lemony turmeric tea cake
This lemony turmeric tea cake is fragrant, moist, and light…everything you want in a tea cake! I loved the lemony flavor and the fluffy-moistness of the cake. The outside was nicely caramelized and added a little texture and crunch to the cake. I also liked that it wasn’t too heavy or sweet, which makes it perfect for a light snack or dessert. It goes really well with a scoop of ice-cream too. I’m 100% making this cake again…well I’ll have to make it again because it’s already gone after less than 24 hours since it came out of the oven. It was dangerously good and it was hard to save some for my family haha.
And yes! You can eat the lemon slices on top! They actually add a really nice flavor to the cake (and they make for great pictures). Send me a pic if you try this recipe out (you may be featured on the blog 😉).
I made my tea cake dairy-free (see note at bottom), and it came out delicious. I couldn’t even tell that it was dairy free. The substitutions maintained the consistency, flavor, and moisture of the tea cake.
Ingredients
Nonstick cooking spray or oil, for greasing the pan
1 ½ cups/215 grams all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. ground turmeric
2 lemons
1 cup/200 grams granulated sugar, plus 2 tbsp. for sprinkling
¾ cup/180 milliliters sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt, plus more for serving (optional)
2 large eggs
½ cup/115 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), melted
Whipped cream (optional)
Directions
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 4-by-9-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray or oil, and line it with parchment, leaving some overhang on both of the longer sides so you’re able to easily lift the cake out after baking.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and turmeric in a large bowl.
Grate 2 tablespoons zest from 1 lemon into a medium bowl. Halve the zested lemon and squeeze 2 tablespoons juice into a small bowl. Cut half the remaining whole lemon into thin rounds, discarding seeds (save the other half for another use).
Add 1 cup sugar to the lemon zest in the medium bowl; rub together with your fingertips until the sugar is fragrant and tinted yellow. Whisk in the sour cream, eggs and the 2 tablespoons lemon juice until well blended.
Using a spatula, add the wet mixture to the flour mixture, stirring just to blend. Fold in the melted butter. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Scatter the top with the lemon slices and 1 tablespoon of sugar.
Bake until the top of the cake is golden brown, the edges pull away from the sides of the pan, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. (If the lemons are getting too dark, lay a piece of foil on top to prevent burning.) Let cool before slicing. (Cake can be baked up to 5 days ahead, wrapped tightly, and stored at room temperature.) Serve with whipped cream, if desired.
My Notes
If you’d like to make this recipe dairy-free, substitute the sour cream/yogurt with 3/4 cup of full-fat coconut milk. When using the coconut milk, try to just use the coconut cream in the can rather than the liquid water (if possible, but don’t worry if you can’t separate). Substitute the melted unsalted butter with 1/2 cup of melted coconut oil.
The original recipe calls for 3/4 tsp. turmeric, but I would add 1 tsp. to incorporate more of the turmeric flavor into the cake.
