Lemon cake for two made in ramekins.
Fun fact: I only own 2 ramekins.
So, while I’ve been on this self-imposed journey to miniaturize all the cakes into ramekins (see: chocolate cake for two), I’ve been washing a lot of ramekins. More specifically, I’ve been washing them when they’re still scalding hot, right out of the oven.
Whenever I have a cake failure, I have to remove the evidence immediately. If I don’t trash my cake fails, then I eat them. All of them. By myself, in the kitchen. It’s not a good scene.
I had a lot of failures with this lemon cake in ramekins, because the lemon juice played games with the baking soda. But rest assured: we got it right.
Well, almost.
I wanted a soft, fluffy cake, not a domed muffin-like cake. So, we have to accept a leetle compromise: a teeny tiny divot after baking. Don’t worry, it’s going to be TOTALLY FINE. Just bake the cake all the way through (use a toothpick to be sure), and then let it cool. The slight dimple that forms while it cools is just making way for more lemon glaze frosting, ok?
Trust me on this one. If I gave you a lemon cake for two recipe that didn’t slightly sink, it would have the texture of a scone. Lemon scones are good. Tender, moist, fluffy cake is better.
Do you see the tiny dimple?
No, no you don’t. Because it’s full of bright lemon glaze.
Are you a lemon lover like me? I crave these little lemon cakes almost weekly, but just know that I’m working on a spice cake version, a red velvet version, and a funfetti version. My fingertips are already burning at the thought. But I do it all for YOU.
Me, you, and mini cakes in ramekins. We have a sweet life, don’t we?
These are the exact ramekins I use.
Lemon Cake for Two
Two mini lemon cakes for two baked in ramekins.
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 1 large egg yolk
- 3 tablespoons sour cream (or full-fat yogurt)
- 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons neutral oil
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
For the glaze:
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice, as needed
Instructions
- First, spray 2 6-ounce ramekins very well with cooking spray, and set them on a mini baking sheet.
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and pinch of salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, sour cream (or yogurt), oil, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
- Add the dry ingredients in two batches to the wet ingredients, and stir gently to combine.
- Divide the mixture between the two ramekins.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- While the cakes cool, make the frosting: whisk together all ingredients, adding more lemon juice to thin it out to a pourable consistency.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 138Total Fat: 3gCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 3g
I love that you only own two ramekins… So fitting for you :) These cakes look so happy and spring-y!
Yum! I LOVE lemon (I was the kid who would suck on lemon slices, and I’m still lamenting the fact that lemon jolly ranchers aren’t a thing anymore) but always forget about it in baked goods, these look great!
I said this on the instagram, but its true, so I’ll repeat myself..
This is a divine calling.
good work woman. good work.
yup, yup; I would really like one (or two) mini lemon cakes. So perfect for spring.
lemon cake was my favoriteeeee growing up, so this sounds delicious! also, game for more divots if that means more lemon glaze (;
Make the chocolate cake last Sunday which was very good this will be this Sundays after church desert!
Hi Christina! Do you suggest letting this cool in the fridge (if you can wait) or enjoy at room temp? Thanks! Planning on making these tomorrow for an anniversary.
i dont make lemon flavored cake nearly enough but one of my friend is obsessed with lemon.i will share this with her.
These look delicious. And so cute. I am totally biased because I adore lemon cake. Can’t live without it. I’ll have to try these mini cakes. Thanks for sharing.
I have been obsessed with lemon lately! These look perfect. I love the color these have too. I always see a divot or creases as excuse to add more frosting or glaze. more of that is never a bad thing in my book. I will have to make these for my husband and I soon. Thanks for doing the hard work, because I wouldn’t be able to toss any of my fails. I would eat them ALL.
Have been surfing your site and find so many comments on how great everything looks – and it does. Would be helpful to have more comments where people had actually made the recipes and how they turned out but that is the downfall of blogs…..I have an order in for your first two cookbooks from Amazon but will hold off on the last one just to see if the recipes turn out as good as the pictures…will try the brioche buns today for my husband for a test drive. I stay away from flour and sugar for me but would like to make the smaller portions for his sweet tooth,
Looks great… so happy to hear you are working on other flavors! Can I suggest doing an orange version with a buttercream frosting? It may just be the recipe above but using orange juice or orange emulsion (or extract) in the lemons place…
Still hoping to see the small versions of a chocolate whoopie pie and a pumpkin whoopie pie :-)
I made this today and it was sooo good! Hubby loved it and asked me to make it again tomorrow. It was very moist and so lemony. Thank you!
