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This easy lemon glaze works for cake, pound cake, sweet breads, muffins, and more! It adds a burst of pure sweet, tangy flavor.
Here’s an essential kitchen trick using just 2 ingredients: this Easy Lemon Glaze! It’s pure magic watching these two ingredients form a thick, drizzle-able icing. Take one lick of the spoon, and your eyes will pop out in wonder.
The flavor is pure zingy, lemony goodness: just the right balance of sweet and tart. It’s endlessly versatile: this lemon glaze is for cake, pound cake, sweet breads, lemon loaves, muffins, cupcakes…and even donuts.
How to make lemon glaze
This lemon glaze is actually that easy: it takes 2 ingredients and 2 minutes. (In fact, 1 minute is more like it!) Here’s what to do:
- Squeeze 2 tablespoons lemon juice into a bowl. Fresh squeezed lemon juice is key! Avoid the bottled store-bought stuff, which has a dull, acidic flavor. The best tool for squeezing? We like this press juicer.
- Mix it with 1 cup powdered sugar until a thick icing forms. That’s it! Easy as pie. Or glaze? It’s got a nice, medium-bodied consistency and a zesty, punchy flavor.
Looking for other flavors? Try our Cream Cheese Glaze or Vanilla Glaze!
Lemon glaze for cake, muffins, donuts, and more
This lemon glaze recipe makes ½ cup glaze, which is enough for a variety of baked goods. Here’s what we like to use it on, and how to apply it!
- Lemon glaze for cake: Use on pound cake or loaf cake; also works on angel food cake. If you think you’ll need more glaze, make 1.5 or 2 times the recipe.
- For muffins or cupcakes: Use a fork to drizzle over muffins; it should be enough for 12.
- For loaves or sweet breads: Try it on Strawberry Bread, Banana Bread or a Lemon Bread. For a light drizzle, you can get away with half the recipe (see the Strawberry Bread below).
More lemon recipes
The lemon is one of our top flavors to use in cooking: it adds a pop of brightness to anything it touches! Here are a few favorite lemon recipes:
- Go for Lemon Bars, Lemon Bread, Lemon Cake, or Lemon Curd.
- Try lemonades: Strawberry Lemonade, Mint Lemonade, Cucumber Lemonade or Ginger Lemonade.
- Go for bright and brilliant Lemon Ricotta Pancakes.
- Try Lemon Ricotta Pasta or Lemon Rice.
- Opt for Lemon Soda or Lemon Tea.
Dietary notes
This lemon glaze recipe is vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.
Easy Lemon Glaze
- Prep Time: 3 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 3 minutes
- Yield: ½ cup 1x
Description
This easy lemon glaze works for cake, pound cake, sweet breads, muffins, and more! It adds a burst of pure sweet, tangy flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix the powdered sugar with the lemon juice until a thick icing forms. If the texture is not drizzlable, add a few more drops lemon juice and continue stirring until it comes together.
- Drizzle with a fork across cookies, sweet breads, or muffins, pour over a sweet bread or pound cake, or dip donuts. Makes enough for one pound cake or sweet bread loaf, a drizzle for 12 muffins or cupcakes, or a dip for 12 donuts.
- Category: Essentials
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: Dessert
- Diet: Vegan
