Gluten Free Lemon Cake

Gluten-free Lemon Cake Recipe is light, delicious, easy to make, and has the perfect grain-free, moist crumb. Olive oil almond cake with no sugar is a tasty Passover dessert that can be enjoyed year round.

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Oh, this lemon honey cake is exactly the type of snacking cake I adore with a cup of tea. I love that it’s grain-free (ie: perfect for Passover), but not too dense.

Fresh lemons plus honey…oh I can totally get into this. I’m always down for a lemon honey dessert and this one takes the cake…punny, huh?

Lemon lovers will rejoice because lemon desserts are always a nice change from chocolate…except, of course when only chocolate will suffice. Then, make this creamy dairy-free chocolate pie!

An easy lemon cake recipe that’s fancy enough for a special occasion and simple enough to make just because it’s so tasty…count me in!!

This is a fabulous Passover Cake. Here are some other Healthy Passover Recipes to round out your holiday menus.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• ALMOND FLOUR: Use superfine ground blanched almond flour. Almond meal will not work well in this recipe. You can find Bob’s Red Mill almond flour in most large grocery chains, or Costco and Trader Joe’s have their own brands that are good for baking.
• ARROWROOT POWDER: Arrowroot flour is made from a starchy vegetable. During Passover, you can use potato starch with the same results. You could also use cassava flour.
• OLIVE OIL: Just ¼ cup keeps this cake moist.
• HONEY: Sweetener that goes well with lemon and is perfect in this no too sweet cake. You could substitute date sugar, but the cake will take on a much darker color.
• LEMON: Fresh lemon juice and zest are used for great lemony flavor. If you use bottled lemon juice, add 1 teaspoon lemon extract for a similar flavor.
• EGGS: Whisked up eggs help this grain-free cake to rise. You could use an egg replacer to make this vegan, but the gluten-free cake will be more dense.
• SLICED ALMONDS: Decoration for the top of the cake. A drizzle of melted chocolate, or a lemon glaze would also be delicious.

Is it difficult to bake with almond flour?

As long as you understand that almond flour is not a 1-to-1 substitute for any other kind of flour—including a gluten-free flour blend—it’s easy to use.

Also, keep in mind super fine blanched almond flour is NOT the same thing as almond meal. Almond meal is more coarsely ground and the skins are still on. Almond flour has a lighter texture and is ideal for baked goods, almond meal is not.

It’s best to use almond flour in cake recipes exactly as listed in the ingredient list for best results. Coconut flour sucks up moisture more than almond flour. And, almond flour has a higher moisture content than regular or gluten-free all purpose flour. Therefore, substitutions likely will mean a different result in the final product.

Reasons to Love this Gluten-free Lemon Cake

• Perfectly sweetened with honey and no added sugar.
• It’s light and refreshing, moist and delicious.
• If you like a not too sweet snacking cake, this is it!
• Crunchy almonds on top….beautiful and fun.
• It’s so easy to make. You can get it into the oven in 5 minutes if you stay focused, 10 minutes if you’re listening to music and singing along. LOL…that would be ME!
• Simple, wholesome ingredients.
• A paleo cake recipe that tastes great!
• No special equipment is needed. If you have an electric mixer, use it. If not, you can use a whisk and and a large mixing bowl and still get fabulous results.

How to make Gluten-free Lemon Cake

Preheat oven to 350 and prepare an 8″ cake pan by lining with parchment paper and rubbing oil onto the sides of the pan.

First, gather the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. After you’ve added the almond flour, arrowroot powder and salt, use a microplane to zest both lemons over the bowl.

Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl or use an electric mixer and crack them into the mixer bowl. Either whisk by hand, or use the mixer to whisk the eggs until frothy.

Next, add the remaining wet ingredients, olive oil, honey and the juice from both lemons and whisk well. Use medium speed on an electric mixer. Mixture will be yellow and bubbly.

Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to gently mix until just incorporated. If you’re using an electric mixer, keep it on low speed. Cake batter will be bright yellow and starting to thicken up.

Pour batter into prepared cake pan. Tap down gently on the counter for cake batter to settle. Sprinkle with sliced almonds, to cover the majority of the cake. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean or with just a touch of the tender crumb attached.

