This crazy delicious Lemon Cake Recipe with rhubarb and cherries for Two is bursting with fresh lemon flavor and a hint of rhubarb and cherry. With a moist, tender crumb, a bright and tangy lemon syrup plus a sweet lemon glaze it's sure to be a keeper recipe you will be asked to make again and again.
This lemon cake takes minutes to make and will send good smells floating through your kitchen. One of my favorite spring cakes is lemon cake. So, with rhubarb season right around the corner, I wanted to combine the flavors of rhubarb and lemon together. Whenever rhubarb is part of the recipe I always feel cherries need to be included.
So, it’s time to share this killer lemon-rhubarb and cherry cake recipe - perfectly portioned for two.
Playing in the kitchen, I have had some epic fails like not adding enough lemon juice to actually taste the lemon or adding too much causing the cake to lose its fluff. The secret to having the right amount of lemon flavor is to spoon a lemon syrup over the cake while it cools on a wire baking rack.
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Ingredients
For this recipe you will need:
- Butter – use unsalted butter and make sure it is at room temperature making it easier to cream with the sugar.
- Granulated sugar
- Extra large eggs – Temperature plays an important role in the behavior of ingredients in baking. Use room-temperature eggs when making this recipe as they more easily incorporate than cold. The additional mixing required to incorporate cold ingredients may adversely affect the texture of the cake. Eggs take about an hour to come to room temperature. To warm more quickly place uncracked eggs in bowl of warm water (110 degrees) for about 10 minutes.
- Grated lemon zest and freshly squeezed lemon juice – fresh is really the best, to achieve a bright, fresh and tangy lemon flavor.
- Buttermilk, at room temperature.
- Vanilla
- Rhubarb – you can use fresh or frozen. If using frozen make sure to let the rhubarb defrost and pat dry with a paper towel to remove extra moisture. Too much moisture in the cake will cause it to collapse.
- Cherries – I use tart canned cherries found in the canned fruit aisle of your local grocery store. Please rinse and drain the cherries, patting dry with a paper towel to remove extra moisture.
- Dry ingredients include flour, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt
- For the glaze you will need confectioner’s sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice.
See recipe card for quantities.
Helpful tips to making a lemon cake for two
Before you begin, make sure your buttermilk, eggs and butter have come to room temperature.
To warm eggs more quickly place them in bowl of warm water (110 degrees) for about 10 minutes
Zest your lemon before juicing – it’s easier that way!
Prepare your loaf pan (8 ½ by 4 ¼ by 2 ½ inches) with butter or oil and flour. Often I will use the butter papers to grease the loaf pan then lightly dust the pan with flour.
Cream the butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy.
Sift together the dry ingredients in a bowl.
With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, and then add the lemon zest. In another bowl, combine lemon zest and juice, buttermilk and vanilla together.
Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures to the batter, alternately, beginning and ending with the flour.
Gently fold in the rhubarb and cherries.
Pour the batter into prepared pan, smooth the top with a spatula.
Bake for about 50 minutes, remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan.
Make the lemon syrup by combining ¼ cup granulated sugar with ¼ cup lemon juice in a small saucepan, cooking over low heat until sugar dissolves. Remove the cakes from the pans, set on a rack over a tray or baking sheet.
Spoon the lemon syrup over the cake. We want to do this while the cake is still warm so the syrup is absorbed into the cake.
For the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and the lemon juice in a bowl, mixing together using a wire whisk until smooth. Now pour over the top of the cake and allow the glaze to drizzle down the sides.
Importance of room temperature ingredients
Temperature plays an important role in the behavior of ingredients in baking. Use room-temperature butter and eggs when making this recipe as they more easily incorporate than cold. The additional mixing required to incorporate cold eggs may adversely affect the cake’s texture.
One of my grandmother’s baking tips is to avoid overmixing the batter to achieve a tender cake crumb.
Eggs take about an hour to come to room temperature. To warm eggs more quickly place them in bowl of warm water (110 degrees) for about 10 minutes
Variations
Leave out the fruit. This is a fantastic lemon cake on it’s own. Leave out the rhubarb and cherries but consider serving the lemon cake with Our Table 4 2’s easy, no fuss homemade blueberry jam with 3 ingredients. It really is easy to make and pairs lovely with the lemon cake.
Change up the berries. Blueberries are a delightful in a lemon cake. Swap out the rhubarb and cherries and replace with 10 ounces (about 1 cup) of blueberries. Another favorite fruit pairing is mixing raspberries into the cake batter.
FAQ
Through my kitchen fails I have learned a few things about baking a lemon cake….
Here are two tips for adding delicious lemon flavor without affecting the way the cake bakes. The first is mixing lemon zest into the batter and the second is to spoon a lemon syrup (confectioner’s sugar and some fresh squeezed lemon juice) over the top of a baked cake while it is still warm.
Yes, but make sure you let it thaw and pat dry with a paper towel to absorb moisture. Too much moisture in the cake batter will make for a saggy, flat cake - no longer fluffy and may even collapse.
Your cake will most likely sink in the middle. So, do not add more liquid than the recipe calls for. If you want to add more lemon juice cut back on the amount of buttermilk.
Usually, there’s too much liquid. It is important to use the right amount of lemon juice in the batter and to pat dry your rhubarb and cherries with a paper-towel, minimizing the moisture added to the batter.
Related
Looking for other dessert recipes perfectly portioned for two? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Lemon Cake:
Lemon cake recipe with rhubarb for two
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Ingredients
- 8 Tablespoons 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar divided using 1 cup for the batter and ¼ cup for the lemon syrup
- 2 extra-large eggs at room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest 3 -4 large lemons
- 1 ½ cups flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice divided, using 2 table spoons in the batter and the remaining in the lemon syrup
- 6 Tablespoons buttermilk at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 5 ounces ½ cup rhubarb, finely chopped
- 5 ounces ½ cup canned tart cherries, drained and patted dry
For the glaze:
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar sifted
- 1 tablespoon + 1-½ teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Before you begin: Gather your ingredients. Bring the buttermilk, eggs and butter to room temperature. Adjust the oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. If using frozen rhubarb, thaw and pat dry to remove excess moisture. Drain and pat dry the cherries using a paper towel. Grease and flour a loaf pan. You may also line the bottom with parchment paper, if desired. Zest your lemon then juice the lemons.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and 1 cup granulated sugar, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, and then add the lemon zest.
- Meanwhile, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine 2 tablespoons lemon juice, buttermilk, and vanilla. Starting with about one-third of the sifted flour mixture, then add one-third of the buttermilk mixture to the batter. Continue alternately adding these mixtures to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour.Gently fold in the rhubarb and cherries using rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the pan, smooth the top with a rubber spatula, and bake for about 50 – 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- While the cake bakes, combine ¼ cup granulated sugar with ¼ cup lemon juice in a small saucepan, cooking over low heat until the sugar dissolves. When the cake is done, place the pan on a wire rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and set it on a rack over a baking sheet; spoon the lemon syrup over the cake. Now allow the cake to cool completely before glazing, about 1 hour.
- For the glaze, whisk together confectioner’s sugar and the lemon juice in a bowl, until smooth. Pour over the tops of the cake, allowing the glaze to drizzle down the sides.
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Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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