Lemon Orange Cake with Lemon Honey Glaze

This Lemon Orange Cake with Lemon Honey Glaze is a delicious citrusy cake, easy to make and topped with an incredible lemon honey glaze for a little extra tang and sweetness!

You all know I love my lemon desserts like Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake and Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf, it must be the citrus flavor I love so much! This cake packs a double whammy of citrus tang thanks to both lemon juice and lots of orange juice. What can I tell you about this cake, other than it’s moist, it’s citrusy and it’s so freaking good.

I’m making this cake completely from scratch today, no boxed cake on my counter. We’re going to achieve tons of moisture, flavor, and light airy cake crumb this way. Top all that fluffy citrus cake with a lemon honey glaze and you’ve got something special on your hands.

Lemon Orange Cake with Lemon Honey Glaze

This recipe is an old recipe, among my very first that I shared with you here on my blog and it’s been near and dear to my heart ever since. I’d like to think that this recipe has evolved with the blog, becoming more refined and perfected alongside Jo Cooks! So for any of you who remember the original post, thank you for following this little food journey and for any new comers – definitely try this cake, you’ll be converted!

Ingredients In Lemon Orange Cake with Lemon Honey Glaze

Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card on the bottom of the page.

Lemon orange cake

• Flour – All purpose flour works just fine for this recipe.
• Leavening agents – Both baking powder and baking soda.
• Salt – Salt is so important in any and all baked goods.
• Citrus – We’re using both lemon and orange juice as well as the zest from both fruits.
• Butter – Unsalted as we want to control the sodium in our dessert.
• Sugar – Just plain old granulated white sugar for a nice clean flavor.
• Milk – You can use any kind of milk you would like, regardless of fat content.
• Eggs – We’re using 5 eggs today, quite a bit I know but believe me you’ll want them.

Lemon honey glaze

• Sugar – We want powdered sugar for this glaze as granulated sugar will produce a grainy glaze. This will act as a thickened and binder for our glaze.
• Honey – This will add some syrupy sweetness to our cake.
• Lemon – We’re just using nice acidic lemon juice to carry that citrus taste through from our cake to our glaze.

How To Make Lemon Orange Cake

Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card on the bottom of the page.

• Prepare the oven: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously coat a bundt pan with cooking spray and set aside.
• Combine the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, combine together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk in the orange and lemon zest. Set aside.
• Cream the butter and sugar: In the bowl of your electric mixer, use the paddle attachment to mix the butter and sugar together for 2 to 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
• Form the batter: To the bowl of your mixer add the lemon juice, orange juice, milk, the eggs and mix to combine. Begin adding the flour mixture a little bit at a time. Scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary. Mix for a couple minutes until the batter is smooth and all the ingredients are well incorporated.
• Bake the cake: Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 50 min to an hour until done. Check the center of the cake with a toothpick and if it comes out clean it’s done.
• Prepare the glaze: To make the lemon honey glaze whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl.
• Finish the cake: Let the cake cool on a wire rack. Once cool, drizzle the cake with the lemon honey glaze and decorate with additional lemon or orange zest if preferred.

How Best To Zest

Zesting an orange or a lemon may seem pretty straight forward, but there’s a certain trick to it! 

Prepare the fruit: If you’re not using organic lemons or oranges, I recommend washing them in warm water using a clean sponge. Warm water melts the wax layer that protects the fruit and dissolves any chemicals with which it has been sprinkled.

Grate the fruit: Wipe the fruits well after they have been washed and grate them on the smallest holes of your grater. You must be careful that the white and bitter part of the peel is not grated so change where you are zesting often. If you look at the lemon and see you have hit any white parts you’ve zested too far.

How Much Juice Is In Our Citrus Fruits?

This answer varies quite a bit depending on the size of your lemon or orange. A lemon holds about 3 tablespoons of juice while an orange holds about 4 tablespoons. Be sure your fruits are at room temperature and roll them firmly between your hand and the counter before juicing.

Tips For Making The Best Lemon Orange Cake

• I’ve found that they key to ensuring this cake stays nice and moist is really giving it some time to cool down on your counter. Allow it to sit for as long as you can wait!
• If you can wait long enough I find that this cake is even better the next day.
• Sometimes where you place your loaf pan in the oven can make a difference, some swear by baking their loaves near the top of the oven whereas some prefer the middle. Here’s a handy guide explaining the science behind rack placement. So play around and see what works best with your oven!
• The best way to avoid a mess when glazing is to place the loaf on a wire cooling rack over a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, clean up time will be cut in half!

Can I Make This Recipe Ahead?

Yes you can! If you’d like to make this just a few days in advance feel free to store this cake right on the counter for up to 3 days just be sure to cover it to prevent it from drying out. The glaze can also be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Freezer

If you’d prefer to store in the freezer, wrap the cake tightly in aluminum foil before placing in a large ziploc bag, be sure to press out as much of the air in the bag as possible before sealing. This method will keep your cake fresh for up to 4 months. To thaw you’ll want to keep it wrapped in foil as it thaws on your counter for up to 3 hours.

Don’t glaze your loaf before putting it in the freezer, the glaze can become runny while thawing.

Craving More Lemon? Try These Delicious Recipes:

• Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake
• Old Fashioned Lemon Bread
• Lemon Blueberry Scones
• Lemon Yogurt Cake
• Strawberry Lemon Bundt Cake
• Lemon Poppy Seed Bread With Lemon Icing
• Lemon Bars