Ridiculously Easy Lemon Sour Cream Tea Cake • One Bowl, No Mixer!

With a double layer fabulous lemon flavor, this moist, tender Lemon Sour Cream Tea Cake comes together quickly with just one bowl and no mixer needed!

If you enjoy the bright, fresh flavor of lemon, you'll LOVE this Lemon Sour Cream Tea Cake. With a moist, tender crumb and a fabulously crisp, lemon glaze, this cake is a blue ribbon winner! It also comes together quickly with just one bowl and no need to pull out that heavy mixer!

How do I love thee?

I love that this Lemon Sour Cream Tea Cake recipe takes less than 15 minutes to prep and mix together and makes your kitchen waft aromas reminiscent of a fine bake shop! I also love the beautiful, craggy, dome-top results that emerge from the oven. The crumb is super tender and moist!

And there's no fancy icing to fuss with, just a lemony-sweet glaze that takes a minute or two to whisk together!

I have a feeling you're going to love it too!

Ridiculously Easy

If you're new to The Café, our Ridiculously Easy collection is an ever-evolving assortment of recipes that our readers LOVE. You can read more about these recipes here and see all of them by clicking here. We like to sum up this collection with this simple definition: "These are the recipes that require minimal effort on your part, produce fabulous results and... make YOU look like a kitchen rock star!" See why they're so popular?

The glaze

While we're on the topic of "ridiculous", let's talk a little bit about the shiny, crisp lemon glaze on this Lemon Sour Cream Tea Cake. It's not only "ridiculously easy" with just two ingredients, it's also a ridiculously delicious way to amp up the bright, vibrant lemon flavor. As you brush the glaze onto the warm cake, some of it sinks through the surface, creating a super moist crumb and an extra POP of lemony flavor!

On top of all that, it dries to a super thin, shiny-crisp texture that makes the whole cake glow!

What kind of pan should I use for this cake?

This is the fun part - so many pans will work well. I used a tube pan for most of the pictures shown in this post but I've also made it in a Bundt pan (pictured below).

If using a Bundt pan, I like to use a 10-cup pan for a pretty presentation and a nice tall cake but a larger, 12-cup pan will also work. The cake just won't be as tall.

I've also made this Lemon Sour Cream Tea Cake in a 5x9 loaf pan. You may not have realized this, but it's slightly "more legal" to enjoy cake for breakfast when it's baked in a loaf pan. 😳

If you only have 8 or 9-inch round pans, divide the batter between two pans. You can enjoy one now and freeze the other for later.

How to serve this Lemon Sour Cream Tea Cake

• For breakfast as a coffee cake.
• As a snack with coffee, tea or tall glasses of ice-cold milk.
• For dessert - serve it on a pool of Raspberry or Strawberry Coulis. Add a dollop of freshly whipped cream and few berries. Your guests will be in heaven!
• Serve it with fresh fruit drizzled with Limoncello syrup... oh my!!
• Use it as a lemony base for strawberry shortcake
• Serve it with a spoonful of lemon curd on the side.

So there you have it, a fabulous dessert/breakfast/coffee-break cake that comes together in minutes with beautiful, delicious results! Three cheers for Ridiculously Easy!

Cafe Tips for making this Lemon Sour Cream Tea Cake

• As mentioned above this cake can be made in a tube, a Bundt pan or a tube pan. If you use a Bundt pan, I recommend a smaller 10-cup pan rather than a 12-cup. If you only have a 12-cup pan, the recipe will work but the cake will not be as tall. I really love my 10-cup Nordic Ware Elegant Party Bundt Pan (shown in the pictures above.)
• A tube pan (aka a coffee cake pan) will show off the pretty cracked top of the cake since you don't flip it over as with a Bundt cake. I use this tube pan.
• This recipe calls for a cup of "neutral-flavored oil". There are lots of neutral oils to choose from like sunflower oil, safflower oil, grape seed oil, avocado oil, corn oil, peanut oil, canola oil and vegetable oil.
• I like to use a whisk to mix up this cake. I have a lot of different whisks but this is the one I usually reach for. It's sturdy and feels good in my hand.
• Another handy kitchen tool I use all of the time is this sturdy spatula. It's great for mixing up dough and thicker batters. Mine have been through the dishwasher a zillion times and still look like new.
• Because this Lemon Sour Cream Tea Cake takes close to an hour to bake, I like to bake it on a sheet pan coved with a piece of foil. That way, if this cake seems to be getting too brown around the edges before it's fully done baking, I can pull up the foil around the pan.
• It's frustrating to make a cake but discover that you've under or over-baked it. The BEST way to determine doneness is with an instant thermometer. The temperature will read 200-205˚F (94-96˚C) when the cake is perfectly done.