Sooo delicious !!!
I live alone and really appreciate those small batch recipe ! (otherwise i eat it all still)
This lemon cake is fantastic ! thank you for that piece of Heaven :)
Love this recipe for two. Does it matter what size ramekins they bake in….6 oz? Also, love the comment about the divot in the cake. I make a chocolate guinness cake that contains 1 cup Guinness, 1/2 cup sour cream, two eggs… yada yada (bakes in a 9in springform pan). And it never fails to leave a divot in the center of the cake, no matter how closely I follow the recipe. Oh, does this give you an idea of making chocolate guinness cake for two in ramekins? ;) Thanks for all your hard work and sharing your recipes with the world!
My mother absolutely loves lemon cake (not that I don’t enjoy it myself). She will be thrilled with this. I may just bake up a couple of us this weekend. So excited about your cake for two adventures!
Thank you for sharing with us these great recipes. I will definitely try to make them for my family
I made these in 6 oz Pyrex custard cups and they did turn out perfectly domed! Delicious!
I have made this recipe twice now, and both times the cakes have domed beautifully! Wondering if maybe the yogurt/sour cream makes a difference: I used full-fat Greek yogurt. They are just lovely: moist and fluffy and tender and lemony. Thank you for the recipe!
I can’t believe how delicious this is. It was a refreshing burst of lemon flavor, and the texture was so light and fluffy. And really ridiculously easy to make as well!
I’m so glad to hear it :)
WHAT SIZE RAMEKIN! THIS IS NEVER MENTIONED.
6 ounces, sorry. Will update!
Light and delicious!! I was however disappointed with the size of the divot…..it only held a small scoop of ice cream ???? Another great recipe that will certainly be repeated.
This was my second successfully prepared recipe from this site after the lemon blueberry cheesecake. Yes, I am a fan of the lemon! These came out just perfect, light and fluffy cake with a good zing of lemon! I loved it. The only thing I didn’t do well was the glaze topping. I dumped my 1.5 tablespoons of lemon juice right into the 1/2 cup of sugar so it came out too thin and yellow-tinted. I should have slowly added the lemon juice to the sugar in small increments until I had the right consistency. Quick, easy, and will definitely use it in the future!
Just now, made this incredible lemon cake. So easy, so good. It is now my go to dessert. Can’s wait for more such recipes. Thank you.
I made these for my husband las night hoping that there would be one left for him after dinner tonight. No such luck he ate them both and now wants to know when I am going to make them again. I used Gluten Free plain flour in the same ratio as plain flour.
haha, Ila! I love this :) Just tell him they weren’t good (and keep making them for yourself LOL) <3
Last weekend I made this lemon cake and enjoyed it with hot tea. Very interesting :)
Thanks for sharing!
I love mug cakes but I dont always have eggs handy. Is this a recipe a “flop” without an egg?
It is, I’m sorry. There are such few ingredients in this recipe that if you leave one out, it won’t work :(
Can this recipe be made in a 6″ cake pan instead of the ramekins?
I don’t think so, but if you search ‘lemon cake’ in my search bar, you’ll find a 6″ version with whipped cream frosting :)
This sounds wonderful. I will use the egg white & make a merengue rather than the glaze; for me glaze makes cakes too sweet. AND I like any opportunity I can find for a merengue on my desserts.
I adored them!! They are incredible perfect balance of sweet and sour I absolutely love this site . Christina you are a genius!!
If I want a lemon-poppy cake would I just be able to add poppy seeds to the batter before baking?
Yes, but I would add a touch of almond extract because that’s a typical flavor in lemon-poppyseed cake :)
I would like to put lemon curd in the center of the cake. Would you suggest I do it after the cake is baked or could I put a generous spoonful in the center of the batter and carefully cover with more batter.
So, since lemon curd is made with eggs, do not put it in raw cake batter. It will bake into something strange and probably ruin the cake. After baking, spread it between the cooked cake layers and enjoy!
I made these last night following recipe exactly with sour cream for my husband and myself. They were delicious and baked perfectly. Will definitely make again.
Thanks so much, Nikki! I’m so glad to hear this :)
These are wonderful! I am about to make my second batch. Previously my favorite flavor was always chocolate, deep dark chocolate or mocha, but these are in the running for my top favorite cake. And because of the small portion size, no guilt about making dessert for 1 person. Thank you so much !
