Lemon Crumb Cake Recipe

Reviewed on Feb. 08, 2013 by HOGWriter

I used 2 C all-purpose flour + 1 C cake flour to address previous comments about density. Result was somewhat spongy and held filling well. I was careful to gradually add buttermilk mixture, and not over-beat batter. As murfsgurl (5/10/11) suggested, I added lemon zest and substituted lemon extract for vanilla. I'm still tweaking the crumb topping, but this was pantry perfect for our family. It made for a wonderful breakfast the next morning with coffee.

Reviewed on Sep. 02, 2012 by Dandiloin

make half of the cake batter. Too much when I made it. Though still very good!

Reviewed on Apr. 17, 2012 by bdieges

This was very lemony, and was surprised how good the canned lemon pie filling tasted. I had planned to make my own. I agree wholeheartedly that there was too much flour in the topping and won't toast the almonds ahead of time, as they browned even more in the baking, which ended up to need more time. It was very tasty and thought the texture of the base was not that heavy, but was needed to carry the filling. My husband liked it for his birthday cake.

Reviewed on Apr. 17, 2012 by bdieges

This was very lemony, and was surprised how good the canned lemon pie filling tasted. I had planned to make my own. I agree wholeheartedly that there was too much flour in the topping and won't toast the almonds ahead of time, as they browned even more in the baking, which ended up to need more time. It was very tasty and thought the texture of the base was not that heavy, but was needed to carry the filling. My husband liked it for his birthday cake.

Reviewed on Apr. 02, 2012 by Jreesor

I haven't yet made this recipe and I am thinking twice about it. I would take the suggestions from those who have modified it. Also, about being healthy..... 1 slice alone has 54 grams of carbs - not healthy at all.

Reviewed on Jun. 04, 2011 by claudiaj

I made this recipe twice,and both time everyone raved about it. The next time I make it, I will not use the almonds, because my grandson has nut allergies.

Reviewed on May. 26, 2011 by teeteekay

I was dissapointed in this recipe. It didn't have the delicious lemon flavor that I was craving and it was very heavy. I made it for a friend;s birthday cake and ended up throwing over half away.

Reviewed on May. 10, 2011 by murfsgurl

I found that this required 55 minutes to bake at 350, also added fresh lemon zest to the batter and substituted brown sugar for the white in the crumb topping. Served warm with Vanilla Bean ice cream. Yum!

Reviewed on May. 04, 2011 by m050981

I made this for my eight co-workers and brought home an empty dish!

Reviewed on May. 02, 2011 by angelcat769

This recipe was so easy! The end result was a huge hit with everyone at the table, even the picky eaters! I will definitely make this cake again.

Reviewed on May. 02, 2011 by annfeist

My family and I enjoyed this cake. I can never leave a recipe alone. I used my homemade lemon curd, make with real lemons, then added the zest to the topping. I also followed suggestions to reduce the flour and bake longer. It came out perfect, with a tart lemon taste.

Reviewed on May. 01, 2011 by sklapper54

I was a little disappointed in this cake. First, I didn't like the texture of the bottom layer. I cut the amount of topping in half as other suggested, but I still think that the cake and topping didn't let the tangy lemon layer come through enough. I am deleting this cake from my recipe box. :(

Reviewed on Apr. 30, 2011 by chartma530

I made this for a family gathering and everyone enjoyed it. I followed the recipe as is, except I reduced the flour in the topping by half based on other reviews. This is a good, not too sweet cake. I served it with whipped cream topping but vanilla ice cream would also be great. Will make this one again.

Reviewed on Apr. 27, 2011 by schield

It was ok, I thought the texture was a little off. Not light and airy like it suggested.

Reviewed on Apr. 26, 2011 by JulieMarae

This is a good tasting crumb cake. It came out perfect. I did cook it about 5 minutes longer than it called for.

Reviewed on Apr. 25, 2011 by 5493

This was a wonderful dessert. I made it twice in the past week for company. We liked it best served warm. I used less flour and more toasted almonds in the crumb topping the second time and liked it better.

Reviewed on Apr. 25, 2011 by lmennell

Made this cake for Easter Dinner. Very disappointed. Had to bake it longer in order to get the middle done and then the bottom was too brown and the cake portion was "tough". Will not make again!

Reviewed on Apr. 20, 2011 by paulehuguette

I want to add to my review of April 7. The cake was indeed dense in the midddle but I kept on baking until it was done. After all, my only other choice was to throw everything away. It came out absolutely delicious. I am making it again in the right size pan this time and things are going nicely.

