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Copycat Starbucks Lemon Loaf
Moist, soft and tender lemon loaf with tangy lemon icing that tastes BETTER than Starbucks. It's so easy to make that you'll never spend $$$ on it at that coffee shop again!
Ingredients
Loaf cake batter:
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon lemon zest (from about 2 large lemons)
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- ¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup (60ml) sunflower oil
- 1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup (80ml) sour cream at room temperature
- 1 ⅔ cups (235g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup (80ml) whole milk at room temperature
Lemon icing:
- 1 cup (120g) powdered confectioner's sugar
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) whole milk
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8.5x4.5-inch loaf pan or 9x5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Combine sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl and rub them together until the sugar is fragrant and the lemon oils coat the sugar crystals. Add the eggs and whisk until the sugar is dissolved a bit and smooth. Add melted butter, oil, vanilla and sour cream whisk to blend well.
- Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl.
- Add the flour mixture and start to fold it in gently. Add milk and continue to fold gently until the dry ingredients are incorporated and there are no pockets of flour remaining. Do not over-mix.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out evenly. For a nice split down the center of the loaf, run your spatula down the middle lengthwise. Bake for 45-55 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Transfer pan to a rack to cool 10 minutes. Lift the cake out of the pan and let cool completely on the rack.
- For the icing, combine icing sugar, lemon juice, milk and salt in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. It should be thick and opaque white, but still flowing. Resist adding too much more liquid because otherwise you won’t get a nice thick icing that sets up firm on the cake. If it is too runny, it will be just a glaze. Pour the icing over the loaf, spread it out to drip over the edges a bit and then let it set until the icing dries out. Slice and serve!
