Bake the perfect Air Fryer Lemon Drizzle Cake following my super easy recipe! Only five ingredients and you have a moist, fluffy and delicious lemon drizzle loaf worth bragging about. Mark my words, everyone will be clamoring for a second slice.
Lemon Drizzle cake is hugely popular and for a good reason! A cake that uses just a handful of ingredients – only five! – yet tastes incredibly delicious… what more can you ask for?
LEMON DRIZZLE IN YOUR AIR FRYER
I have adapted my fave lemon drizzle loaf recipe for the air fryer. The ingredients and method is the same but this recipe makes one small loaf cake – since most air fryers can only fit a small loaf pan.
Baking in the air fryer requires a bit of getting used to, especially since models can vary in their wattage and efficiency.
The good news is that you can quickly pull the air fryer basket to check on your lemon drizzle – unlike baking in an oven when opening the door too often can result in the temperature dropping too much.
LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE INGREDIENTS
You just need five ingredients to make this cake, a mixing bowl and an electric hand mixer (or stand mixer). Let’s take a look.
LEMONS: we will be using both the lemon zest and the lemon juice in this recipe so get some unwaxed lemons.
SUGAR: both caster and granulated sugar are used in this cake.
SELF RAISING FLOUR: make sure it is fresh otherwise the cake won’t rise properly. If you don’t have self raising you can use plain flour with additional baking powder.
BUTTER: softened unsalted butter or a baking spread such as Stork (margarine). I prefer Stork as it can be used straight out of the fridge.
EGGS: large eggs, room temperature.
HOW TO MAKE AIR FRYER LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE
Use a microplane zester to zest the lemons into your mixing bowl. Add the sugar and rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips to release the lemon oil. This adds so much zesty fragrance and flavor to this lemon drizzle cake!
Add all remaining ingredients and beat together with an electric hand mixer until the batter is completely smooth, about a minute.
Spoon the cake batter into a 450g (1 pound) loaf pan and level. Transfer to the air fryer and bake for 40-45 minutes at 160°C (325°F) or until the cake is golden, risen and a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. If the tester comes out with wet batter, continue to cook for a further 2-4 minutes and check again.
Remove the basket from the air fryer but leave the cake in the basket for five minutes. Poke holes with a skewer over the cake. Combine the sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and drizzle over the top. Take your time doing this so the drizzle has a chance to soak into the warm cake.
Carefully lift the cake on a wire rack to cool down – the drizzle will set into a crunchy sugar crust. Slice and share or keep up to five days in a covered cake container at room temperature.
RECIPE NOTES
How to make Self-Rising flour Self-rising or self-raising flour (self-rising) is commonly used in the UK. If you need to make your own then sift together 200g (1 1/4 cups) plain / all-purpose flour with two teaspoons baking powder and a pinch of salt. This amount is just right for this recipe.
Troubleshooting Lemon Drizzle In an Air Fryer The heat in the air fryer comes from the top. If you bake the cake on a high heat setting it will rise quickly and brown on top but will remain unbaked on the bottom. Using a lower heat setting allows the cake to rise slowly and evenly.
PrintAir Fryer Lemon Drizzle Cake
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 10 1x
- Category: Cake
- Cuisine: British
Ingredients
For the cake
- 2 lemons zest only
- 200 g (1 cup) sugar ideally caster / superfine sugar
- 200 g (1 ¼ cups) self raising flour or see notes
- 200 g (¾ cup + 2 tbsp) softened unsalted butter or margarine (Stork)
- 2 eggs large
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
For the drizzle
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar , plus extra if needed
- 2 lemons juice only
Instructions
-
Preheat the air fryer to 160°C (325°F). Mist a small loaf pan with cake release and line with parchment paper or a baking liner
-
Zest the lemons into your mixing bowl. Add the sugar and rub the zest into it to release the lemon oil.2 lemons, 200 g (1 cup) sugar
-
Add all remaining ingredients and beat together with an electric hand mixer until the batter is completely smooth, about a minute.200 g (1 ¼ cups) self raising flour, 200 g (¾ cup + 2 tbsp) softened unsalted butter, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 2 eggs
- Spoon the cake batter into the prepared pan and level. Transfer to the air fryer and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the cake is golden, risen and a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. If the tester comes out with wet batter, continue to cook for a further 2-4 minutes and check again.
- Remove the basket from the air fryer and the cake in the basket for five minutes. Poke holes with a skewer over the cake.
-
Combine the sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and drizzle over the top. Take your time doing this so the drizzle has a chance to soak into the warm cake.2 lemons, ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- Carefully lift the cake on a wire rack to cool down – the drizzle will set into a crunch crystal glaze. Slice and share or keep up to five days in a covered cake container at room temperature.
Notes
How to make Self-Rising flour
Self-rising or self-raising flour (self-rising) is commonly used in the UK. If you need to make your own then sift together 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour with 2 teaspoons baking powder and a pinch of salt. This amount is just right for this recipe.
