This cheerful little loaf cake feels like a spring or summer picnic with lemonade and sunshine. It’s similar to a pink lemonade cake that my elderly neighbor used to make when I was growing up. She made it for all the neighborhood kids and we always gobbled it up. When I was about ten years old she taught my friend and me how to make it. She used a yellow cake mix in a large baking pan and poked holes all over the cake, then drenched it in a pink, sugary lemon icing. I transformed that happy pink lemonade memory into a delightful loaf cake made from scratch.
To watch the TikTok video, click here.
Pink Lemonade Cake
A tender, moist loaf cake that tastes just like pink lemonade
Ingredients
Pink Lemonade Cake
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (142g) all purpose flour, sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup (59ml) whole milk
- ¼ cup (57g) sour cream
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil or neutral oil of your choice
- 2 large eggs, room temperature pale yellow yolks preferred
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 ½ teaspoons strawberry extract
- 1-2 drops pink gel food color I used Americolor deep pink*
Lemon Syrup
- Juice of one lemon
- ¼ cup (50g) sugar
Icing
- 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 2-2 ½ tablespoons (30-37ml) lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon strawberry extract
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
- 1 tiny drop pink gel food coloring I used Americolor deep pink*
Instructions
Pink Lemonade Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF (163ºC). Line the bottom of an 8 X 4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Grease and flour the insides.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda until well combined.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and sour cream until well blended.
- In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, eggs, lemon zest, and strawberry extract, with an electric mixer on medium speed, until smooth, creamy and well blended. Mix in the food coloring, a little at a time, until your desired shade of pink is achieved.
- Stir in the flour mixture in two additions, alternating with the milk mixture. Stir just until combined.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean, about 45-50 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the lemon syrup.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from it from the pan and transfer it to a cooling rack. Poke holes all over the top of cake with a skewer. Brush the warm cake generously with the lemon syrup. Let the cake cool completely, then top with icing.
Lemon Syrup
- In a small saucepan, combine the juice of one lemon with enough water to equal 1/4 cup (59ml). Add the sugar and stir over medium-low heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat.
Icing
- In a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter, powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon (15ml) lemon juice, the strawberry extract and a pinch of salt, until smooth. Add more lemon juice until your desired consistency is reached. Mix in the food color a little at a time and whisk until smooth.
Notes
*To find the gel food color I used, click here.