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baked meyer lemon cake is partially sliced on a wooden serving board. a bunch of fresh thyme and some whole meyer lemons decorate the background.

sugar-glazed Meyer lemon cake

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Rich with olive oil and sweetened with honey, this Meyer lemon cake is bursting with bright lemon flavor! It has a dense, moist crumb and is topped off with a sweet Meyer lemon and thyme sugar glaze that shatters when you slice into it.

  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes (plus cooling time)
  • Yield: 1 loaf 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale

for the cake:  

  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 heaping tablespoon Meyer lemon zest (from about 2 medium or 4 small Meyer lemons)
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 3/4 cup nonfat greek yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice (from about 1 medium or 2 small Meyer lemons)

for the glaze:

  • 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon Meyer lemon juice
  • 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
  • fresh Meyer lemon zest, for garnish if desired

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350℉. Lightly spritz 9-inch (8.5-inch works too!) loaf pan with cooking spray. Cut a rectangle of parchment paper and press it into the loaf pan, leaving some tabs that stick up on the sides. This makes it easy to lift out your cake once it's baked. a glass loaf pan lightly sprayed with cooking oil and then lined with a sheet of parchment paper.
  2. Combine granulated sugar and Meyer lemon zest in a small bowl, then use your fingers to pinch and rub the mixture together. I usually do this for a minute or two, just because it feels nice 🙂a bowl with granulated sugar and meyer lemon zest mixed together.
  3. In a separate bowl whisk all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well mixed.a bowl containing all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  4. In a third bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the eggs until light and fluffy. Add the lemon zest + sugar mixture and honey, then continue beating until pale yellow. Slowly add in the olive oil with the mixer running, beating until well mixed, then beat in the yogurt and vanilla extract.a white glass bowl containing a well-blended mixture of eggs, honey, and olive oil.
  5. Add the dry mixture in 2 batches, beating well after each addition. Put the mixer aside and add your meyer lemon juice to the batter, using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to fold it in by hand. If you listen you can kind of hear the lemon juice and baking soda reacting – producing a whispery fizzle. a white glass bowl to the left containing the egg mixture and the flour mixture, blended together. to the right, a citrus juicer containing the juice of 4 meyer lemons, with the already squeezed fruit rinds in a pile next to it.
  6. Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Transfer to the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. the parchment paper lined load pan from step one, with a baked meyer lemon pound cake inside it. there are a few cracks in the surface of the cake and it has deep golden browning around the edges.
  7. Let your loaf cake cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then lift it using those parchment paper tabs and place it on a wire rack to cool completely.the baked meyer lemon loaf cake sitting on a metal wire rack that is positioned on top of a baking sheet. a stainless steel bowl containing a meyer lemon juice and thyme glaze is sitting next to the cake.
  8. Make the glaze by whisking Meyer lemon juice, sifted powdered sugar, and granulated sugar together until the sugars are dissolved. Stir in the fresh thyme leaves. Pour over the completely cooled cake, using a pastry brush to smooth it into an even coating.the fully glazed meyer lemon cake sitting on a metal wire rack on a baking sheet. the surface of the cake is shiny and wet-looking.
  9. Sprinkle some extra thyme leaves and fresh lemon zest on top of your cake if desired, then let it sit so the glaze can harden. Slice and enjoy! sliced meyer lemon cake on a two-tone cutting board, next to a bowl of brightly colored meyer lemons.

Notes

  • When measuring honey, lightly spritz your measuring cup with a little oil first. It will make the honey pour out cleanly! 
  • Even though we have lined our cake pan with parchment, unmolding the cake can still be tricky sometimes. If there are any places where your cake is touching the pan directly, you may need to run a knife along the edges to help it release. If you bake in a nonstick pan, try to use a plastic knife for this so as to avoid damaging the nonstick coating. 
  • Use a sugar sifter or a simple fine mesh strainer to sift the powdered sugar. This step is important to making a glaze that is smooth instead of lumpy. 
  • Author: kelly@crescentmoonkitchen
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 50 minutes
  • Category: desserts
  • Method: baking
  • Cuisine: american

Find it online: https://crescentmoonkitchen.com/sugar-glazed-meyer-lemon-cake/