Gluten Free Lemon Layer Cake

Name: Gluten Free Lemon Layer Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 18 min
Ingredients: 1 cup gluten free flour blend (* see note); 3/4 cup almond flour (* see note); 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (* see note); 2 tablespoons lemon juice; 2 large eggs; 3/4 cup raw organic sugar; 1/2 cup almond milk; 1/3 cup melted butter; Jar of lemon curd (* See note); 3 cups powdered sugar; 4 ounces cream cheese (softened); 2 tablespoons water; 1 tablespoon lemon juice

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This gluten free lemon cake is layered with sinfully delicious lemon curd and topped with a fresh cream cheese frosting. It is not only our favorite birthday cake but the perfect cake for any special occasion. It just takes one bite, and you will be hooked on this easy gluten free lemon cake recipe!

A fork slicing into a piece of lemon cake.

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Why This Gluten Free Lemon Cake Is Great:
Ingredient Notes:
Tips For Success:
Substitutions:
Recipe Step-By-Step Directions:
Storage:
Recipe FAQ:
Can you use a store-bought lemon cake mix?
Reader Adaptations and Reviews:
More Gluten Free Cake Recipes to Try:
📖 Recipe
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💬 Comments

If you have been following along with me for a while, you know we have a crazy productive lemon tree in our backyard. I love creating fresh gluten free desserts with lemons from our tree.

I use lemons in many gluten-free recipes because we always have so much fresh lemon juice. This is a recipe for lemon lovers of all kinds!

This is by far the best gluten free lemon cake recipe ever! It has a moist crumb everyone will love. You may also want to try these Gluten Free Lemon Cupcakes!!

If you love lemon desserts as much as we do, you will want to check out all of the gluten free lemon desserts on the blog. It may be hard to decide which to make first!

Why This Gluten Free Lemon Cake Is Great:

This decadent cake is light and fluffy and has layers of homemade cream cheese frosting and lemon curd.
This versatile cake recipe can be made into this layer cake, a sheet cake, a bundt cake, or cupcakes!
You can fancy up this cake as a Gluten Free Wedding Cake, make it for birthdays or Mother's Day, or turn it into cupcakes for a bake sale!
You can make the cake layers and freeze them until you need them.
You can use my DIY Gluten Free All Purpose Flour to make this cake. It is a gum-free blend and has no xanthan or guar gum.

This is the first gluten free cake I made after my celiac diagnosis. It was wonderful and I’ve made it several times since. It’s a shock being diagnosed, especially when you’re 40! But this recipe helped me feel like I could do this. Thank you!!"
Brianna H.

A whole lemon cake with a slice cut out.

There are so many delicious gluten free cake recipes on this blog to explore.

Ingredient Notes:

Photos of the gluten free lemon layer cake ingredients.

Gluten Free Flour Blend - I have tested this recipe with Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 GF Blend and King Arthur Measure for Measure GF Blend. If your gluten free flour blend doesn't contain Xanthan Gum, please add one teaspoon.
DIY Gluten Free Flour Blend - My custom blend works well in my cake recipes. This is a gum-free blend, so no xanthan or guar gum is needed.
Almond Flour - not only does it keep my baked treats moist, but using almond flour in the recipe adds protein to balance out some of the sugar :-). If you have almond flour, omit it and add ½ cup of your gluten-free flour mix.
Baking Soda - Be sure to use this instead of baking powder. Baking soda is best with acidic ingredients like lemon juice.
Pure Vanilla Extract - you can use extract or vanilla bean paste but do not use imitation vanilla.
Butter - Use Unsalted butter. You can substitute vegan butter to make this dairy-free!
Eggs - Use large eggs.
Lemon Juice - fresh lemon or bottled will work great.
Almond Milk - if you need this to be nut-free, you can substitute another plant-based milk. Always double-check to be sure your almond milk is gluten free!
Lemon Curd - Use store-bought or homemade. I love Trader Joe's lemon curd.

If you love lemon curd, you will also want to try these incredible Gluten Free Lemon Sweet Rolls.

Tips For Success:

Do not overmix your batter. I recommend mixing the batter by hand, so do not use a stand mixer.
Let the cake batter sit for 15 minutes to soften the rice flour. This will help eliminate grittiness.

For more tips, check out my Gluten Free Cake Troubleshooting Guide. If you are new to cake baking, here is a good write-up of my favorite Kitchen Tools For Baking Cakes.

Substitutions:

Nut-Free: If you can't have almond flour, make this lemon cake recipe nut-free. Substitute an additional ½ cup gluten free flour blend instead of almond flour.
Egg-Free: Reader Nikki commented below that flax eggs work as a good egg replacer in this lemon cake recipe.
Dairy-Free: Use plant-based butter.

Tools For Lemon Rolls:

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Recipe Step-By-Step Directions:

Step 1: Add the dry gluten free cake ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Use a whisk to blend them thoroughly.

