Lemon Crunch Cake Recipe || Quick And Easy To Make

This lemon crunch cake is soft and moist. It has a tasty, crunchy top. And layers of bright, vibrant lemon flavor. It’s really a recipe that you will want to serve again and again.

It’s going to impress all the lemon lovers you know, without a doubt. I have dubbed it ‘Queen of the Lemon Cakes’ in my house. I know you’re going to do the same in yours.

This cake is made with fresh lemons, and that makes all the difference. No lemon extract here. Just the pure, natural flavor of lemons, straight from the tree. Delicious!

Why Is It Called ‘Crunch’ Cake?

There is fantastic, easy to make, crunchy goodness spread over the top of this moist cake. And that’s why it’s called a ‘crunch’ cake.

The crunchy topping is super easy to make. It literally takes just a few minutes. And you can use it to top just about any cake recipe you make.

Just switch out the lemon zest in the mix for a different zest or flavoring and you’re good to go. You can even leave the zest out completely, if that better suits your needs. 

Ingredients Needed To Make This Recipe

Following is a list of ingredients needed to make this recipe …

FOR THE CAKE:

• FLOUR – Simple all-purpose white flour is used for this recipe.
• BAKING POWDER – This ingredient gives the cake a little rise.
• LEMON ZEST – Don’t skip the lemon zest. It provides a great deal of lemon flavor to the cake.
• SALT – Enhances the flavor of the other ingredients. And balances out the sweetness of the batter.
• BUTTER – Salted butter is used in this recipe. If you are watching your salt intake you can use unsalted butter.
• SUGAR – Granulated sugar is used to make this cake.
• EGGS – Always use farm fresh eggs when available. They make all the difference.
• VANILLA EXTRACT – Adds an indiscernible contrast to the flavor of the cake.
• LEMON JUICE – Fresh lemon juice is the very best way to go here. Bottled lemon juice will work.
• BUTTERMILK – This provides a mild tang to the batter.

FOR THE TOPPING:

• LEMON SYRUP – Homemade lemon syrup is used to make this cake recipe. I will provide a link to the recipe for it in the instructions below. As well as a few alternatives that you can use if you don’t want to make your own syrup. The homemade syrup is by far the tastiest way to go.
• FLOUR – All-purpose white flour is used to make the topping for this recipe.
• BROWN SUGAR – Light brown sugar is used to make the topping.
• SUGAR – Granulated white sugar is used to make the topping.
• PECANS – Pecan pieces are used in this recipe. You can simply crush whole pecans if you can’t find pieces in the store.
• BUTTER – Salted butter is used for the topping. It can be replaced with unsalted if you have special dietary needs. It will need to be melted.
• LEMON ZEST – Fresh grated lemon zest adds the lemon flavor to the topping for this cake.

How To Make Lemon Crunch Cake

There are quite a few steps to making this recipe. But, they are all very quick and easy to do. It doesn’t take a great deal of time to put together. And, even if it did, it is so darn delicious that I can’t imagine anyone would mind!

Start by whisking together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl; flour, baking powder, lemon zest, and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with a blender set to medium speed.

​Blend the eggs into the mixture one at a time.

Pour in the vanilla extract and the lemon juice, and blend them well.

Add half of the flour mixture and blend.

Add half of the buttermilk and blend. Add the remaining flour and blend. Add the remaining buttermilk and blend.

Pour the cake batter into a well greased 8×8 pan. Bake until a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and let the cake cool for 30 minutes.

Transfer to a cooling rack. Spread a layer of homemade lemon syrup over the top of the cake.

Be sure to spread it all the way to the edges of the cake. If you don’t want to make your own syrup, there are alternatives that you can use to make this cake.

You can purchase a jar of lemon curd at your local grocery store. Or you can make a lemon glaze using fresh lemon juice and confectioners sugar. They are both good options. 

But, trust me, the homemade lemon syrup is truly fantastic. And I strongly encourage you to use it to make this cake.

Let the cake cool completely.

Finally, you will need to make the crunchy topping for the cake. Put the flour, brown sugar, sugar, and nuts in a small bowl. Whisk them together well.

Mix the zest into the melted butter.

Pour the butter blend over the dry ingredients and mix them together just until the flour is absorbed.

Transfer the cake to a sheet pan. Spread the crunch topping over the entire cake.

Place it under a broiler just long enough to brown the top.

Tips And Tricks For Making This Recipe

​To get the best results for this recipe you will want to follow the directions as they are shown in this post. But, as we all know, sometimes things don’t go quite as planned when we’re in the kitchen.

So, I’ve put together a few tips and tricks for making this recipe to help you out if that happens.

• The all-purpose flour can be substituted, in equal parts, with either cake flour or unbleached flour.
• If all you have is salted butter, and you want to reduce the salt used in the recipe, simply cut the recommended amount of salt in the recipe to half.
• If you don’t have any buttermilk in the house, you can make your own by combining 1/2 cup of buttermilk with 2 teaspoons of white vinegar or lemon juice. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes before using it in the cake batter.
• If you forget to leave your eggs out to bring them to room temperature, you can put them in a warm water bath for a bit to accomplish that.

Substitutions For This Recipe

We’ve talked about making substitutions for things like all-purpose flour. buttermilk, and homemade lemon syrup.

Apart from those things there are not a lot of substitutions that I would make in this recipe.

I do think that it would be easy to successfully trade out the kind of citrus that you use to make this cake. It could very simple to turn it into an orange or grapefruit cake.

Even lime might be a good way to go. And the nuts that are used can really be any variety.

Hard nuts would be the best way to go if you want to keep the crunch in the topping. But soft nuts, like walnuts, would also work. They would add a great flavor profile. You will just lose a little crunch.

Ways To Serve Lemon Crunch Cake

This cake stands alone as a breakfast treat or a dessert. You can certainly serve it just as it is. But a little dollop of whipped cream on the top never hurt either!

As with all cake, this cake is delicious with a scoop of ice cream served on the side. And if you top the ice cream with some berries, it’s a really nice addition to the dish. 

I like to macerate a dish of berries and serve them on the side. Then each person can put as much as they like right on their slice.

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