This fluffy and moist Almond Flour Lemon Cake recipe is flavored with fresh lemons and frosted with a creamy, dairy-free blend of coconut butter, honey, and lemons. It's a simple and classic dessert that's gluten free, grain free, dairy free, refined sugar free, Paleo and SCD!
I've had the recipe for this almond flour lemon cake recipe tucked into my recipe notebook since last summer.
I worked on it and worked on it and then before I knew it, summer had given way to fall and I'd moved on to sharing with you all things pumpkin.
Well, last week my little girl turned three (excuse me while I dry my tears) and was adamant about wanting a lemon cake for her birthday.
It gave me the perfect excuse to dig this paleo lemon cake recipe back up and with just a few little tweaks...here we are!
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This lemon almond flour cake is moist and fluffy which can be difficult to achieve when baking with almond flour.
It also has a lovely, tart lemon flavor brought on by the use of fresh lemons that I absolutely love!
What ingredients are in the lemon almond flour cake?
- coconut oil
- honey
- eggs
- lemon zest
- fresh lemon juice
- vanilla extract
- blanched finely ground almond flour
- fine sea salt
- baking soda
When it comes to the honey, I suggest using a lighter honey such as clover.
It tends to be sweeter and the baked cake will be lighter in color than if a dark honey is used.
Feel free to swap the coconut oil for olive oil.
How to make the cake
Put the mixers and whisks away...for this recipe you'll be using a blender!
Add all of the wet ingredients into the blender and blend for about 15 seconds or until frothy.
Add the dry ingredients and blend until all the ingredients are well combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the blender jar as needed.
Pour the batter into a greased and lined 9 inch cake pan.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
Lemon almond flour cake tips:
- All ingredients must be at room temperature. This is very important because if any of the ingredients are cold, then the coconut oil will solidify and won't be evenly distributed in the cake.
- Submerge cold eggs in a bowl of warm water to quickly bring them up to room temperature.
- The coconut oil should be melted but NOT hot!
- The cake can also be baked in two 6 inch loaf pans or a muffin pan, although the bake time will need to be adjusted.
Ingredients for the lemon coconut frosting
- coconut butter
- fresh lemon juice
- honey
- coconut milk
My Homemade Coconut Butter is incredibly easy to make and is perfect for this recipe.
If you prefer store bought, then the Nutiva 
brand of coconut butter tends to give me the most consistent results.
If following the SCD or Paleo diets, I can't recommend the Native Forest Simple Coconut Milk
enough.
It has only two ingredients (water and coconut) and is a very creamy milk. Just make sure to shake the can before adding the milk to the frosting.
How to make the frosting
This frosting is incredibly easy to make!
Mix the coconut butter with a little lemon juice, honey, and canned coconut milk.
Taste and adjust the flavors to your liking. That's it!
Once the cake has cooled, spread the frosting on top.
Lemon coconut frosting tips:
- If the frosting is too firm, place in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds to help it soften.
- Serve the cake at room temperature for a soft, creamy frosting.
- Place the cake in the refrigerator for 60 minutes for a firm, shell-like frosting (which is my personal preference).
- I have to be perfectly honest with you, if I hadn't been making this for my daughters birthday I probably would have left the frosting off altogether, it's so good without it! But she reminded me that "a bibday cake needs fosting mama"! So the birthday girl got her frosting and I actually really love it on the cake! Moral of the story, if you decide NOT to make the frosting, the cake is still delicious and almost reminiscent of a lemon pound cake!
How do I store the cake?
Leftovers can be covered with plastic wrap or placed in an airtight container and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
If you would like to freeze the cake, begin by slicing the cake into single servings.
Make sure the cake has been chilled in the refrigerator and the frosting is firm before wrapping each individual slice a few times with plastic wrap.
Then wap each slice with aluminum foil and store in a ziploc bag in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To thaw, simply unwrap the aluminum foil and all but one layer of plastic wrap from the cake and place in the refrigerator or on the kitchen counter until fully thawed.
More almond flour dessert recipes!
- Paleo Lemon Tart
- Almond Flour Strawberry Cake
- Almond Flour Vanilla Cake Pops
- Gluten-Free Coconut Cupcakes
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NOTE: If following the SCD diet, I suggest contacting the company to verify ingredients before using any prepackaged products.
Post was updated on 6/27/19 to refine directions and add additional recipe tips.
