Lemon and Elderflower Loaf Cake is light, refreshing, and super sweet. The perfect easy cake recipe for a hot summer’s day.
A simple Lemon Sponge Cake, whether it’s a cupcake, a lemon drizzle, a loaf cake, or anything else, is one of my favourites.
I love the sweet, sticky cake with tangy lemon flavour. It just all works so well, and Lemon Cake is fabulously refreshing and sweet. A proper pick-me-up.
Adding Elderflower to Lemon Cake works really well. Elderflower is a very delicate flavour, which tones down the sour lemon while adding its own unique flavour.
This Elderflower and Lemon Cake is a super simple bake. It’s easy to make, the sponge is light and fluffy, and the flavours are beautiful.
It’s the perfect summer cake. Lemon Cake with Elderflower is fantastic for those hot days when you want something sweet, but don’t fancy anything too heavy, or harsh flavours.
It’s the cake that you could eat with a cocktail in the garden on a hot sunny afternoon.
What Does Elderflower Taste Like?
This Lemon and Elderflower Loaf Cake recipe uses fairy small quantities of elderflower. But, you can still taste it.
Elderflower is a very fresh flavour. It always reminds me a little of quite a delicate pear flavour, but with added floral hints.
Yes, elderflower cordial tastes like a slightly watered down, floral pear. Which I realise I’m not selling well, but it is a good thing!
Super refreshing.
What Does Lemon Elderflower Cake Taste Like?
Elderflower Lemon Cake is such a great flavour. Lemon is obviously very tart, sour, but sweet.
Lemon drizzle cakes are very sweet.
Elderflower is a more delicate, floral flavour, which balances the lemon to give you a gentler sponge, which still has that great lemony flavour.
This Easy Lemon and Elderflower Cake Recipe is perfect if you want to try new things with your favourite lemon cake or try this fantastic combination out for the first time.
Icing for Lemon and Elderflower Loaf Cake
For my Easy Lemon Elderflower Cake I keep the icing really simple, mixing the lemon and elderflower flavours just like I do in the sponge.
I top my Elderflower Cake with Lemon with a really simple lemon and elderflower drizzle, and I really go crazy and pour loads on.
If you prefer, you could follow this recipe for lemon and elderflower cake but finish it with a lemon, or elderflower buttercream. Or mix the flavours again. You could make either a lemon or elderflower drizzle, instead of mixing.
Or you could just leave it bare.
It’s a gorgeous cake as it is, and you absolutely don’t need to ice it at all if you don’t want to.
Storing a Lemon and Elderflower Cake
Lemon and Elderflower Drizzle Cake is very moist. This helps it to stay fresh and soft for longer.
Store your elderflower sponge cake in a cake box, or sealed tub for 3-4 days and it will be great. It will last for a few days longer, but you can expect it to start drying out after 3 days.
Top Tips for Making Elderflower Loaf Cake
I’ve tried to keep my lemon and elderflower loaf cake recipe simple, but here are some tips to help you to get it just right.
- Get to know your oven. I bake at 180 degrees (fan assisted) for around 45 minutes. But all ovens are different. Check after 40 minutes, and every 5 minutes after
- If the top is light golden brown, but a skewer still isn’t coming out of the middle clean, cover with foil and bake for a further 5-10 minutes before checking again
- If your cake is a little chewy, or dense, you may have over mixed and knocked out too much air. Once you’ve added the flour, try to only mix until the ingredients are incorporated, and the mix is smooth
- Leaving your cake to cool in the tin can help avoid sinking in the middle
- If your cake rises in a large dome, your oven might be a little too hot. This causes the outside of the cake to cook first, and forces the centre in and up. Try reducing the temperature by 10 degrees and increasing the bake time
More Easy Cake Recipes
Lemon and Elderflower Loaf Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 170 g Caster Sugar
- 170 g Butter or Margarine (room temperature)
- 3 Eggs
- 25 ml Elderflower Cordial
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 175 g Self Raising Flour
For the Icing:
- 120 g Icing sugar
- Juice of 1 Lemon
- 1 tablespoon Elderflower Cordial
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
- Grease and line a loaf tin.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the Elderflower cordial, and the lemon juice and zest, and stir well.
- Add the eggs, stirring in one at a time.
- Sift in the flour.
- Fold until smooth and even.
- Tip into the loaf tin and bake in the oven for 40-50minutes until cooked through.
- Leave in the tin to cool 15 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Make the icing by mixing together the icing sugar, lemon juice, and cordial until smooth, thick and runny.
- Stab the cake several times, all over with a skewer.
- Pour on to the cake and leave to set before removing from the tin.
Notes
- I use a 10” x 4” x 4” silicone loaf tin.
- If the cake isn’t cooked after 40 minutes, but the top has browned, cover loosely with foil before returning to the oven
- Add extra icing sugar if your drizzle is too runny or extra lemon if it’s too thick
Nutrition
Any nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate. The information is provided using an online calculator and is specific to my ingredients. Please make your own calculations if you want precise information.
Hello Donna
I might be going mad but I cannot find the recipe for the lemon and elderflower loaf cake! Perhaps you can send the link to my email address!
Thanks!
Deborah
Hello Donna,
Could I make a buttercream icing for the top of the cake? And if so, what would the quantities of butter, icing sugar etc be.
Thank you 😊
Ps. Have made 4 of your cakes and all of them are super!!
Thank you Donna
Hi Maria
That’s always nice to hear, thank you.
You could absolutely make a buttercream for the top. Personally, I’d stick to something really simple using a one-part butter (not margarine) two parts icing sugar (for this size cake maybe 150g butter and 300 icing sugar) and then just add either a splash of elderflower cordial or the juice of 1 lemon. If it’s too stiff, stir through a little more liquid, or milk if you are happy with the flavour. If it’s too runny, stir through a little more icing sugar. Just add bits at a time until the consistency is right.
Made this for an early spring time gathering in the woods, to be eaten around a fire giving thanks for the new life and hope around the corner. Delicious and fresh. Thank you
That sounds gloriour Victoria. I’m so glad my recipe could be a part of such a lovely gathering.