Reviewed on Apr. 18, 2011 by normapopham

I am a huge fan of anything lemony. Although it was good, it lacked the lemon punch I was looking for. I think next time I make it (and there will a next time), I would add some lemon juice for extra lemon flavour. As others commented, the cake took longer to bake than stated, mine took at least 45 minutes.

Reviewed on Apr. 17, 2011 by godchaser333

Next time I will add lemon extract to the cake itself it needed a little kick of lemon.

Reviewed on Apr. 17, 2011 by sheila reveal

I love the taste of lemon. I made this for my son's birthday and Easter dinner combined. evryone decided the recipe was a keeper. I baked it for 45 minutes. 35 minutes is not long enough. Thanks for all the wonderful recipes

Reviewed on Apr. 16, 2011 by carolhm25

I like lemon so was intrigued by this recipe. I did follow the advice of other reviews. I used lemon curd and then added more lemon to thin out and add more lemon flavor. I used lemon zest in the cake batter to up lemon flavor in the cake itself. I agree the topping has WAAY too much flour in it- ick. I did not even use all the topping because I was concerned about the floury topping. I will try again using a good crumb topping recipe. Love the lemon flavor in the cake and curd. Delicious with vanilla ice cream!

Reviewed on Apr. 16, 2011 by estheral33

Great taste. Had to bake longer than stated. Not sure how to tell when it was really done due to the pudding. Suggestions welcome.

Reviewed on Apr. 16, 2011 by kybriar

This cake is absolutely wonderful!! Easy to make. I followed the recipe as written but did make one change; I chopped the almond slices. My family loved it and will definately make it again - soon!!

Reviewed on Apr. 15, 2011 by Clarine

It was wonderful! Moist and tasty - we didn't even use ice cream or yogurt on it, just ate it warm!

Reviewed on Apr. 15, 2011 by marjorie25

My whole family loved this recipe.

Reviewed on Apr. 14, 2011 by gullyo

I made this for a Women's club meeting at church. I got compliments from everyone who ate it. I did use homemade pudding mix instead of canned pie filling. I served it at room temperature without ice cream.

I would definately make it again. Maybe for Easter.......

Reviewed on Apr. 14, 2011 by Petsy

My husband really enjoyed ..I thought ok. Needed to bake longer than stated in recipe.

Reviewed on Apr. 14, 2011 by mar4bill

Cake portion is real heavy. Great taste!

Reviewed on Apr. 14, 2011 by sallylue2

My husband and I really like the cake! It is a rather dense cake and I agree that maybe the topping had too much flour. I will decrease it next time. It was wonderful warm, but hubby thought it tasted great cold, too. I did refridgerate it and warmed up as needed. We even had ice cream on it one time! Yummy!

Reviewed on Apr. 14, 2011 by Acorn49

Delicious! I baked this at 325 for 30 minutes then 300 for about 25 more minutes. It does taste like a lemon filled bismark!

Reviewed on Apr. 14, 2011 by Tootsie10

I was disappointed, it was a very heavy cake and we didn't think the flavor was very good either, my husband always finishes off desserts but I threw half the cake away. I felt like I was eating a very unhealthy dessert as well. I won't keep this recipe in my file.

Reviewed on Apr. 14, 2011 by Mary K T

It was wonderful-so refreshing and so moist. I am already thinking of trying it with maybe blueberry or strawberry pie filling. Loved it!!!

Reviewed on Apr. 09, 2011 by Crafty Again

You can use gluten free all purpose flour (Bobs Red Mill) GF>baking soda, and GFbaking soda. Recipe good but definately has to cook at least 10 minutes longer.

Reviewed on Apr. 08, 2011 by katran

I want to try this recipe, but can anyone tell me how to make it Gluten Free? I love anything with lemon. Sometimes it is hard to find lemon pie filling around here, as I use it for another recipe I make, so I usually buy several cans when its back in the stores. Thanks for any help you can give me. Kathryn

Reviewed on Apr. 08, 2011 by LanieBP

I took everyone's advice and only used 1/2 cup flour for the topping mix. I used ground almonds because I didn't have the sliced ones. I used 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 tsp lemon flavoring. I baked it for 40 minutes instead of 35. I thought it was wonderful......especially warm! Yum!

Reviewed on Apr. 08, 2011 by kecurrier

I am a Registered Dietitian, so of course I open up any recipe that claims to be heart healthy with excitement. There is not one ingredient in this recipe that offers anything good for your health except sliced almonds!! It doesn't even have real lemon in it. I'm sure it tastes great and no offense meant to be taken by the recipe creator, but I feel an obligation to make this statement.