I absolutely love this recipe. I’ve made many many lemon desserts and cakes but this one is the BEST. for real. I love baking and I love lemons. This has the perfect lemon flavor and you couldn’t ask for a more moist cake.
I take mine out of the oven (timing is perfect) right when the edges pull away and start being nicely golden. I poke holes with a fork and immediately pour over the glaze. I just do milk and vanilla with powdered sugar i. It soaks into the cake and is amazing. I’ve multiplied this recipe by 5 actually and made in muffin tins for a party I love it so much!! Thank you!
hi! these are delicious, but what kind of ingredients did you use?? cos no matter how hard i try there is no way that these are on 138kcal- 328, maybe, but even using the lowest calorie ingredients the amount given here is totally wack-
sorry for pointing this out..
Hi Beth,
The nutrition calculator is probably off.
Wow, Wow, WOW! Made these tonight. and they are delicious. Just the right balance of tart and sweet, and just the right amount for two, of course. Lemony and moist, rich yet light – the perfect dessert for spring (or any other season!). YUM.
I just made these and they are AMAZING! I don’t know if I’ll be able to save the second one for tomorrow, but the glaze is wonderful. I finished it before the cakes were ready and kept sneaking little bits from the bowl; it was that good! :) love that this only makes two, or I’d eat an entire lemon cake.
I just made this recipe and didn’t have ramekins so I just used a cupcake tin. It made 3 cupcakes perfectly and they cooked for about 15 min. I’m so happy I tried it, easy and fast. It’s not overly sweet and I didn’t even find it that lemony. It’s the perfect little dessert after a special night. Highly recommend it to others!
I just found this recipe and have made it as is, but also in a lime version. Both were delicious. Also, maybe I performed magic, but mine did not have an indention lol. Wonderful recipe.
This was an amazing recipe! To not get all cakey during this lock down. I searched for a small batch of a cake with egg yolks (my 6yr old loves fried eggs- no yolk…) and stumbled across your blog. The amount fitted perfectly in one of kiddos cake pans (plus 4 mini muffins). We had a lovely “picnic”, with this all lemony flavored, moist and irresistible cake. Accompanied by a glass of cold milk :)
Too bitter? You probably got too much of the white part of the zest in the batter..
Will absolutely make this again, and again…
Tonje
I’ve made these several times and love how bright they taste. I know that the nutrition info is an estimate only, but the calories I’m calculating are significantly higher than what’s posted here. I get 463 cals per serving vs. the stated 138.
Made these yesterday and they turned out so well! I was a little worried because I didn’t have any lemons on hand and only had fat free sour cream, but I used bottled lemon juice and 1/4tsp lemon extract instead of lemon zest in the cake and they still turned out perfect. So moist and tender, with a little bit of crunchy deliciousness where they had browned around the edges. I didn’t have ramekins, so baked in a 1 cup Pyrex dish and a mini Bundt pan. The perfect lemon flavor with just the right balance of tart and sweet!
I didn’t have a lemon, so I used bottled lemon juice. I’m sure it would be even more wonderful with fresh juice and zest, but it was pretty amazing anyway!! So easy and so delicious!!!
Another recipe for keeps!! I bake this over and over for my husband. Thank you for sharing :)
I made these yesterday using 8 oz ramekins that I received as a gift. I followed the recipe exactly and the cakes were delicious as well as quick and easy to make. I think that when I make the cake the next time, instead of making the glaze I will insert a tbsp of blueberry marmalade or jam in the middle just to reduce the amount of sugar. :-)
Before I could hit send on this comment, my husband called to say how much he’d enjoyed last night’s dinner and dessert!
Thank you so much, Carolee :)
Very fresh and not too sweet, thanks for this simple recipe! Made it in a mini bread loaf tin and had 4 nice slices. Love these little desserts without tons of leftovers and always eager to try a new one! You’re a star😊.
I just took it out of the oven! I’m 20 weeks pregnant and craving lemon cake, and since my husband is not a fan, this is the perfect size! I didn’t have sour cream so I added some lemon juice to whole milk to make a buttermilk instead. I also put it in a small loaf type dish and cooked it for 24 min and it’s perfect. I can’t wait for it to cool and add lots of lemon icing!
yay, Jill! I’m so glad you could cure your craving :) Hope you’re feeling great! Congrats on the pregnancy :)
I’m looking for an OLD lemon mixture called “LEM” – it’s not a pudding but came packaged in a small box about the size of pudding or jell-o
and I just can’t find it anywhere ! Does anyone know if it still exists ?