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Lemon Curd Crumb Cake

April 21, 2023 by Joy the Baker 28 Comments

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Revel in the tangy-sweet goodness of this simple lemon cake recipe made with lemon curd and streusel crumble. This easy single layer cake is bursting with bright lemon flavor, perfect for any occasion (like the upcoming weekend, babes).

There is nothing finer than starting the weekend off with a thick slice of cake for breakfast on Saturday morning.  It’s a signal to our senses that the next few days can be different.  Less structure, a slower pace, and for goodness sake more cake.

This is the weekend cake!  This is the cake we’ll leave on the kitchen counter and sneak slices off as we pass.  This is afternoon snacking cake and, if we do it right, we’ll share the last slice on Sunday night.

This is a simple cake with no cake layers to fuss with. Lemon desserts are my favorite so this easy vanilla cake is swirled with big spoonfuls of lemon curd which bakes up to extra jammy and concentrated.  If lemon curd doesn’t appeal to you, any preserves you have in the pantry would be delicious.

I hope this brings a sparkle of sweetness to your weekend, friends!

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this easy lemon cake recipe:

•  all-purpose flour, or a gluten-free flour blend with xanthan gum

•  unsalted butter

•  granulated sugar

•  large eggs

•  baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, ground coriander

•  vanilla extract

•  sour cream

•  store-bought lemon curd (though you’re welcome to make your own lemon curd with lemon zest and lemon juice.  Make a double batch – it’s delicious!)

•  rolled oats

•  powdered sugar

pouring sugar into a mixing bowl
adding dry ingredients together for lemon cake
creaming butter and sugar until light and fluffy for lemon cake recipe


Let’s make our cake batter.

In the bowl of a mixer with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl with an electric hand beater cream together room temperature butter and granulated sugar.  Beat on medium speed until the butter is pale and aerated.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda and powder, and ground coriander.

adding a large egg into bowl for lemon cake batter
adding vanilla into lemon cake recipe


Add eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed for 1 minute each to fluff the batter. Add the vanilla extract, too.

lemon cake batter being mixed
mixing ingredients for lemon cake recipe


For the wet ingredients, it’s just a single important dairy: sour cream.  Sour cream will create the most delightfully tender crumb – it’s absolutely the magic ingredient.

BUT! In the absence of sour cream you can use whole milk yogurt or buttermilk.

Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed into a thick batter.

Let’s make an oat crumble for this cake! Oatmeal adds a little chew to the texture and makes the cake feel like a hearty, everyday cake.

Plus, the addition of oatmeal absolutely pushes this cake into the breakfast category.

spreading lemon cake batter in a cake pan lined with parchment
spreading lemon curd on top of lemon cake batter in a cake pan


Line the bottom of a greased 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper and lightly grease the paper as well.  The cake batter will be thick. Spread half of that batter across the bottom of a pan.

Dollop with lemon curd and swirl it into the batter.

sprinkling crumble on top of lemon cake batter
lemon cake recipe batter in a cake pan
dollops of lemon curd on top of lemon cake batter


Top the first layer of lemon curd with oat crumble then spread the remaining cake batter across the cake, edge to edge.  Top with crumble and swirl with the remaining lemon curd.  It’s lovely, right?

Bake the cake in a 350 degrees F oven until puffed and golden around the edges.  Test the cake with a toothpick to make sure the centermost part of the cake is baked through.  She’s a thick lady.  If the toothpick comes out with moist batter alongside the lemon curd, she needs a bit more time in the oven.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10-15 inutes before turning out onto a wire rack  to cool or a platter to serve.

Slice into big wedges.

This cake is lovely with a simple dusting of powdered sugar but a lemon glaze is also nice.  Lemon desserts are notoriously delicious with fresh berries and cream.  There’s no wrong answer here, especially if there’s hot coffee too.

Enjoy your weekend cake, friends!

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lemon crumb cake slices on a cake plate

Lemon Curd Crumb Cake

★★★★★ 5 from 9 reviews
  • Author: Joy the Baker
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 60 minutes
  • Yield: 1 9-inch cake, Serves 8-10 1x
  • Category: cake
  • Method: baking
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Ingredients

Scale

For the Cake:

  • 1 1/2 cups (188 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick,113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup (133 grams) granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
  • 3/4 cup (184 grams) sour cream, at room temperature
  • About 1 cup store-bought lemon curd (8–10 ounces jar would be perfect!)

For the Crumble:

  • 1/2 cup (64 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup (45 grams) old-fashioned oats
  • 1/2 cup (100 grams0 granulated sugar
  • large pinch of salt
  • 4 tablespoons (56 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
  • Powdered sugar for topping

Instructions

  1. Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch round  baking pan (or springform pan), line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper and grease the parchment paper as well. Lightly flour the pan and knock any extra flour from the pan.
  2. In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, coriander if using, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl with electric hand beaters or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute per egg. Beat in the vanilla extract.
  4. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is mixed in well. Beat in the sour cream on medium speed.
  5. Turn the mixer to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Stop the mixer and finish incorporating the batter until well combined. The batter will be thick.
  6. To make the oat crumble, in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, sugar, and salt. Add the cold butter chunks and, using your fingers, work the butter into the flour mixture. Quickly break the butter down into the mixture until well incorporated. Some butter bits will be the size of small peas and oat flakes.
  7. Spread half of the cake batter into the bottom of the prepared pan. An offset spatula is a great tool to spread the batter. Dollop with half of the lemon curd and sprinkle with just under half of the oat crumble. Lightly swirl the batter. Top with the remaining cake batter, spreading to the edges. Dollop with the remaining lemon curd and sprinkle with remaining crumble. Lightly swirl, leaving generous dollops of curd exposed on the top of the cake. They’ll bake to irresistibly jammy. Bake until deeply golden and the sides of the cake are pulling away from the pan. A toothpick inserted in the cake will come out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. This is a long bake cake at 45-55 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through baking. Remove cake from the oven and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes before trying to invert the cake.
  8. Run a knife around the inside edge of the pan to loosen the cake from the pan. Place a flat plate over the pan and invert the cake. Peel the parchment round off the cake and gently invert the cake top side up.
  9. Serve warm or at room temperature lightly dusted with powdered sugar. Cake lasts, wrapped in the refrigerator, for up to 4 days.

Keywords: cake, lemon, coffee cake, crumb cake, easy cake, lemon curd

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Reader Interactions

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Questions
  1. Emily

    May 15, 2023 at 7:48 am

    Made without oats because I didn’t have any, and light sour cream instead of regular. Added a little lemon zest to the crumble. Even with these changes, turned out moist and delicious!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  2. Alaina

    May 8, 2023 at 12:39 pm

    I was looking for a recipe that would use up some extra homemade lemon curd I had made and luckily I had just enough for this recipe. I followed this recipe exactly & it turned out amazing. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Stacey A Avelar

      May 23, 2023 at 2:21 pm

      I just pulled it out of the oven. Smells fantastic!

      Reply
  3. Carol

    May 4, 2023 at 4:36 pm

    Absolutely the best! Made it for my Bible Study Brunch this morning, everyone liked it and wanted the recipe. I used Bob’s Red Mill GF flour for several that cannot have regular flour. To help my busy morning I had dry ingredients measured in a container, next time I will mix the butter into the crumb mixture and keep in the refrigerator. The finished cake was beautiful!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
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