Reviewed on Apr. 08, 2011 by bonniesimone

This is a delicious cake. For those concerned about whether or not it's healthy. I don't think they are very many desserts, with the exception of simply fruit, that are considered completely healthy. For those of us who want an occasional dessert and are counting calories, I love this one. It doesn't blow your diet like cheesecake from Costco! I love Taste of Home for their efforts to give us more healthy choices for desserts.

Reviewed on Apr. 07, 2011 by forgoti8it

I used a boxed Lemon Pie filling. I'm sure all of you have heard of this wonderful invention. The

brand name is Jell-0 and you can find it in all grocery stores. I also can't immagine that medium to large grocery stores would not have canned Lemon Pie Filling. Maybe they were just out that day. Follow all recipes exactly.

Reviewed on Apr. 07, 2011 by paulehuguette

Just making this recipe now - still in the oven -way longer than 35 minutes because middle is still goey as mentioned by others - will measure my pan to verify it is really 13x9, could be narrower and could be reason.

Reviewed on Apr. 07, 2011 by 7MAM

Decrease the flour on the topping and also put a few teaspoons of berry/strawberry jam with the lemon....oh soooooo good.

Reviewed on Apr. 07, 2011 by chuxman

I'm not trying it. I love lemon anything - but, seriously, how can this be healthy? White flour, sugar, butter, canned lemon pudding....... really?

Reviewed on Apr. 07, 2011 by margetann80

I have yet to try this but will, as anything with lemon appeals to me. But I fail to understand how the recipe is considered

"heart healthy'. I am supposed to be on a low cholesterol, low sodium diet and I think my doctor might turn up her eyebrows at the ingredients (and excluding the ice cream at that). Oh well!

Reviewed on Apr. 04, 2011 by Stephanie E.

I used lemon curd as my local grocery didn't carry lemon pie filling. I used less flour for the crumb topping and it turned out fabulous. I think next time I will add lemon zest to the cake for a more potent flavor.

Reviewed on Jan. 09, 2011 by labrat_

Directions were excellent, the cake is delicious. I too, will cut back on the flour in the topping next time, it's a bit too thick and takes away from the bright lemon flavor. It baked 35 minutes and was perfect. Very refreshing after a heavy winter dinner!

Reviewed on Jan. 07, 2011 by annalisa_harmon

Looks so good!

Reviewed on Jan. 05, 2011 by DKM2

The edges burnt while the center came out doughy. The topping was too flour-y and not sweet. I wouldn't make again.

Reviewed on Dec. 18, 2010 by corabeth03

Very easy and the lemon was very refreshing in a crumb cake.

Reviewed on Aug. 15, 2010 by wklawrence

Followed the recipe, but not sure why the middle was doughy, threw the entire pan in the garbage, BUT will try again, can't be beat by this recipe.

Reviewed on May. 07, 2010 by BarbraRenee

This cake is insanely awesome! Follow the directions exactly and you will not be disappointed. I used a 21 oz. can of lemon pie filling and it was fine--reminds me of a lemon filled Bismarck donut! Yum! I don't see how you can make lemon pudding and think it will work the same: please don't do that to this simply perfect cake. It was a huge hit, utterly delicious, tender and tasty, so will go into my favorites for sure!

Reviewed on May. 01, 2010 by sljkml37@yahoo.com

I did not have a good experience.

I followed the recipe exactly but the cake turned out like rubber. It was not at all crumbly like cake is. It was more like a mass of hard pudding. I read the other reviews and I don't know how there cake tunred out so well. I could not find lemone pie fillin so I made lemon pudding and used about one and half cups of it.

Reviewed on Apr. 30, 2010 by jcanter

This was a good recipe, but I will modify it next time. First, there was too much cake. So, I will spread it over several pans instead of just a 13 x 9. I also might try lemon curd instead of the pie filling. But I don't understand the topping proportions. When I made it as it, it made it extremely flour-y and not sweet at all! It still tasted okay, but I will NOT put a cup of flour in next time. I've never seen a crumble topping with that much flour. So, don't add it all at once if you are using this recipe. Add it in 1/4 cup increments.

Reviewed on Apr. 05, 2010 by orion88

This was good. We had it with fresh sliced strawberries on the side. I used instant lemon pudding made with 1% milk instead of canned pie filling. That was cheaper. Next time I will add lemon zest to the pie filling for more flavor.

Reviewed on Mar. 31, 2010 by bristowgrad

Great cake! So easy to prepare, and the dollops of pie filling didn't stay on the top only, they were dispersed all the way throughout the cake. Everyone loved it.