Belgian Lemon Tea Cake

Belgian Lemon Tea Cake on a plate
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When life gives you lemons ….. try this easily made, delicious, Belgian Lemon Tea Cake.

This tea cake is the result of a wonderful gift from my friend, Barbara. Barbara has a beautiful Meyer Lemon tree which produces a generous bounty of fruit, and we have been the grateful recipients of a large bag of the produce.

This beautiful citrus is thought to be a cross between a regular lemon and an orange or mandarine. These golden droplets of sunshine are a sweeter lemon, with a smooth, thin skin that turns yellow-orange when ripe. They’re moderately acidic and produce a generous amount of juice. There are so many uses for this wonderful fruit. I use them in sweet or savoury dishes and, for me, a little of their zest or a squeeze of juice enhances the flavour of many dishes. The aesthetic pleasure they provide is a bonus; I have a bowl of this beautiful fruit sitting on my kitchen bench. They brighten even the dullest day and immediately evoke a feeling of joy.

With the much-appreciated lemons, I also intend to make a batch of marmalade and a few jars of lemon curd.

However, my first thought is to make this lovely recipe for a Belgian Lemon Tea Cake. This recipe was given to me by my friend, Josie. It is a delicious tea cake, with a lemon curd filling. It is not a difficult recipe; in fact, it is very simple. I make this recipe using gluten-free flour, making it a delicious treat for those with gluten intolerance.

I first prepare the cake part in a food processor and then make the lemon curd. Don’t be daunted by the thought of making lemon curd, it really is quite simple and it tastes delicious. The cake mixture, actually, is more like a pastry; it is not pourable. I gently press two-thirds of the cake mixture into the base of a greased spring-form tin and then add the lemon curd. Finally, I dot the remaining cake mixture over the top. The sweet pastry on top of the tea cake covers the tangy, lemon curd filling.

This tea cake looks more complicated than it really is. It looks special presented on a lovely platter, the end result belying the ease of preparation. The cake is crumbly, it has crunchy edges and a rich, creamy filling; a wonderful combination of flavour and texture.

I do hope you try it, I’m sure you will enjoy it. Eat it as is with a cup of tea or coffee or serve warm with a dollop of cream or Vanilla Ice Cream for dessert.

Enjoy!

Xx Faye and Alex

P.S. Love this cake? Be sure to try my Gluten-Free Blueberry Cake or Carrot Cake also!

5 from 42 votes
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Belgian Lemon Tea Cake

This lovely tea cake looks as if it is difficult to make, yet it is really quite easy. Present it on a lovely platter and share it with family and friends. They will be impressed.

Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine Belgian
Keyword belgian lemon tea cake, delicious, easy, gluten free, lemon cake, simple, sweet
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 6 people
Calories 374 kcal
Author Alexandra

Ingredients

Cake

  • 1 cup self-raising flour I used Orgran Gluten Free SR Flour
  • 1/2 cup caster sugar super fine
  • 60 g butter
  • 1 large egg lightly beaten

Filling

  • 1/2 cup lemon juice strained
  • 1/2 cup caster sugar super fine
  • 1 egg lightly beaten
  • 60 g butter chopped

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 180 Degrees C (350 F)

    Grease and line the base and sides of a 17cm/6.5” spring-form tin* with non-stick baking paper.

  2. Add flour, sugar, butter and lightly beaten egg to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade.

    Pulse until the mixture just starts to come together.

    Don’t process until the mixture forms a ball of dough, you want it to still be a little crumbly.

    Tip the mixture onto some cling wrap.

  3. Divide the mixture and gently press 2/3 into the base of the prepared tin, reserving the remaining 1/3.

  4. Make the lemon curd as per the instructions below. Pour the hot lemon curd onto the cake base.

    As evenly as possible, crumble the remaining mixture over the top of the curd.

  5. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

    Remove from the oven and cool completely in the pan.

  6. Gently remove the side of the spring-form tin.

    Remove the baking paper, place the cake on a serving platter and dust the tea cake with icing/confectioners’ sugar.

    Lovely served on its own, or with a dollop of cream.

Lemon Curd Filling

  1. Place all filling ingredients in a saucepan.*

  2. Over a low heat, stir until the butter has melted and the curd thickens, just below boiling point.

    Don’t be tempted to use high heat to make the process quicker; you will end up with scrambled egg.

Recipe Notes

*You can also use regular wheat flour for this recipe.

*My tin was about 18.5 cm/7.25” – slightly smaller may be preferable, but I still had enough cake mixture for that size tin.  

*The curd is very simple to make. This curd does not require a double boiler as many recipes do. However, it does mean that you must cook it over a low heat. 

Nutrition Facts
Belgian Lemon Tea Cake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 374 Calories from Fat 162
% Daily Value*
Fat 18g28%
Saturated Fat 10g63%
Cholesterol 101mg34%
Sodium 166mg7%
Potassium 63mg2%
Carbohydrates 49g16%
Sugar 33g37%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 585IU12%
Vitamin C 7.8mg9%
Calcium 17mg2%
Iron 0.5mg3%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Belgian Lemon Tea Cake

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265 Comments on “Belgian Lemon Tea Cake”

  5. Reply

    5 stars
    This sounds really yummy! I love the lemon flavored foods. Definitely try to make this one. Thanks for sharing.

