Lemon Crazy Cake is a delicious dessert made without milk, eggs, or butter but bursting with lemon flavor, topped with a light and fluffy lemon buttercream. The only crazy part about this recipe is how great the cake tastes even without those ingredients! (I did use butter for the buttercream, though.) It’s the perfect treat for lemon lovers and will surely brighten your day! If you enjoyed the bright and zesty lemon cake, you should definitely try my Chocolate Depression Cake, also made without milk, eggs, or butter, but so moist and chocolatey!
What is a Crazy Cake?
Crazy Cakes, also known as Depression cakes or wacky cakes, among other names, became popular during the Depression-era. During this time, it was hard to get ingredients like milk, eggs, and butter. However, that didn’t mean that they should not be able to enjoy desserts! So, the crazy cakes were made.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Lemons: Make sure you have a couple of lemons on hand. You’ll need lemon zest and lemon juice for both the cake and the buttercream. You can use the same lemons for both zesting and juicing. Be sure to zest the lemons first, then juice them. When zesting, only use the yellow part of the peel, as the white part can be bitter.
- Distilled White Vinegar: The vinegar reacts with the baking soda to help the cake rise.
- Water & Vegetable Oil: Water and oil help with the cake’s texture and moisture.
- Buttercream: As I stated above, the lemon buttercream does contain butter; but it adds even more lemon flavor to every bite.
Can I Make This Cake Without the Buttercream?
Definitely! If you just want a refreshing lemon cake, it’s delicious on its own! If preferred, dust the cake with some confectioners’ sugar or add a lemon glaze from my Lemon Loaf instead!
Can I Add Food Coloring to the Cake?
Sure! If you want a bright yellow cake to match the lemon cake title, add 2-3 drops of yellow food coloring to the cake batter.
Can I Make Lemon Crazy Cupcakes?
Yes! To make this cake as cupcakes, line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Pour the batter about 3/4 of the way full into each liner. Bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes, checking for doneness at about 15 minutes. The cupcakes are done when an inserted toothpick comes out with a few crumbs but no wet batter.
How to Store Lemon Crazy Cake
This cake can be stored at room temperature, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days. You could also store it in the refrigerator if preferred. If storing the cake in the refrigerator, let it come to room temperature before serving.
Can I Freeze Lemon Crazy Cake?
Yes! It is best to freeze the cake before adding the buttercream and the same day you make it. First, let the cake cool completely. Next, remove the cake from the pan and tightly wrap it in plastic wrap. Make sure none of the cake is left exposed to avoid freezer burn. Finally, wrap the cake in a layer of aluminum foil. Label and date the packaging and freeze the cake for up to a month for best results. To thaw the cake, let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before removing the aluminum foil. It will take 2-3 hours before it completely thaws. Once thawed, you can add the frosting.
More Lemon Cake Recipes
Lemon Crazy Cake
Ingredients
Lemon Cake
- 1 ½ cups (187.5 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- lemon zest, from 1 large lemon (about 1 ½ teaspoons)
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, about 1 large lemon
- 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
- 1 cup (250 g) water
- ⅓ cup (73 g) vegetable oil
Lemon Buttercream
- ½ cup (1 stick / 113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups (219 g) confectioners' sugar
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- ½ medium lemon, juiced (about 1 tablespoon lemon juice)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, about one lemon
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8×8-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Lemon Cake
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest. Whisk to combine.
- To the flour mixture, add lemon juice, vinegar, water, and oil. Whisk until ingredients are fully combined.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35-37 minutes. The cake is done when an inserted toothpick is inserted and comes out clean with a few crumbs, but no wet batter. Let the cake cool while you prepare the frosting.
Lemon Buttercream
- Using a handheld mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and salt on medium speed until well combined.
- Add lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla. Continue to beat for another 3 to 5 minutes, or until creamy.
- Spread the buttercream over the cooled cake.
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
Best recipe, lemon flavour pulls through super well. Family loved it, followed recipe to the T, made as muffins, came out super moist and fluffy and soft, muffins did not last, it was gobbled up fast! Thank you!!
Overall a very good recipe but some things were off. It took about 15 minutes longer to bake than the instructions (45 minutes total). Any less and the center jiggled. It was still very moist after 45 minutes. The other thing is 1/4 cup of lemon juice was WAY too much. It made the buttercream turn into a batter consistency. I tried it again with a tablespoon and was closer but still too runny. I had to add another 1-1/2 cups of powdered sugar to make it somewhat solid and even then it was still slightly runny once it came to room temperature. I had to refrigerate it to get it to keep from running off the sides of the cake. Great flavor overall though. And no, not my first time baking. Other recipes I found after this use similar ratios of lemon juice to powdered sugar as I ended up having to use.
This turned out like glue. It was not at all like any other depression cakes. Something is off with the acid balance
There is way too much liquid in this recipe. I think there’s an error somewhere in the ingredients list. The batter was really thin and it turned out like glue after baking it. My husband will eat anything and he told me to throw it in the trash. (I measured everything precisely with my scale using the grams given and did not make any alterations)
Oh dear! So very sorry. I will test this recipe and see what revisions need to be made.
Did you ever check this recipe? I would really like to try it, but don’t want to end up throwing it away.
I did. We tested it several times and weren’t able to replicate the issues some users had. We really enjoyed it. (6 taste testers) I have since sent it out for independent testing and haven’t received feedback yet.