Gluten-free Lemon Drizzle Cake (low FODMAP, lactose-free)
One of the first baking books that I bought was Mary Berry’s Baking Bible. Years ago, I watched The Great British Bake Off for the first time and I was a big fan of the two judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry. I bought Mary Berry’s book and tried several of her recipes. When I had to start eating low FODMAP, I didn’t use the book for a while. Until I decided that I would just try to make one of Mary Berry’s recipes low FODMAP. That was the gluten-free lemon drizzle cake!
Mary Berry’s recipe for lemon drizzle cake contains gluten, but I made a low FODMAP, gluten-free and lactose-free version. This recipe does contain butter, but because butter hardly contains any lactose most people with a lactose-intolerance can tolerate it.
When I made this recipe for the first time in 2015, I really had a love-hate relationship with lemon. I once tried to make a lemon merengue cake and it had a way too strong lemon flavour (I probably was a bit too enthusiastic with the lemon zest). After that cake, I decided that I didn’t like cakes with lemon.
If you have been following me for a while, you probably know that I have changed my opinion about lemon 100%. You can make me incredibly happy with a lemon cake or any other recipe with lemon and you can see that on the blog too.
Take a look at these yummy lemon recipes on the blog:
- Low FODMAP lemon cake with frosting
- Naked cake with lemon and blueberries
- Lemon risotto
- Healthy lemon cheesecake
- Homemade lemon curd
- Blueberry baked oatmeal with lemon
- Lemon mousse with lemon curd
- Lemon curd crumble bars
If you love lemon like I do, you have quite some recipes to try π
Light gluten-free lemon drizzle cake
To get back to the gluten-free lemon drizzle cake: you really cannot taste that this cake is gluten-free. It is light and fresh. The recipe for this cake is a basic cake recipe, but with some lemon added to the batter and a fresh and sweet lemon drizzle on top. SO good!
Mary uses a drizzle made of lemon juice and white sugar in her recipe. In my version, I went for lemon juice and icing sugar because this makes a smooth lemon drizzle and that is what I prefer.
Will you let me know if you have tried my gluten-free lemon drizzle cake? I would love it if you would share your creations with me by using the hashtag #karlijnskitchen on Instagram or by tagging me via @karlijnskitchen
Gluten free Lemon Drizzle Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 min
- Servings: 10 1x
Description
Delicious gluten-free lemon drizzle cake! Lemon cake with a tangy sweet lemon drizzle on top. Gluten-free and lactose-free.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 225 g (1 cup) softened butter (you can also use lactose-free margarine)
- 225 g (2 cups + 2 tbsp) white sugar
- 275 g (2 cups) gluten-free flour
- 16 g (4 tsp) baking powder
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gom
- A pinch of salt
- 4 eggs
- 5 tbsp lactose free milk
- the grated zest of three lemons
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- A 12-inch cake tin
For the topping
- 6 tbsp lemon juice
- 100 g (2/3 cup) icing sugar
Instructions
For the cake
- Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 F) Grease the cake tin and line it with baking parchment.
- Beat the butter together with the sugar until you get a fluffly mixture.
- Add the eggs one by one and mix in between. Add the milk and the lemon juice and mix everything together.
- Mix the flour, baking powder, xanthan gom, salt and lemon zest together in a bowl and add this to the wet ingredients little by little, while stirring in between.
- Mix until you have a smooth batter. Pour the mixture into the baking tin and level with a spatula.
- Bake the cake in the oven for 55-60 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean. The baking time might differ per oven. In one oven it might need a few minutes more than in the other, so keep a close eye on your cake at the end of the baking time.
- Take the cake from the oven and leave it to cool in the tin for a few minutes. Turn out and leave it to cool on a wire rack.
For the topping
- Make the topping by mixing the lemon juice with the icing sugar in a bowl. Stir until you have a smooth topping.
- If your drizzle is too thin, you can add some extra icing sugar. If it is too thick, add some more lemon juice.
Notes
You can replace the gluten-free flour with gluten-free self-raising flour. Then you can leave the baking powder out.
You can store the cake in a closed box for 3-4 days, out of the fridge. If you want to store it longer, you can freeze the cake. Wrap the cake in aluminium foil or put it into a closed box.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 55 min
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20 Comments
A fantastic moist cake full of flavour recommend to everyone even if you donβt need gluten free.
I made it for my daughter who has just been diagnosed with celiac she was so impressed when I made it for a family BBQ she asked everyone to taste it saying it just melts in your mouth it was a great hit I shall definitely be making it again
Fantastic recipe! As someone who doesn’t bake much, and had never baked gluten-free before, the first time I made this cake it was a hit! Everyone enjoyed it and was so surprised to hear it was gluten and dairy free, especially because it rose really well. My gluten-free friends especially were very grateful.
I’ve made this twice now just about to do another. Its delicious and my non gluten free husband and friends love it.
I am happy to hear that you like it so much π Enjoy!
This recipe worked really well for a gluten and dairy free cake, my first effort. It was very light and tasted lovely, so much so that you couldn’t tell the difference. I weighed my eggs and then used equivalent weight for the main ingredients. It made a superb birthday cake.
Lovely mixture but I needed to know what size square tin to use – it overflowed and made a horrible mess albeit tasty
I’ve made this cake several times now and it never let’s me down. Everyone loves it and can’t believe it’s gluten free because it’s so moist. Have just baked a lower sugar version (100g less total) for tomorrow so will see how it compares to usual. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I am so happy to hear that! How did the lower sugar version turn out?
Hi
You mention salt and Xantham Gum in your method but not in ingredients. Can you confirm what levels.
Looking forward to making this.
BethAnne
Sorry! I have changed it in the recipe π
My teenage daughter baked this and unfortunately, the first time she tried it, she followed the recipe exactly so there was too much baking powder. It was great with 4 *teaspoons* which is what 16g is.
Can you adjust the recipe so it calls for 4tsp of baking powder, not 4tbsp?
Hi Cliona, in the ingredient list it already says 4 tsp, not 4 tbsp! π
Only needed 45 min in the oven (since we made it in 2x 2lb loaf tins but it’s delicious! Really moist and a great lemon flavour. Only change we made was to use 200g white sugar and it’s still great. Thanks for the recipe!
Amazing cake. It was really soft and fluffy and not dry in the slightest. Better than non gluten cakes. It only took 45 minutes to bake not 55 minutes and I only used 3 tbsp of lemon juice for the icing drizzle not 6.
Thank you for the recipe, I really wanna give it a try.
If I use your basic cake flour recipe as a base, do I add an additional 1/2 tsp Xantham to it on top of the 1tsp from the basic recipe as listed in the ingredients here?
Hi Leo, I am not sure which flour you mean?
Sorry, let me clarify.
You refer to your basic cake recipe (karlijnskitchen.com/en/gluten-free-pound-cake/), in which you describe how to make the basic cake.
You wrote that Attempt 2, the homemade flour, got you the best results. There you list 1tsp Xantham as an ingredient.
In this recipe, you list an additional 1/2 tsp Xantham.
I would like to go with the same homemade flour mix you described. Should I add a total of 1.5 tsp Xantham for this recipe?
For anyone with the same question: 1.5tsp worked out fine.
I made this cake a few times now, it’s a great recipe!
Two notes:
– 225g sugar is not 2 cups+2 tbsp as written in the recipe, it’s closer to around 1 cup. 2 cups is around 400g, which makes for a pretty sweet surprise π
– 6 tbsp of lemon juice produces a lot of glaze, I had a bit too much left over. 3-4 tbsp work great for me.