) plain Greek yogurt
- 1 large organic Meyer lemon, about (300g), washed and cut into pieces (with the rind, but remove the seeds)
- (if using baking powder, add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
Glaze
- 1 oz of lemon juice
- 1 oz water
- a little less than 3 Tbsp (35 grams) sugar
Instructions
Make the Whole Lemon Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)
- Prepare an 8″ springform pan by spraying with oil (or butter) and lining in parchment paper (sides optional, if you want really clean sides), then spray the paper, too.
- Place the sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until light and fluffy.
- Sift the flour with the baking powder then add to the mixture in the bowl a little at a time along with the softened butter. Continue to mix until completely blended, then stir in the yogurt and the vanilla, if using.
- In a food processor, process the whole lemon until it is almost pureed.
- Add this lemon to the cake mixture and stir until evenly combined, then put the batter into the prepared tin.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes (depending on your oven), but test with a cake tester or skewer to make sure the whole lemon cake is done before removing from the oven. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then remove the side of the springform pan.
Make the Lemon Glaze
- Prepare the glaze by melting the sugar in the lemon juice and water, and allow to simmer for a few minutes, just until the liquid has a syrupy consistency. Spoon and brush over the top of the cake and allow to cool completely before cutting.
- Yes, it’s hard to wait, but the moist lemon cake will cut more easily if it’s cool first.
- Garnish with a twist of lemon or a few lemon slices, or just serve plain.
Notes
NB: I use Meyer lemons which are much less sour than Eureka. I would recommend using a little more sugar if you don't have Meyer lemons.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 90Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 122mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 1gSugar: 0gProtein: 4g
Nutrition info is estimated.
Lemon Cheesecake Blueberry Swirl Bars
Sign up for my free emails and never miss a post! Choose food, travel or food AND travel!
Christina’s Cucina is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associate Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Delicious!
Oh WOW,WOW,WOW- what a cake, moist, sharp but sweet. Popular at church coffee get together and been volunteered to produce the orange cake!!
I added 400g sugar but my lemons were common garden supermarket so 4 whole lemons to get the 300g.
As a topping, the next time I might try a lemon water icing.
Whoops, I used caster sugar!! Learner baker and didn’t read the comments until came in oven.
Hope it’ll work. 😳😳
Even better than plain granulated, you’re okay!! :)
One more question. Does it matter Granulated sugar vs powdered sugar?
Yes, use granulated :)
A large whole Meyers lemon is around 150 grams. Not 300. So which is better one large 150 grams or 2 adding to 300 grams as stated ?
Thank you
Hi Brian, as the owner of two Meyer lemon trees, I must say that there is no standard size for Meyer lemons. I have them ranging in size from 100g to 500g. The weight of 300g is what is needed for the recipe, so you’d need two 150g lemons. However, the fruit to skin ratio will be off which shouldn’t be too much of an issue if the rind is thin. If it’s thicker, you may want to remove some skin and use more flesh from another lemon. You could just go with the 2 lemons the first time and see how the cake tastes and go from there. Good luck, and let me know how it turns out.
Thank you. I had no idea the lemons can be so big. I’ll reply after I make tomorrow
Thank you.
I’ll update tomorrow i
OK here is the update. I asked all the questions as my first attempt, last week, I did not follow perfectly.. I actually made with real lemons from my tree, not Meyers, and I used powdered sugar. It was alot of lemon skin! The cake came out heavy and chewy. Oddly people loved it.
Now this round I used two Meyers Lemons to get to 300g. I scaled back a little of the second to get it exact. I may have used a tad more of the lemon juice. The other change was granulated sugar. The cake was amazing. It looked almost identical to your photos. The only mistake I may have made was baking it about 48 minutes, the center fell slightly. I took photos because the actual cut peice could not have come out better. The cake was a hit, right amount of lemon flavor, right amount of sweetness. The New Years guests ate it all. Thank you. Brian M
Fantastic! SO your next one will be absolutely perfect, Brian! Yay! Happy new year!
Hi Christina, I have made your Sicilian Whole Orange Cake and everyone loves it. I am going to try your Whole Lemon Cake next, but I am wondering, when you say add a little bit more sugar if you can’t find Meyer lemons (I can’t), how much more would you suggest? Would another 1/4 cup work?
May I use a Bundt pan for this cake
Yes, it will be a bit shorter, but if you make 50% more it will be completely full. I don’t mind it a bit shorter, but just wanted to let you know.