These lemon dessert recipes offer citrus in several forms: cake layers, a glazed ring cake, pies, bars, cookies and a marshmallow cereal treat. Choose by the dessert format you want, then check whether the lemon flavor comes from juice, zest, extract or a separate cooked filling.
Several recipes have separate lemon measures for batter, filling and glaze. A lemon cake mix or pudding mix also has a specific role and package size. The angel pie uses a baked meringue shell, while the lemon bars need baking and chilling before clean squares can be cut.
Lemon Dessert Recipes for Cakes
These cakes use different pans, batters and finishes, from frosted layers to a glazed discard cake.
1. Lemon Layer Cake with Whipped Whites and Buttercream
Lemon juice and zest flavor a cake batter lightened with whipped egg whites. A separate lemon buttercream joins the completely cooled layers before serving.
2. Lemon Raspberry Cake with Jam and Lemon Buttercream
Fresh raspberries are folded into a lemon cake batter, with jam between the layers. Lemon buttercream provides the border that helps contain the fruit filling.
3. Easy Lemon Bundt Cake with Lemon Syrup and Frosting
Lemon cake and pudding mixes form a ring cake with sour cream. A lemon syrup is brushed onto the warm cake before it cools fully for frosting.
4. Lemon Lime Soda Bundt Cake with a Simple Citrus Glaze
Lemon-lime soda is mixed into a butter-rich tube cake, then used again in a small glaze. Prepare the large fluted pan carefully before adding the batter.
5. Lemon Cupcakes with Zest and Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Zest-rubbed sugar and lemon juice flavor these individual cakes. Lemon cream cheese frosting is shared over the cooled cupcakes, giving citrus flavor in both components.
6. Lemon Sourdough Discard Cake
Sourdough discard is folded into a creamed-butter lemon cake batter. A juice-and-sugar glaze finishes the cooled round cake without a separate yeast rise.
Lemon Pies and Bars
Cooked citrus fillings, a meringue shell and shortbread bring several textures to this section.
7. Lemon Angel Pie with a Crisp Meringue Shell and Cream
A dried meringue shell holds lemon curd lightened with whipped cream. Prepare the shell, cook and cool the curd, then allow refrigerator time for the assembled pie.
8. Lemon Meringue Pie with a Graham Cracker Crust
A graham crumb crust holds cooked lemon custard beneath a whipped meringue topping. The egg components are heated during preparation before the pie is browned and chilled.
9. Strawberry Lemon Blondies with a Fruity Citrus Glaze
Small strawberry pieces are folded through lemon blondie batter. A glaze with lemon and strawberry jam is spread over the cool slab before cutting.
10. Lemon Bars with Shortbread Crust
A shortbread base is baked before an egg-and-lemon filling goes on top. The finished slab is cooled and chilled, then dusted with powdered sugar for serving.
Lemon Cookies and Other Treats
These smaller treats include baked cookies and a stovetop marshmallow-cereal mixture.
11. Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies with Homemade Yolk Curd
Homemade cooked lemon curd fills hollows in a separate lemon cookie dough. Cool the curd before filling and baking the small rounds.
12. Cream Cheese Lemon Crinkle Cookies with Fresh Zest
Cream cheese and butter form a lemon dough that chills before shaping. A generous powdered sugar coating gives the baked cookies their crinkled finish.
13. Lemon Snowball Cookies with a Double Powdered Sugar Coat
Butter dough flavored with lemon juice and extract bakes into small rounds. The cookies receive two light powdered sugar coatings at different cooling stages.
14. Lemon Crispy Rice Treats with White Chocolate
Lemon zest flavors a melted marshmallow mixture that coats crisp rice cereal. White chocolate is drizzled over the pressed slab before it sets and is cut into squares.
Before You Choose Your Recipe
Measure the colored zest without the bitter white pith and follow each recipe on juice amounts. Allow cakes to cool before glazing and cooked fillings to set before serving. Lemon does not remove the refrigeration needs of egg custards, cream cheese or whipped cream.