Thought for the day:

For in Him all things were created:
things in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible,
whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;
all things have been created through him and for Him.
Colossians 1:16

What we're listening to for inspiration:

Above All

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SUBMIT

Ridiculously Easy Lemon Sour Cream Bundt Cake

Chris Scheuer

With a double layer fabulous lemon flavor, this moist, tender Lemon Sour Cream Tea Cake comes together quickly with just one bowl and no mixer needed!

5 from 1 vote

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Servings 12

Calories 433

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Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

.5x1x2x

For the cake batter:

• 1 cup neutral flavored oil, I use avocado or sunflower oil
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• ⅔ cup milk, I use whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• finely grated zest from 3 large lemons
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sour cream

For the lemon glaze:

• ¾ cups powdered sugar
• ¼ cup lemon juice

Instructions

 

For the prep:

1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
2. Spray a 10-12 cup Bundt or tube pan generously with baking spray then rub the interior with a small piece of paper toweling to make sure all the crevices are coated. Spray lightly one more time. Set aside.

For the cake batter:

1. In a medium-large bowl, whisk together the sugar and the oil. The texture will be a little sandy at this point.
2. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking for 30 seconds after each addition. Add the milk and vanilla. Stir until nice and creamy.
3. Add the lemon zest, baking powder and salt, stirring until incorporated.
4. Add the flour, and stir just until it disappears. Lastly, add the sour cream and stir to create a nice smooth texture.
5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes until the cake is nicely domed and the top is a beautiful golden brown. If you notice the top edges of the cake getting golden brown before the top, just pull up the foil around the edges of the pan for the last 5-10 minutes.
6. You can use a toothpick to determine doneness - it should come out clean when interested into the center of the cake. The BEST way to test the doneness is with an instant thermometer. The temperature will read 200-205˚F when perfectly done.
7. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and allow to cool for 20 minutes, then flip it out onto a wire rack that has been placed on top of a piece of foil or parchment paper (this will catch the drips when you glaze the cake). If you use a tube pan, you’ll flip it twice so that the domed up is up. With a Bundt cake pan, the top will become the bottom of the finished cake.
8. While the cake is resting in the pan, make the lemon glaze.
9. Cool for an hour before finishing with the lemon glaze. . Once the cake has cooled for about an hour, mix together the ingredients for the glaze. Add more powdered sugar as needed to reach desired consistency. If you have leftover glaze, wait a few minutes for the first layer of glaze on the cake to harden a little and then just add another layer. You can continue doing this until you use all of your glaze.

For the lemon glaze:

1. Combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a medium size bowl or measuring cup. Whisk until smooth. If you have some stubborn little lumps, you can microwave the glaze for 20 seconds then stir again.

To finish:

1. Brush the lemon glaze all over the cake. Keep going over the cake until you use it all.
2. Allow the cake to come to room temperature, undisturbed then store under a cake dome or in a storage container.
3. This cake freezes well!

Notes

See Café Tips above in the post for more detailed instructions and tips to ensure success.

If you prefer to use Metric measurements there is a button in each of our recipes, right above the word “Instructions”. Just click that button to toggle to grams, milliliters, etc. If you ever come across one of our recipes that doesn’t have the Metric conversion (some of the older recipes may not), feel free to leave a comment and I will add it.

Nutrition

Calories: 433kcalCarbohydrates: 55gProtein: 5gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 36mgSodium: 130mgPotassium: 173mgFiber: 1gSugar: 33gVitamin A: 125IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 81mgIron: 1mg

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Course: Cake, Dessert

Cuisine: American