Lemon Coffee Cake is a delicious, moist and sweet breakfast or snack cake, and also a very easy dessert recipe. Bursting with tangy lemon flavor, this coffee cake is the perfect treat to enjoy this spring or summer! You should definitely try my Blueberry Cheesecake Crumb Cake, too.
Tangy Lemon Coffee Cake Breakfast or Dessert Recipe
This tender and fluffy cake is super moist. It has a tart lemon curd layer in the center, cheesecake layer on top and irresistible, crunchy and buttery crumb topping!
As I said so many times before, I LOOOOOVE COFFEE CAEKES and CRUMB CAKES!!! They are perfect excuse to eat cake for breakfast. I’ve shared so many recipes so far: Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake, Strawberry Cheesecake Coffee Cake, Easy Cinnamon Coffee Cake, Pumpkin Coffee Cake and Cinnamon Apple Crumb Cake.
However, this Lemon Coffee Cake is perfect choice for refreshing summer breakfast, snack or dessert.
Tangy lemon curd and cream cheese layer make this simple coffee cake really special and so delicious.
Easy Lemon Coffee Cake with Homemade Lemon Curd
Whenever I make coffee cakes, crumb cakes or muffins I like to add greek yogurt or sour cream in the batter. This time I used sour cream. You won’t be able to taste it in the cake, but it makes the cake so tender and super moist.
This Lemon Coffee Cake has so much flavor and amazing texture combo. Every single bite bursting with lemon. And crunchy crumb topping pair so good with smooth cheesecake and lemon curd filing and moist and tender cake.
Also, I made homemade lemon curd, but you can skip this extra step and use store-bought. Actually, I hesitated for years to try to make it myself. For the first time I made homemade lemon curd when I made my Blueberry Cupcakes with Lemon Curd Filling. And that was a few years ago. Since I realized it’s not hard at all, I usually make my own lemon curd, but you don’t have to if you like to save some time.
However, if you are a lemon lover, then you will love this cake. If you need more lemon recipes check this Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins or Lemon Blueberry Muffins.
Lemon Coffee Cake Recipe:
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Lemon Coffee Cake
Prep Time: 25 minutes- Cook Time: 45-55 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Yield: 16 slices 1x
Category: Dessert
Method: Oven
Cuisine: American
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Description
Lemon Coffee Cake is a delicious, moist, and sweet breakfast or snack cake, and also a very easy dessert recipe. Bursting with tangy lemon flavor, this coffee cake is the perfect treat to enjoy this spring or summer!
Ingredients
Crumb Topping:
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- Dash of salt
- 3 Tablespoons light brown sugar
- 5 Tablespoons sugar
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter-melted and slightly cooled
Cake:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter-softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- grated lemon zest from 1 lemon
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1 cup lemon curd (store-bought or homemade)
Cream Cheese Filling:
- 8 oz. cream cheese-softened
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 Tablespoons sugar
Homemade Lemon Curd:
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- To make homemade lemon curd, in a saucepan melt the butter. Remove from the heat, add sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest, and whisk to combine. Add eggs and whisk well. Place over medium heat and cook for 5-6 minutes until all sugar dissolves and the mixture is thick enough to hold the marks from a whisk. Cool completely.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 8 x 8 x 2-inch square baking pan (or 9 x 9-inch pan) with parchment paper leaving an overhang on the sides, spray with non-stick spray and set aside.
- First, make the crumb topping. In a bowl stir together flour, sugar, brown sugar, and salt. Then add melted butter and stir with a fork until pea-size crumbs form. Set in the fridge until ready to use.
- To make the cake beat softened butter for a minute, then add sugar and beat until creamy. Add lemon zest, vanilla, and eggs and mix to combine.
- Add sour cream and mix well, then mix in flour, baking powder, and salt. Spread half of the batter in the prepared pan.
- Spread 1 cup of lemon curd over the batter but don’t go all the way to the edges (or it will burn during baking).
- Spoon the remaining batter on top.
- Beat cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, and egg until smooth. Spread cream cheese mixture over the batter.
- Sprinkle with a crumb topping and bake for about 45-55 minutes or until the center has set. If it browns too much tent the top with aluminum foil.
- Cool for 30 minutes in the pan, then pull the paper and lift the cake and transfer to a rack to cool completely.
- Dust with powdered sugar before serving if desired.
61 comments
Dear Vera! Thanks a lot for recipe and for instructions. Can you please, point the right temperature for baking. Regards, Biana
And the coffee??
Sasha, what do you mean by “And the coffee??”?
Cynthia . . Coffee ? You don’t get it or are you jk’n ?
Dear Vera! Thank you for the recipe! Please, point the temperature for baking. Thanks in advance, Biana
Hi Biana, bake it at 350 F 🙂
[…] Lemon Coffee Cake […]
Dear Vera,
Thank you very much, for the recipe, all looks yummy.
Thanks Laurentia 🙂
Can I make this a day in advance?
Hi April, you can do that, it’s good for a few days!
Too many ads with the recipe!! When you print the recipe it’s 3 pages long instead of 2.
Cut and paste to Word doc and print.
This cake is a keeper. Thank you for posting it!
My lemon curd failed, and I’m an experienced baker. Upon checking other websites it says to #1 never use bottle lemon juice only fresh (which I use always in recipes & have never failed before)
#2 never melt butter, cut butter into thickened curd which is similar to lemon pie filling recipe I’ve made before and lemon pudding.
May want to add note next to lemon juice to not use bottled juice only fresh.
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Do you think this could be made without the cream cheese layer? Some in my family don’t care for it. I bet it would still taste good. Your pictures of the cake are amazing!
Hi Julia, you can make it without cream cheese layer!
