Cooking After Class: Lemon Sourdough Cake

Super simple and delicious Lemon Sourdough Cake. I love that this cake isn’t overly sweet. It has a bit of a doughy texture yet it’s light and airy. Our whole family likes it and struggles with stopping after just one piece. It makes a 9×13 pan but it doesn’t last long in our house…a few days max and it’s already devoured.

I used my lemon zester for this recipe. Never thought I needed one until I bought one. I actually use it a lot more than I thought I would. Love the yellow handle on mine…easy to locate in my kitchen tools drawer 🙂

I also love my little lemon container 🍋 I usually keep a cut lemon in the fridge to slice up and make a cup of hot lemon water (yum!) each afternoon and evening. This container makes it easy to spot my lemon even after the kids have rearranged the fridge looking for an afternoon snack 🙂

Substitutions/Additions for Lemon Sourdough Cake:

used zest from only one lemon (it’s all we had on hand) it was good but 2 packed tablespoons would be my recommendation to get the best lemon flavor 🍋
instead of 3/4 cup oil, used 1/4 cup oil and 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

Tips for making Lemon Sourdough Cake:

The first thing you will need for this recipe is sourdough discard. I have a jar of sourdough starter that lives in my fridge (thank you Janinne). If you don’t have any YET, follow the directions here to make your own. Each week I take it out, make a new recipe, feed it, and put it back in the fridge to grow. We have “Sourdough Saturdays” so I remember to make a recipe using the discard each week 🙂
There is a glaze mentioned at the end of the recipe. I chose not to add it as I enjoy this cake without it. But…if you’re interested, here it is: Lemon Glaze: Mix together 1 cup of icing sugar with 1 teaspoon lemon zest and enough lemon juice to thin to your desired consistency. Drizzle over the cooled cake before serving.