Sweet, zesty, light, and fluffy. This Lemon Turmeric Cake is the BEST and incredibly easy to make. Perfectly moist and flavorful, everyone will love how amazing this tea cake is!
Friends, if you’ve never made a tea cake with lemon and turmeric, today is the day. It is truly life changing!
The flavors are perfectly sweet balanced by zesty lemon. The textures are light, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth goodness. The unique twist? A hint of peppery turmeric that just truly takes this recipe out of this world. Impress your friends and family with this delicious Lemon Turmeric Cake (and never go back to regular ‘ol lemon cake loaf again)!
The Main Ingredients
The ingredients for this recipe are simple and easy to find. Here’s what you’ll need:
Flour – All-purpose flour is used as the base of this recipe. However, here’s a great article on how to Substitute Almond Flour for All-Purpose Flour if you need a gluten-free option!
Lemon – Lemon zest and lemon juice create a citrusy flavor in the cake while lemon slices add a beautiful texture and aesthetic to the the loaf. No part of the lemon is wasted!
Turmeric – A small amount of ground turmeric combined with an even smaller amount of black pepper bring this delicious tea cake recipe to life. It may sound a little crazy, but trust us on this one – it’s SO good!
Sugar – Regular or raw sugar work great in this recipe, adding the perfect amount of sweetness!
Butter – Butter is one of the main ingredients in this turmeric cake recipe, but coconut oil is a great option as well.
Eggs – Don’t have eggs on hand? Substitute a flaxseed egg (vegan egg substitute) instead!
Yogurt or Sour Cream – Whole milk or greek yogurt are both great in this recipe. Another option is to use sour cream instead!
How to Make Lemon Turmeric Cake
Here’s how to make Lemon Turmeric Cake in 5 easy steps:
- Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Combine the liquid ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix.
- Pour into a loaf pan, top with lemon slices and a sprinkle of sugar.
- Bake, let cool, and enjoy!
Tip: Another option is to add a drizzle of royal icing to the cake after it cools!
How to Pair Lemon Turmeric Tea Cake
How should you pair Lemon Turmeric Cake? With tea or coffee, of course! Here are a few pairing ideas:
Backstory: All About Turmeric in Tea Cakes
Turmeric’s main active ingredient is curcumin, which is an antioxidant. In many cultures, it is used in anti-inflammatory treatments. It’s also recently become quite popular as the main ingredient to golden milk tea!
The most common recipes found for turmeric are in teas. Boiling lemon juice, turmeric, honey, and black pepper into water creates a golden yellow tea that’s absolutely heavenly! As it turns out, a cup of turmeric tea was just what we needed to really find the key ingredients to this Turmeric Tea Cake recipe.
The aroma of the tea is tangy and warm, like a hot toddy in winter. With every sip, you can taste the sweetness of the honey, the zing of the lemon, the warm bitterness of the turmeric, and on the end you find that beautiful kick of pepper. So many flavors all at once, you expect one to overwhelm the other, but they marry together in a flavorful dance that’s truly amazing!
So if you’re looking for something sweet and delicious that’s also unique and next level, you will love the flavors in this Lemon Turmeric Cake recipe. It’s perfect for a sweet afternoon treat or a mid-morning brunch!
More Dessert & Brunch Recipes
Lemon Turmeric Cake
Ingredients
Lemon Turmeric Cake
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp lemon zest
- 3/4 cup yogurt or sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
Topping
- 1/2 small lemon, thinly sliced
- 1 Tbsp sugar for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Line a 9×5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang so you can lift the finished cake out easily.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, turmeric, and pepper in a bowl.
- In a large bowl, combine the one cup of sugar with the lemon zest until the sugar is moistened and pale yellow.
- Whisk in the sour cream or yogurt, eggs, melted butter, and lemon juice until well combined.
- Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until well combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, smoothing out the top.
- Add the lemon slices and sprinkle the tablespoon of sugar evenly over the top.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool and enjoy!
I will never make regular lemon cake again after how delicious this recipe turned out. It’s SO good!
I love lemon cakes. The citrus flavor is just my thing and the fact that you clubbed it with turmeric is so cool. Healthy and delicious. Also, lemon and turmeric have so many properties and go well together. Thanks for sharing. Will try this soon.
I know it’s hard to believe but I’ve never used turmeric in anything before! This was a first for me. I absolutely adore lemon loaves so opting for something a little different I decided to try making your recipe with turmeric. You were so right, it adds just a little more zest to the lemony loaf and was a hit when I served it to my friends.
Loving teh idea of using turmeric for baking! Trying your recipe this weekend. I bet it will be delicious.
I love anything with lemon or turmeric and this hit the spot. I loved having a slice with my after dinner cup of tea.
I absolutely love the color of this cake! It sounds so tasty.
I love love LOVE the flavor the turmeric adds to lemon loaf. Will never be making lemon loaf the same ever again. DELICIOUS!
I love lemon cake and this version is so delicious. Never thought turmeric will make an impact in lemon cake!
This cake is not only gorgeous but absolutely delicious! Great recipe!
This lemon turmeric tea cake looks so good. I’ve never used turmeric in baking but definitely want to try this!
What a unique cake! The turmeric added such a wonderful flavor, and it turned out perfectly soft and fluffy.
I love lemon cake and turmeric brings it to a whole new level of yumminess. I will look at a plain ole lemon cake again thanks to this recipe !
Wow. Incredible color
. We love using turmeric in unusual ways. However in this tea cake with the lemon has my curiosity intrigued. I would definitely have it with some home made chai! Lovely recipe!😋👌❤
I’m intrigued! I’m one of the ones who haven’t baked with turmeric. I should really change that, starting off with this cake!
I never would have thought of adding turmeric to a cake, but this combination sounds amazing! I love the lemon and sugar on top.
I haven’t tried this yet but will soon. I’m wondering if I need to candy the lemon rinds somehow? Don’t they become something you need to pull off and throw away otherwise?
They end up being candied with the sugar topping that goes over them. They’re actually really good on the cake and don’t need to be pulled off. However, if it’s a texture thing you may prefer to just add some lemon zest over the top instead!