  6. Reply

    This seems so easy to make! I’ll have to give this a go today, I have all of that stuff in my cupboards 🙂

  7. Reply

    Lemon tea cake is something new to me! I’ve tried a lemon cake and a lemon meringue pie but never a lemon tea cake. Love it!

  9. Reply

    5 stars
    I love lemon everything so I can’t wait to make this. It’s making my mouth water just looking at it!

  12. Reply

    5 stars
    I am a sucker for anything citrus, so this lemon tea cake looks amazing. I am going to be making it very soon!

  15. Reply

    5 stars
    That looks like a really wonderful recipe. I’ve never prepared lemon tea cake before and this one looks really delicious. Can’t wait to bake it for my family at the weekend. 🙂

  16. Reply

    OMG! I need to try this recipe at home! It looks super delicious and I know my daughter would love it.

  18. Reply

    5 stars
    I’m not a lemon fan, when it comes to desserts, but I’ll never shy away from trying them. This really looks delicious!

  20. Reply

    I have never tried this recipe before, but it looks like I should give it a go!! thanks for sharing, sounds yummy 🙂

  21. Reply

    The Belgian Lemon Tea Cake looks so delicious. I am going to try out this recipe soon. Thank you!

  22. Reply

    5 stars
    Oh boy, I’m ashamed. I’m from Belgium and have never eaten this cake. Can you invite me to come over and eat this? As my cooking skills are quite limited and I’ll probably end up with a crippled one haha.

  24. Reply

    5 stars
    This sounds like an amazing cake! I can imagine that the lemon curd makes it so moist and so full of flavour. I’d have this with my cup of tea.

  25. Reply

    5 stars
    The lemon cakes are my favorites. I will try this for my breakfast. You have a very good friend!
    Do you know that with this lemons you can make your own Limocello? ( the Italian most famous liquor).

  26. Reply

    5 stars
    Very easy ingredients – easy to make by the looks and the lemon curd is a real plus.. love the lemon part particularly!

  27. Reply

    5 stars
    This looks absolutely delicious! I was inspired by your recipe and I’ve just found out that Meyer Lemon plants are available to buy in the UK so this is something I’ll be adding to my Christmas list!

  29. Reply

    5 stars
    This looks delicious. I am allergic to citrus, but I am thinking I could make this with some other kind of fruit juice. I bet it would still be as delicious.

  30. Reply

    5 stars
    I have been to Belgian few years ago but never tried to make Belgium dessert before. I guess this will be a good start and hope I can bring this to the Xmas party table.

  31. Reply

    Ooh anything lemon… Sign me up! This looks absolutely delicious:) I will have to try to make this soon! Thanks for sharing 🙂

  32. Reply

    Oh my! I will put on so much weight over the holidays just by watching so many cakes. Haha! Lemon cakes are so delicious. There should be lemon cake trees as standard they are so good.

  35. Reply

    This sounds and looks like a delicious cake. It’ll be very refreshing to eat, I’m sure! Don’t think I’ve ever had anything Belgian I didn’t like. 😉
    Thank you!

  37. Reply

    5 stars
    Wow, this Belgian Lemon Tea Cake looks really delicious and perfect recipe to serve with all my guest on this Thanksgiving.

  38. Reply

    There is nothing I love more than a good lemon dessert! This Lemon Tea Cake recipe sounds amazing. I’m keeping this in mind for the upcoming holiday festivities. Thank you!

  39. Reply

    That is a beautiful dessert. My family always goes heavy on the chocolate so bringing something completely unique like this would be a real hit! Can’t wait to try it!
    Misty | notanotherthing.com

  40. Reply

    For a cake that looks like it is more fancy and complicated, the recipe sounds so simple and those lemons sound delightful!

  42. Reply

    Wow, so delicious and easy recipe to make for the kids. I am sure my kids will love it like and will make their favorite.

  44. Reply

    This would be just lovely to bake as a treat for a dinner party of for a holiday get together!

    Thanks for sharing the recipe! x

    Michelle
    dressingwithstyle-s.com

  45. Reply

    This looks interesting. I love lemon flavored sweets. You never cease to amaze me with your recipes and photos.

  47. Reply

    I’ve always enjoy citric flavours and fragrances. I definitely I will send these recipe to my friends who like to bake.

  49. Reply

    I have never tried that before but it looks delicious. I think I’ll have to try making this sometime.

  50. Reply

    I love this! Bookmarking this to make this afternoon. I love Belgian cakes and I love lemon cakes. This is the perfect combo for me, 😀

  51. Reply

    This not only sounds delicious, it looks delicious as well. It doesn’t appear like it will be too sweet either. Don’t like them sweet!

  53. Reply

    5 stars
    This looks amazing! I love anything lemon – I think citrus makes everything lighter. ANd the topping??!!! Yes please.