Recipe
Lemon Almond Flour Cake
Ingredients
Lemon Cake
- 2 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted
- ¾ cup honey
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons lemon zest about 1 large lemon
- ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups finely ground blanched almond flour
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Lemon Coconut Frosting
- ½ cup coconut butter, softened
- ¼ cup full fat canned coconut milk, shake the can well before using
- 3 Tablespoons honey
- 2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Optional:
- lemon slices and lemon zest for garnish
Instructions
Lemon Cake
- Preheat oven to 325F. Grease the sides and bottom of a 9 inch round cake pan with coconut oil. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Set aside. Ensure all ingredients are at room temperature before beginning.
- Place all wet ingredients; coconut oil, honey, eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla extract into a blender and blend for about 15 seconds. The mixture should be frothy.
- Add the dry ingredients and the lemon zest to the blender. Blend until all ingredients are well combined, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed.
- Pour the batter into the greased cake pan and bake on the middle rack for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. The top and sides of the cake should be a golden brown.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before turning out of the pan.
Lemon Coconut Frosting
- Place all ingredients for the frosting in a small bowl and mix using a spoon. If the frosting is too firm, place the bowl in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds until softened.
- Wait until the cake has cooled to frost. Garnish with lemon slices and lemon zest. Keep cake stored covered in the refrigerator.
- The frosting will firm up in the fridge. It can be served with the firm frosting (which is my preference) or take cake out to rest at room temperature 45 minutes before serving.
Notes
- All the ingredients for the cake must be at room temperature before beginning to bake or the coconut oil will harden and won't be evenly distributed in the batter.
- Make sure to use fresh lemon juice for the cake and frosting or the flavor will be "off".
- The post above has more tips and suggestions.
Aj
Is this 413 calories a slice or for one
whole cake
Jennifer
Per slice
Sarah
Can I sub coconut flour for almond flour? My son has a nut allergy. 🙁
Jennifer
Hi Sarah! Unfortunately coconut flour and almond flour are not interchangeable. Coconut flour requires TONS more liquid and significantly less flour. You'd be better off finding a coconut flour cake recipe on Google or Pinterest rather than trying to adapt this one.
Lindsay
My frosting isn’t setting. It is liquid. What am I doing wrong?
Jennifer
Did you change any of the ingredients? If you used coconut butter, it will firm up if placed in the refrigerator!
Chantelle Rowntree
I'm looking to make this for my Birthday at the end of the month, but we will be away for that weekend. Do you think it would be okay if I freeze the cake, travel with the cake, defrost it the day before my Bday, and ice it on my Bday? If it wasn't for the fact my 5 year old wanted to help Mommy blow out the candles on my cake, I probably would have skipped it this year, but I'd hate to disappoint him.
Jennifer
I haven't tried freezing the cake but it should be fine! Hope you and your kiddo enjoy blowing out the candles! Happy Birthday!
Kate
Thank you for posting such a delicious recipe. The cake was so moist and tasty, and the prep was really straightforward. The frosting is magnificent! What a clever combo and perfect match for the cake. Thanks again!
Jennifer
Glad you enjoyed the recipe Kate, and thanks for coming back to let me know!
Leah
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made this for my first birthday on SCD and it was my fave bday cake ever! Such perfect texture and flavour
Sarah
I’m totally in love with this recipe and so is the whole family! ❤️ I’ve made it at least 5 times now and also made some variations eg: reduced the honey, plus added orange zest or lavender or both! All were delicious and my daughter wants the orange/lavender version as her birthday cake next week!
Thank you for the fabulous recipe! ?
Jennifer
Happy to hear that you and your family enjoy the cake! I hope your daughter has a lovely birthday!
Frances Lynch
Hi the cake tasty lovely but didn’t rise.i had to make 3 to get a decent height. Amy idea what I did wrong?
Jennifer
Hi Frances! I need a bit more information to try and help you out! Just a few questions, did you substitute anything in the recipe? Did you use large eggs? Did you use almond flour or almond meal? I don't know how experienced you are with grain/gluten free baking but an important thing to keep in mind is that almond flour products don't have the same rise that wheat flour has, this cake (if using the pan size specified) is maybe 1 1/2" tall.
Leah
Thank you so much for the recipe!! It is heavenly! So delicious. You are a genius!
Jennifer
So happy to hear you enjoyed the cake!!!