I’ve got this in the oven right now and the center isn’t setting up! ? What do I do in the future?
I made this for my husband to take to work and we couldn’t help getting into it first! It was absolutely delicious and a big hit. I added 10 minutes baking time and it came out perfect. Will be making more! Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks Paulette 🙂
I had a taste for something sweet and stumbled upon this recipe. It was a bit of work to make everything, but absolutely worth it! I will definitely be making this again. Like the recipe says, it’s good for breakfast or dessert. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks so much Sarah! I’m happy to hear that!
Can you double the recipe and bake in a 13×9? How long would it need to bake?
Hi Cheryl, you can double the recipe and bake it just a little longer.
Hi I would like the recipe and directions for this lemon coffee cake. Please send to me.
Thanks
[…] perfect spring and summer treat. For lemon lovers, I suggest lemon version of this coffee cake- Lemon Coffee Cake with homemade lemon […]
Getting ready to make
Can u freeze this?
Yes you can freeze it.
Happy baking!
These are my new favorite lemon bars, thank you so much for the recipe. The instructions were very easy to follow , I only reduced the amount of sugar a little bit and they turned out great!
Okay it took me twice to make the curd, but I did it. I’m glad I read the comments and added extra cooking time. I was so worried with the curd and cream cheese layer it wouldn’t set, but it did and my goodness it is so good. Such a great lemon flavor.
Thanks Leslie!
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Hi Vera,
It looks like you live a cold climate, but where I live on the Sunshine Coast of Australia it can get very hot & extremely humid. Would like to know if you have ever frozen this cake to save for later as I find I have to consider doing this with food as it goes off very quickly in the humidity if left out and I don’t always have enough space in my fridge.
Excellent cake. I wanted to make a note that I tried a variation, by making a pineapple curd instead of lemon, and it worked very well. I decreased the amount of sugar for the curb though. Tonight, I am trying a cranberry curd, that way we will have the layers even more pronounced. I have a bunch of clementines that need to be used and I like to add plenty of zest to bot cake batter and curd. Thank you very much for this recipe, everybody likes it!
Love it! It’s basically my two favorite things combined, lemon bars and coffee cake. What more could you want!!!
This may be the best lemon coffee cake recipe I have ever made!!! We love it! I live at high altitude, and I just adjusted with the standard “add 2 tablespoons of flour.” Yummy! So glad I discovered this blog.
Baked this cake for my birthday and it was an absolute hit! So moist and tasty. Thank you for doing what you do
This recipe is definitely worth the effort, I usually wouldn’t bother with a complicated recipe to make something to serve with coffee but this one is definitely making its way into my recipe book.
As an experienced cook I wouldn’t change anything in the recipe, it worked perfectly.
Thank you for sharing Vera.
Thanks, Jodi!
Dear Vera
Could you put blueberry filling instead of the lemon?
Hi, I haven’t tried it in this recipe, but I guess it will work
Ambrosial! I had to cook it an extra 5 minutes. Had a jar of Trader Joe’s lemon curd,. Recommend reading through the recipe before starting because it’s layered and suggest a 9×9 pan more accommodating than 8×8.
What is the best way to store this coffee cake? Countertop? Refrigerator? Freezer? How long will it keep in each?
I cannot wait to try it!
The ingredients list cream cheese but then sour cream is listed in the directions but not the amount so I’m confused about the cream cheese?
In the oven now! Smells so good!
Loved it! Perfect recipe. Will be making this one again!!
If I bake this the morning before, will it keep to the next morning? Or should freeze it overnight to keep it “fresh”?
I was intrigued by this recipe because it checked all the boxes…crumble topping, cream cheese layer, and lemon!! I wanted to try this recipe for a coworkers birthday. I made the lemon curd which is amazing!! So lemon-y! Much better than store-bought lemon curd. I used an 8×8 glass pan. I SHOULD HAVE lined with parchment paper. The bottom and sides were quite brown. I will also use a 9×9 pan next time. Also, the lemon curd sank to the bottom~not sure why? My co-workers LOVED it! I am a perfectionist and was disappointed that it was quite dry. I am not a quitter! I will try again with a 9×9 pan lined with parchment paper!
Can I use lemon pie filling instead of curd
I haven’t tried it.
I love lemon cake, in fact, anything with lemon, but I’ve never tried Lemon Coffee Cake. It sounds intriguing and unique! I’m going to try this recipe tomorrow to see what it tastes like., thank you for sharing!
My lemon curd did not thicken. Is there something I can add? Or will it thicken when it cools?
I tried this today and they are delicious . Will be our favs. .
Made the Lemon Cream cheese Coffee Cake this evening and its delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe! Does it need to be stored in the refrigerator?
i like lemon, so I took some of my dehydrated lemons and turned them into lemon power then added some to the batter. I started with a teaspoon. I will be adding more next time.
The result was very good, but there are a few problems I would like to address and tips that I would like to provide.
1) Lemon curd: use a double boiler and add the butter at the end, after removing the pan with lemon curd from heat.
2) Crumble top: I needed to add some extra butter to make it crumbly, but this could be because I live in Europe, where the butter has a higher fat content and less water.
3) Final assemble: With the instructions that were initially provided, it was impossible to stop the lemon curd from reaching the edges. I recommend that after placing the initial layer with cake batter, make a small well in the center portion, sparing the outer 1 inch. I have not tried this trick, but I think that it will allow you to spread the lemon curd without it reaching the edges, even after adding the additional layer.
All in all a very tasty coffee cake, that I will bake again in the near future. I would give it four stars, but the website didn´t allow me to rate
I’ve made this multiple times, and it’s a favorite among the family. Making it again today.
For those who reduced the sugar what did you reduce it to?