  56. Reply

    Delish! It looks great and it’s like I could almost smell it. This goes to my recipe book.

  57. Reply

    5 stars
    I have a major sweet tooth for baked goods (oops!) and if I had to choose any type of cake it would always be something with lemon! The addition of the lemon curd sounds so delicious, tart and refreshing. Yum! I definitely have to make this. Thanks for the amazing recipe 🙂

    1. Reply

      Hi Yolanda! Thank you so much for stopping by 🙂 I have a major sweet tooth also 😉 I look forward to hearing what you think of this recipe! 🙂

  58. Reply

    Your recipes always look great. We are big fans of lemon here so I think this would be a big hit with my family.

  60. Reply

    My father was from Ghent and I still have family there,but I’ve never had this cake when visiting. I’d love to try this recipe for Christmas dinner, but I dont own a springform pan. Can I use a round cake pan or pie pan instead?

    1. Reply

      Hi Dee Dee, a pie pan would work fine – the springform pan just makes it a bit easier to remove the cake. But it would look lovely presented in a pie pan I think! 🙂

  61. Reply

    This is right up my alley, I love citrus anything! I would love to surprise my husband with this lemon tea cake. We have Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer, so I can try it out on this recipe 🙂

    1. Reply

      Hi Jenna! Fantastic! 🙂 I love Bob’s Red Mill products – they are such good quality 🙂 Let me know what you think when you give it a try.

  62. Reply

    This looks amazing! I have never had Belgian Lemon Tea Cake. I will save this to make for a later date.

  64. Reply

    I love lemon cake. And the fact that this one is gluten free means that I can eat it! I’m definitely going to have to try this one next time I have a craving for lemon.

  68. Reply

    5 stars
    I made this recipe today and just finished eating a slice! Oh my goodness! It’s delicious! I love the sweetness mixed with a bit of tartness from the lemons. And the soft base mixed with the crunchy top. Can’t wait to dig into another piece later…. yum!

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  79. Reply

    I never knew lemons could be so yummy! That variety sounds delicious as does the whole recipe. I adore lemon curd and have not had it for so long, but in. a cake sounds perfect!

  85. Reply

    5 stars
    Crumbly, crunchy and full of flavour? Just as my younger brother loves it! It’s funny that he prefers crusty and cruuncy cakes to chewy and softer cakes. Well, he would use this lemon tea cake.

  89. Reply

    OMG, I love this and I will make it next weekend. Although, I love dessert in general, anything with lemons is my favorite.

  92. Reply

    oh thank you for sharing! I love anything with lemon in it, so refreshing, I wanna make this for mothers day!

  96. Reply

    5 stars
    It doesn’t look like it is difficult to make, I hope so. Hmmm… I will probably do this on the weekend.

  97. Reply

    5 stars
    My niece birthday is coming next week so after seeing this I am planning to make lemon tea cake for her. Thanks for sharing the recipe

  99. Reply

    This lovely lemon cake looks delicious. I will have to give this a try over the weekend for sure xx

  101. Reply

    Beautiful recipe as always..I will try to make one this weekend..Thank you..and keep them coming..

  103. Reply

    Ohh yummy!! This looks so easy to make, I love how you had pictures to display the order of steps. I’m going to try to make this soon!

  104. Reply

    5 stars
    That looks delicious as well. I’ve just started getting into cooking – I like to think of myself as Iron Chef Dan when I do it. One more recipe to add to the Iron Chef Dan tool-kit!

  105. Reply

    Wow, this looks so delcious. I will try to get my bestfriend to make it. I am not good at baking. thanks

  107. Reply

    5 stars
    It sounds like such a delicious cake. I love anything with lemon in, so it’s right up my street! Looks easy to make too

  108. Reply

    This sounds like an amazing recipe. I really like things that are lemon and often make a lemon drizzle cake – will definitely give this one a go, too. Thanks for posting this!

  112. Reply

    This one is a new recipe to me and I would love to try it, it looks really a delicious cake.

    1. Reply

      I would love to have a lemon tree Lara. Fortunately, I have a good friend who has a beautiful tree. The cake is lovely, I do hope that you try it. 🙂

  120. Reply

    Wow, lemon cake have never tasted this before and it will be nice to taste this. It looks so good and delicious. I keep learning new recipes from you.

  123. Reply

    I love anything with lemon in it. Even candy, as Lemonheads was my favorite candy growing up. This sounds like a delightful way to enjoy the flavor of not only Meyer lemons, but any lemons.

  125. Reply

    5 stars
    This looks so delicious.. ? I really love lemon cakes, I think this would be really great, I’m gonna try this one, thanks for sharing the recipe.. ?

  127. Reply

    Wow, this is an another new recipe for me to learn for this week. Looks like an easy and delicious recipe!

  129. Reply

    Oh, this looks and sounds amazing. I’ve never used caster sugar before. I love that the consistency is fine.

  132. Reply

    It looks so simple but I’d never have guessed how to make it without your recipe. Thank you so much! I love cakes (well, who doesn’t…)!

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