This beautiful lemon buttermilk cake with strawberry jam-cream cheese icing is dense, moist, and can be made without a mixer!

This post was first published on July 21, 2019 and was last updated February 6, 2020.

Testing This Recipe For Lemon Buttermilk Cake With Strawberry Jam-Cream Cheese Icing

When I developed this lemon buttermilk cake recipe I started with a healthy-ish version including spelt flour, coconut sugar, and coconut oil. In the end I decided classic all-purpose flour, white sugar, and butter, look and taste the best. Also, I’ve tested this cake recipe multiple times. For consistent results, I highly recommend baking this cake using a scale if you have one!

The simple cream cheese icing with strawberry jam is nice, however, feel free to substitute in any other jam you like. Also, this cake is great topped with a glaze made with powdered sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice.

A Note On Baking By Weight

I recently switched to baking by weight, that is weighing ingredients to the gram using a scale.

I learned to bake by scooping and levelling ingredients into 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and 1 cup measures. The problem with this method is that amounts will vary wildly from one baker to the next. The level of consistency you can achieve when using a scale is quite remarkable!

How To Reduce Sugar In Baking

I recently visited a dietitian and I have been doing my best to eat mindfully since. Weekly meal plans are based on a balance of whole grains and protein, with fruit and vegetables, however sometimes I just want a slice of cake!

I’m a firm believer that you can reduce the amount of sugar in pretty much any baking recipe by up to half. Once upon a time, I probably would have started with 1 cup of sugar in this lemon buttermilk cake recipe, however, upon testing this recipe I found 1/2 cup to be fine. Also, because the strawberry jam-cream cheese icing is sweet you won’t notice the reduced sweetness in the cake.

Lemon Buttermilk Cake Ingredients

All-Purpose Flour

I tested this lemon cake recipe with stone ground spelt flour and it worked great, however I prefer the softer texture, and lighter colour, of all-purpose flour.

Sugar

For health and weight-management reasons, I’m on a mission to reduce my sugar intake. I would normally use a full cup of sugar in a cake recipe like this, however, I reduced the sugar by half and it still tastes great.

Baking Powder

I often use baking powder in cake recipes and hardly ever think to use baking soda. The rise and flavour of baking powder is familiar to me meaning I tend to reach for it by default.

Buttermilk

Buttermilk is my new favourite ingredient! I’ve used it in my lime yogurt dressing in place of the yogurt, and as a substitute for the milk in my prosciutto fontina quiche. My rule of thumb is to try buttermilk anywhere you’d use yogurt, milk, or sour cream.

Melted Butter

You could try beating the butter and sugar until light and fluffy if you want, however, because this lemon buttermilk cake recipe is moist and dense, I haven’t found a noticeable difference. Melted butter is so fast and easy!

Eggs

The recipe as written is baked in two 6-inch cake tins, which equals one egg per tin. Eggs help create a smooth batter, and add lift, texture, and a hint of colour to the cake crumb.

Vanilla

I love to double and sometimes triple the amount of vanilla in my recipes, however I held back here because I wanted the lemon to shine. I use clear vanilla extract for all recipes made with white all-purpose flour because it keeps the colour light and pristine.

Lemon Zest And Juice

Because lemons come in different sizes I recommend weighing out 50g of lemon juice, however, use the zest of one full lemon regardless of size.

Strawberry Jam-Cream Cheese Icing Ingredients

Butter And Cream Cheese

You could make a simple buttercream for this cake, but I the added tang of cream cheese is beautiful with lemon! A half and half ratio of butter to cream cheese works well.

Icing Sugar

Also called powdered sugar or confectioners sugar.

Strawberry Jam

Fresh strawberries may be too liquidy for cream cheese icing, though I haven’t tried it. Strawberry jam adds a nice hit of concentrated flavour. If your jam doesn’t make your icing pink enough, you could add one drop of red food colouring.

Aimée Bourque The Picnic Queen

Meeting and working with like-minded food creatives fuels my soul! Aimée Bourque from Simple Bites moved to my home province of Nova Scotia last winter, and we’ve since become food friends.

Aimee’s blog focuses on whole, seasonal foods with family and friends. She also shares fantastic picnic and camping-inspired food posts. We recently collaborated on a romantic lakeside picnic for two, including my newly tested recipe for lemon buttermilk cake with strawberry jam-cream cheese icing.

Looking For More Lemon Recipes? Try:

Microwave Lemon Curd

Classic Lemon Bars

Condensed Milk Lemon Tarts

How About More Strawberry Recipes? Check Out:

Strawberry Rhubarb Bread Pudding

Strawberry Shortcake With Chai-Spiced Biscuits

Vegan Strawberry Streusel Loaf

Did you make this recipe? I would love to see how you made out! Let me know on Instagram by tagging me @baconandbaileys and hashtag it #baconandbaileys so I can take a peek and re-share it in my Instagram stories! You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

All images created in partnership with Aimée Bourque of Simple Bites. Lemon buttermilk cake recipe, cake, and photography by Kelly Neil; Food styling by Aimée Bourque.

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