Jenny
Really awesome, really easy, my kind of recipe! I am always worried about things being too sweet so I cut down the honey to 2/3 of a cup. The batter still tasted on the sweet side (for me), but when it baked it was quite lovely. The cake is moist and dense and a nice lemony colour, and the icing consistency is incredible given that it has no butter, icing sugar, etc. Overall I was really impressed with this whole recipe! Oh and I did mine in an 8 x 8 square pan as I don't have a round cake pan and it was perfect. I am hoping to try a vanilla version for my son's birthday, maybe replacing the lemon with coconut milk and increasing vanilla/adding vanilla bean. Fingers crossed.
Jennifer
Yay, so happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for sharing that it works well in an 8x8 square pan as well.
I actually just posted a recipe yesterday for a trifle, take a look at the recipe for the cake portion...I think it will work for your sons birthday! Here's the link https://thehealthierbite.com/blueberry-lemon-trifle/
Roslyn
My 'batter' was dry and crumbly. The almond meal soaked up all of the liquid before I even got to turn the blender on. Any thoughts or suggestions regarding what happened or how to fix it?
Jennifer
Hi Roslyn, I need a bit more information to try and help you figure it out. Did you make any substitutions to the recipe and did you add all the necessary wet ingredients? Also, you said that you used almond meal instead of almond flour. There's a difference between the two and if you kept everything else in the recipe the same, the issue may be the almond meal.
Lynn
Hi, I’ve never baked with almond flour before. The flour did not appear to mix well in the blender and I manually mixed it myself. The cake turned out very dense. Is that typical of almond flour or should I try a mixer the next time to ensure it’s mixed better? Thank you
Jennifer
Hi Lynn! Any type of nut flour, almond flour included, is much denser in baked goods than traditional flour so it will take a bit of time to get used to not only the flavor but texture as well. I apologize for the late response. My health hasn't been the greatest recently so I took some much needed time to get myself back on track!
Helmy Rex
Can I save the rest of the frosting in the freezer? For how long?
Delicious cake!!
Jennifer
So glad you liked the cake! I have not tried freezing the frosting so I'm not sure how the consistency would be for spreading on a cake/cupcake after defrosting. You might be able to freeze it in candy molds or little drops and enjoy it as a cold candy.
Stephanie
How long do you think for two 6inch round and do you think two would stack well with the frosting in the middle?
Jennifer
I would start checking around maybe the 25 or 30 minute mark. The frosting should be fine between the layers and depending on how thick you spread it, you might have enough for the top as well. I wouldn't suggest frosting the whole cake with this frosting recipe though, I don't think it will hold up well on the sides of the cake.
Stephanie
Thank you so much! And good idea about not frosting the whole thing! Maybe keep it refigerated until serve at party?
Jennifer
No problem! Yes, keep it refrigerated until ready to serve and you can use maple syrup as a vegan alternative. The flavor will change slightly and the frosting might be a bit darker but it should still taste good!
Angie
Hello- Made this excellent cake for an Easter dinner and everyone raved over it. Changed nothing except we did a simple buttercream frosting of 1/2 dup butter whipped with 1/2 cup clover honey and two teaspoons of sugar and topped with raspberry sauce- YUM! Thank you for an uncomplicated recipe- using the blender sure beats the needing to separately whip egg whites.
Katie
I made this for my mother's birthday. I added 1 Tbl lavender to the batter and it was delicious. The center did fall a little — I didn't have very fine almond flour. It was great as was, but for future recipes do you think this was the cause?
Thanks!
Jennifer
Glad you enjoyed it, and what a wonderful idea to add lavender! It's hard to say...it could be the type of almond flour, if you opened the oven door during baking that could cause it to fall a bit too. The nice thing is that it doesn't effect the flavor of the cake and can easily be covered up with frosting!
Kate
Can this be made with a mixer if you do not have a blender?
Jennifer
Yes! It may not turn out as fluffy but it will still be delicious!
Lisa Steuerwald
Where can I find coconut butter, its not readily available in , can I substitute for another ingredient?
Jennifer
Hi Lisa! If you can't find coconut butter in your local health food store you can purchase it off of amazon. You can also make your own! Simply put unsweetened shredded coconut in a blender or food processor and blend until creamy. It will take anywhere between 2 and 5 minutes depending on the strength of your appliance. You can also make the cake without the frosting, it's still delicious!
Kathryn
Delicious!!! Thank you for the recipe
Aaron
Made this today for my wife for mother's day. It turned out delicious!
Anne Murphy
Blender, huh? LOL That texture looks lovely! I'm going to have to try your technique with almond flour.