This soft and tender lemon cake is topped with a buttery crumb topping and a sweet and tart lemon icing. A touch of almond extract works wonderfully with the lemon, making this a flavorful cake that’s delicious any time of day.
It’s citrus season here in the desert. Pretty much everyone I know has an abundance of lemons or oranges, so don’t be surprised if you see several citrus recipes in the weeks ahead. I’ve already made our White Cake Recipe (with a hint of lemon) and Lemon Blueberry Bread. Now I revamped this Lemon Almond Coffee Cake from waaaaay back in the archives. It’s better than ever!
Ready for a slice of cake that tastes like buttery sunshine? Here it is! This easy homemade coffee cake is bursting with the flavor of fresh lemon and a touch of almond. If you still have a few extra lemons, try our Lemon White Chocolate Cookies, Lemon Olive Oil Cake, or Lemon Blueberry Bars.
This cake is
- Soft and moist
- Made with basic ingredients
- Packed with fresh lemon flavor
- Perfect for breakfast, snacking, or dessert
- Delicious with coffee or tea
- A great way to use up extra lemons
Recipe overview
This recipe is made up of three components: cake, crumb topping, icing.
Cake: This easy lemon cake comes together in minutes. Beat sugar, oil, lemon zest, eggs, almond extract, and lemon juice. Alternate adding the dry ingredients with the sour cream until well combined. Pour the batter into a greased 9×9 square baking pan.
Crumb topping: Combine flour, sugar, lemon zest, and cold butter. Stir in sliced almonds. Add the crumb topping onto the cake before baking.
Icing: Once the cake has baked and cooled add a simple lemon icing made from lemon juice, powdered sugar, and almond extract.
Recipe tips
You’ll need 4 medium/large lemons for this recipe.
When grating the lemon use a fine microplane zester/grater and only remove the yellow zest, not the white pith.
Don’t have sour cream? Try one of these Sour Cream Substitutes.
Recipe
Lemon Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Crumb topping:
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 2 tablespoons sliced almonds, optional
Cake:
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon zest, from about 3 medium lemons
- ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure almond extract
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½ cup sour cream
Icing:
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, see note
- ⅔ cup powdered sugar
- 2 drops almond extract
Instructions
Crumb topping:
- Combine flour sugar, and lemon zest. Add the cold butter and work it into the dry ingredients (using a pastry cutter or your fingers) until the pieces of butter are pea sized or smaller. Stir in the sliced almonds. Place in the refrigerator while you proceed with the cake.
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F with a rack in the center of the oven.
- Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat sugar, lemon zest, oil, eggs, almond extract, and lemon juice until fully combined. Beat in half of the dry ingredients until combined, followed by the sour cream, then the remaining dry ingredients.
- Pour the cake batter into a greased 9×9 square baking pan and smooth into an even layer. Remove the crumb topping from the fridge and sprinkle it over the top. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, proceed with the icing.
Icing:
- Whisk all ingredients until combined. Adjust the consistency as desired, by adding more powdered sugar to thicken or more lemon juice to thin. Drizzle over the top of the cooled cake.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Julie @ This Gal Cooks says
This is such a beautiful coffee cake! I’m a sucka for lemon so I’d be gobbling this up!
Celebrating Sweets says
Thank you!
Molly @ Fresh Basil For Two says
That streusel looks delectable! I feel like I would just eat it off the top of the whole cake!
Celebrating Sweets says
Thanks! I had to stop myself from doing just that.
Madonna/aka/Ms. Lemon says
I pinned your coffee cake. I make something similar, but I want to try yours.
Celebrating Sweets says
I hope you like it. 🙂
Laura@Baking In Pyjamas says
Visiting from The Weekend Re-treat. I always have lemons hanging around too, I adore them. Never tried lemon and almonds together though, your cake looks lovely.
Celebrating Sweets says
Thank you, Laura!
Jen @ Yummy Healthy Easy says
Gosh, this is so beautiful! Your pictures are making me drool! I don’t think flavors could get any better than lemon and almond mixed in coffee cake. Thanks for sharing on Saturday Night Fever – pinned to our group board!
Celebrating Sweets says
Thanks, Jen!
A. Kozlow says
Does the sour cream and lemon curd take they place of milk in this recipe? Just wanted to double-check before making.
Looking forward to making this today as I have leftover lemon curd that I did not want to go to waste.☺️
Celebrating Sweets says
Yes, they do. I adapted my recipe from the one below. I hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/lemon-streusel-coffeecake-recipe
A. Kozlow says
Thank you. The cake turned out perfectly this morning.
Jenn says
My local market makes something similar and I’ve been searching for a homemade version — so so excited to find your recipe! Thank you!
Diana says
Lemon cake is one of my weaknesses! And of course this recipe was fantastic and I will be making it again and again.
Abby says
Sub’d icing for vanilla bean sauce. Perfect balance of tart and sweet! Easy recipe.
Becky M says
I don’t usually comment on recipes I’ve tried but I had to in this case because this coffee cake is phenomenal! So moist and bursting with lemon flavor. Will be making this again very soon! (I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream because it’s what I had on hand and will likely do so again)
Allison says
Thanks for the kind review. I’m glad you enjoyed it!