This is the easiest lemon cake with chocolate chips recipe you will ever make. Fluffy and moist at the same time. Plus sprinkled with chocolate chips on top of the cake. It will be your next favourite Sunday baking recipe in your household.
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Delicious, fluffy and moist. This is how it tastes this amazing lemon cake with extra chocolate chips on top. And of course it is made superfast and easy from ingredients your pantry already holds. Perfect recipe for a busy mom with kiddos on her back. Literally my twins were on me 24/7 at the time I have created this recipe.
Let’s see what simple ingredients we need to bake this lemon cake. All these ingredients are simple and most of you must already have these on hand. Don’t have lemons? No worries, you can use oranges and orange juice if you have it instead. Or you can use lemon extract, if you happen to have one.
Ingredients
- large eggs
- fine sugar
- all-purpose flour
- vanilla extract
- canola oil
- hot water for soft and spongy cake or milk for tender and moist cake
- large lemon for zest
- lemon juice
Hot water of milk, which one to choose?
You have noticed that I am proposing to use either hot water to the batter or milk. Why is that? Great question. You can choose to have this cake either soft and spongy or soft and tender with extra flavour and moisture.
Hot water
Hot water will cause together with baking powder chemical reaction, where larger openings (bubbles) are created in the batter, while baking. Which causes the cake to be more soft and spongy.
Milk
On the other hand milk is going to add tenderness, more flavour and mostly the moisture to the cake. My family prefers having this cake moist, so I always choose milk over the water.
How to make lemon cake with chocolate chips
- Always preheat the oven to 302F / 150C before you start preparing the cake. Also grease and flour (1) one 8-inch cake pan on the sides/bottom. You can also put parchment paper on the bottom.
- Sift together flour and baking powder and add it to the batter gradually, mix on low speed.
- In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with sugar on high speed until white and creamy. Usually it takes in between 5-10 minutes. You want to fluff the egg batter. Add gradually vanilla extract, water or milk (choose one), canola oil and lemon juice.
- Lower the speed and add slowly the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Do not over mix. Once the flour is incorporated, stop mixing.
- In another large bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff and soft peaks are formed.
- Fold the egg whites carefully in the batter and pour into the prepared 8-inch cake spring-pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
- Bake in preheated oven on 302F/150C for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let stand for 15minuntes. Remove the cake from the spring-pan and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Tips
Preheat the oven and grease the pan, once you start mixing all the ingredients. You don’t want to finish mixing your batter and realize, that oven is cold and your pan is not ready to pour the batter in.
Don’t have fresh lemons? No worries, use other citrus you find at home. Oranges and even grapefruit works really well. Also, few drops of lemon extract creates wonderful lemon flavour. Or do you have only lemon juice in the refrigerator? Use just lemon juice, you can omit the lemon zest.
Different fruit alternatives. This recipe will go very well with different type of fruits as well. Do you have apples, peaches or any berries? Use that instead of chocolate chips. Or better, use both.
Chocolate chips. Love having chocolate chips straight in the cake? Add an extra handful of chocolate chips and fold them in the batter before pouring it in the spring-pan.
Storage
This lemon cake will stay in room temperature for up to 1 week. It must be stores in an airtight container or wrapped in food foil, so it doesn’t dry out.
If you decide on using different type of fruit, in this case keep the cake in the refrigerator and use within one week.
You can freeze this cake, in airtight container (best option) or well wrapped in plastic food foil (or Ziploc) for up to 3 months. To defrost, simple leave it on the kitchen counter for 2 – 3 hours.
More recipes
- FRENCH STYLE LEMON TART
- THE BEST LEMON POUND CAKE
- THE BEST LEMON CHEESECAKE
- EASY MINI LEMON TARTS
- LEMON BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
LEMON CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE CHIPS
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs separate for egg yolk/whites
- 1 cup (198 g) fine sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 medium lemon
- ½ cup (120 ml) canola oil
- ½ cup (120 ml) hot water for fluffy cake or milk for moist cake
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoons lemon zest 1 medium lemon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 ℉/180 ℃ and grease with butter or oil/flour one 8” cake spring-pan; on the bottom and sides. You may also place parchment paper on the bottom.
- Sift together flour, baking powder and add zest from one lemon. Give it a quick stir with a whisk and set aside.
- In another large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with fine sugar on high speed, until white and creamy (about 5 -10 minutes). Lower the speed to low-medium and add gradually vanilla extract, water or milk, canola oil, lemon juice. Mix well in between each addition and use spatula to srape all the sides of the bowl.
- Add half of the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, lemon zest) and fold it gently into the batter with a spatula. Do not over mix.
- In another large bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff and soft peaks are formed. Fold the egg whites carefully in the batter and pour into the greased and flour-dusted 8” cake spring-pan.
- Sprinkle with chocolate chips. and bake in preheated oven 350 ℉ / 180 ℃ for 40-45 minutes. Insert a tooth pick into the cake to make sure the cake is well baked. If the toothpick is clean, the cake is baked.
- Take the cake out of the oven and let it stand for 10-15minutes to rest. Remove the cake from the spring-pan and place it on cake stand. You can dust the cake with extra powdered sugar. Slice and serve.
Notes
- Store the leftover cake in airtight container with parchment paper on the bottom, to avoid sticking to the bottom of the container.
- Store in airtight container, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- For longer storage, cover the cake in food foil and place it in the airtight container. Freeze it for up to 3 months.
- To defrost the cake, place it on kitchen counter for 2-4 hours or place it in the refrigerator overnight.
- For warm slice of cake, you can place it for 15-20 seconds in microwave or in a small toaster oven for 1-2 minutes.
- For more pronounced lemon flavour, use 1 teaspoon of lemon extract. Or you can simple lemon syrup: 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1/2 cup sugar; bring to a boil and cook until sugar dissolves. Poke holes in the cake and pour the syrup over the cake. This method is more preferable to be used when baking the cake without chocolate chips.
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