Let cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then run a butter knife against the edge of the cake to dislodge it from the side of the pan. Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Then cut into slices.

Enjoy this gluten-free olive oil cake warm or at room temperature. A few berries add color and texture.

Debra’s Pro Tips

• Room temperature eggs work best in baking. Leave them to sit on the counter for about 30 minutes.
• To get more juice out of your lemons, roll them around on the counter under firm pressure from the palm of your hand.
• If you have a springform pan, use it! It will release the cake easily. Otherwise, be sure to rub some olive oil up the sides of your standard cake pan.
• Serve this light lemon cake with some fresh berries for a pop of color.
• If you omit the sliced almonds on top to make this ahead and freeze, make a little lemon glaze to drizzle on just before serving and then you can top with sliced almonds, and they will stick to the glaze. (Whisk together 1 Tablespoon of each: lemon juice, honey and water).

More Gluten-free Desserts you will love:

• Vegan Almond Flour Biscotti
• Peanut Butter Cookies
• Dairy-free Blueberry Tart
• Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie
• Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Frosting
• Baked Apples with Oats
• Gluten-free Apple Galette
• Almond Thumbprint Cookies
• Chocolate Zucchini Brownies
• Vegan Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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📖 Recipe

Gluten-free Lemon Cake Recipe

Author: Debra Klein

Gluten-free Lemon Cake Recipe is light, delicious, easy to make, and has the perfect grain-free, moist crumb. Olive oil almond cake with no sugar is a tasty Passover dessert, and we eat it all year round.

5 from 34 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12 slices

Calories 271 kcal

Equipment

• Citrus Squeezers
• Microplane
• Measuring Cups and Spoons
• KitchenAid Mixer
• 8 inch cake pan

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2 ½ cups blanched almond flour*
• ▢ ¾ cup arrowroot powder*
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 2 large lemons zested and juiced*
• ▢ 3 eggs room temperature
• ▢ ¼ cup olive oil
• ▢ ½ cup honey
• ▢ ½ cup sliced almonds

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350. Line 8" round pan (or springform pan) with parchment paper and rub olive oil on the sides of pan for easy removal of cake.
• In a small bowl, combine the almond flour, arrowroot powder and salt with a fork. Zest the lemons over the bowl.
• Use an electric mixer to whisk eggs until frothy. Add in the olive oil and honey and juice from the lemons. Mix until everything is well incorporated. Batter will look thick and yellow at this point.
• Add dry ingredients, including lemon zest, to the wet ingredients and mix by hand until just combined.
• Pour cake batter into prepared pan. Bang pan onto counter so batter is evenly dispersed.
• Sprinkle evenly with the sliced almonds. They should cover the cake batter almost completely.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.
• Let cake cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Run a butter knife along the perimeter of the cake to loosen it from the sides and then carefully remove from the springform pan to a cooling rack to finish cooling. If you used a regular round baking pan, place a cutting board or plate over the top of the cake and turn the pan over. Carefully remove the parchment paper and then hold the wire rack onto the bottom of the cake and carefully flip. The cake will now be almond side up cooling on a rack.
• Cake can be stored in airtight container for 4 days at room temperature, 1 week in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.

Notes

ALMOND FLOUR: finely ground, blanched almond flour is not the same as almond meal. Almond meal is coarser and the skins haven't been removed before grinding so it will produce a super dense cake.

ARROWROOT POWDER: can be substituted with potato starch during passover. You could also use tapioca starch or cassava flour.

MAKE AHEAD: Make the cake WITHOUT the almonds on top. Cool completely. Wrap in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 3 months or keep in the fridge for 5 days, then follow the lemon glaze directions below just before serving.

LEMON GLAZE: Mix together with fork or whisk 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, 1 Tablespoon honey and 1 Tablespoon water. Drizzle over cake and then sprinkle with sliced almonds and a little lemon zest.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 271kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 8gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 65mgFiber: 4gSugar: 13g

Note

The nutrition calculations were done using online tools. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients you used. You are ultimately responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information is accurate, complete and useful.

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag me @dkhealthcoach or use hashtag #dkhealtcoach on Instagram so I can see it!!