I recommend using either the spoon or leveling method to measure your gluten-free flour.

Spoon Method: You can also use a spoon to fill the measuring cup. Use a knife to level along the top to remove the extra flour.

Leveling Method: Put the measuring scoop into the flour and fill. Do not pack the flour. Use a knife to scrape along the top to remove the extra flour.

Step 2: Add the wet ingredients to a bowl and wire whisk to blend.

Step 3: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix gently.

Don't overmix the cake batter, or your cake will be denser. Note: Do not use a standing or electric mixer for best results. These tend to overmix your batter because they remove the air bubbles.

Step 4: Pour batter into the greased round cake pans. You can also prepare your pans by lining the bottom with parchment paper. This will ensure your cake comes out of the pan easily. Use a rubber spatula to smooth the batter, even in the pans.

Step 5: Bake the cake layers at 350º F for 20 minutes. You must adjust your bake time if you use a larger round cake pan! (I used thin layer pans, so the cakes bake quickly.)

Use the toothpick test to see if your cake is baked. Insert a toothpick into the middle of the cake. If it comes back clean, your cake is done baking. If there are crumbs or batter on your toothpick, bake it longer.

Carefully remove the hot cake from the pans and place them onto a wire rack for cooling. Do not frost the cake until your layers of cake are fully cooled.

Whipped cream cheese frosting in a bowl.

Step 6: While the cake cools, mix up the frosting! Add the softened cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and lemon juice to a standing mixer with a whisk attachment. Mix the ingredients on low speed, gradually increasing the speed until the frosting looks fluffy.

You can make the cream cheese frosting in the recipe or make this gluten free frosting recipe. My gluten free frosting recipe has lots of cake decorating ideas.

I used these cute layer pans, I found at Michaels. I have never made a gluten free layer cake with this many layers, and these pans made it look so easy. I have made lots of different gluten free lemon desserts...it is time to get fancy! Add the frosting to a piping bag with a medium star tip to make rosettes on top of the cake.

Photos of frosting the lemon cake step 7 and 8.

I layered Trader Joe's Lemon Curd between the layers. I spread on the lemon curd, then add frosting on top and another layer of cake. It is so foolproof. You can also make homemade lemon curd with this easy Lemon Curd recipe. I added lemon zest to the top of the cake.

You may also love this easy Gluten Free Hummingbird Cake recipe.

Storage:

If you are making the lemon cake ahead for a later date, wrap the cooled cake layers separately in plastic wrap. Then gently place the wrapped cake layers into a zipper bag. You can store them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or store them in the freezer for up to 4 months.

To thaw, let the cakes sit on the counter so they can warm up to room temperature. Do not frost frozen cakes. Let them thaw first so the frosting can stick to the cake properly.

Recipe FAQ:

How to make a moist cake from scratch?

The secret to this moist lemon cake is almond flour. (*Note you want to use almond flour, not almond meal. Almond meal is ground thicker and doesn't bake with a smooth texture as almond flour does.)

How many people will this gluten free lemon cake recipe feed?

Each lemon cake layer is the same size, light, and fluffy! This gluten free lemon cake recipe will feed 6 people. Make 12 cupcakes or one gluten free lemon sheet cake.

Or, it can feed two hungry teenage boys :-). I don't know how teens do it, but it is almost like they have an extra dessert stomach!

Can you use store-bought lemon juice?

If you don't have fresh lemons, you can definitely use store-bought lemon juice for this recipe.

Can you use a different size baking pan for this recipe?

You can use any size cake pan, depending on how many people you serve.

Can you use a store-bought lemon cake mix?

You can definitely use a gluten free lemon cake mix if you prefer. There are not many gluten free lemon cake mixes on the market, so you can use a gluten free vanilla cake mix and add 2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice to make it lemon flavored.

Reader Adaptations and Reviews:

Pinterest user, Hello Lovely's, photo of her finished lemon layer cake — Pinterest user Hello Lovely's photo of her finished cake

I doubled the salt (kosher), used Bob 1:1, still added an extra ¼tsp xanthan, subbed whole buttermilk for the almond milk and I split the extract ½ teaspoon vanilla and ½tsp lemon extract. We frosted with lemon buttercream instead of cream cheese. Because when you are 101 years old and want a lemon birthday cake with buttercream that's what you get! Made 2 perfect 6 inch round cakes which we created 5 layers with. Everyone raved young and old."
A Pinterest user, Hello Lovely,

This was a great recipe that I will be saving! I didn’t have almond flour so used your recommended sub of the gf flour. I made 2 batches since I have 9” pans, so I had one batch in each pan. Added lemon zest into the batter to give more lemony flavor, and since I have one kiddo who cannot have eggs, I used flax “eggs” instead.
Nikki, blog reader