Whole Lemon Blender Cake

4.73 from 11 votes

This whole lemon blender cake is made with a whole lemon in the batter to give it a distinct flavor and is ready to bake in a couple minutes!

Prep Time5

Cook Time50

Total Time55

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: slices

Author: Chahinez Tabet Aoul

Ingredients

1 whole lemon preferably Wonderful Seedless or Meyer (organic preferred, seeds removed, chopped into chunks.)
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F . Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper.
In a blender, combine the lemon chunks, sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Blend for about 30 seconds, until the lemon is fully broken down and the mixture is smooth.
1 whole lemon, 1 cup granulated sugar, 3 large eggs, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1/3 cup sour cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the blender. Blend on low just until the flour disappears, about 10 to 15 seconds. Do not overmix. If your blender labors or the batter stops moving, scrape everything into a mixing bowl and fold the rest together by hand with a spatula.
2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 47-51 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow the loaf to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then remove it from the pan and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

Prepare the glaze

In a small bowl, mix the powdered sugar and fresh lemon juice until smooth. Add more lemon juice if needed to reach the desired consistency.
1 cup powdered sugar, 2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Once the loaf is completely cool, drizzle the lemon glaze over the top. Let the glaze set for a few minutes before slicing.

Notes

Blender note: This does not need a high-powered blender, but if yours starts to labor once the flour goes in, do not force it through. Scrape everything into a mixing bowl and fold the rest together with a spatula until no streaks of flour remain. The cake is identical either way. It also helps to put the eggs and oil into the jar first, so the blades have liquid to work against instead of trying to catch dry chunks of peel.
Do not overmix once the flour is in. Ten to fifteen seconds on low is enough. Past that you develop the gluten and get a tough, rubbery cake instead of a tender one.
Thirty seconds is plenty for the lemon, too. Blending it longer pulverizes the white pith, and that is where a bitter cake comes from.
Lemon varieties: Wonderful seedless lemons are what I use, since there are no seeds to pick out and seeds carry more bitterness than the peel does. Meyer lemons work just as well and have thinner, sweeter pith. For a standard Eureka or Lisbon lemon, peel the yellow zest off with a vegetable peeler, cut away and discard the white pith underneath, then blend the zest together with the flesh.
Gluten free: Swap the all purpose flour for a 1:1 gluten free blend. Make sure the blend is meant for baking.

Nutrition