Sugar-Free Lemon Cake

Written by
Anna Rosales
Anna Rosales is a professionally trained chef, chef instructor, and registered dietitian.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Anna Rosales
Updated 04/07/21
Sugar-Free Lemon Cake

The Spruce / Yana Karin
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 30 mins
Total: 40 mins
Servings: 16 to 24 servings
Yields: 16 mini cakes
Nutritional Guidelines (per serving)
199 Calories
4g Fat
39g Carbs
2g Protein
See Full Nutritional Guidelines Hide Full Nutritional Guidelines
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 16 to 24
Amount per serving
Calories 199
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 4g 6%
Saturated Fat 1g 4%
Cholesterol 23mg 8%
Sodium 169mg 7%
Total Carbohydrate 39g 14%
Dietary Fiber 1g 3%
Total Sugars 30g
Protein 2g
Vitamin C 14mg 72%
Calcium 55mg 4%
Iron 1mg 4%
Potassium 57mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

This semi-homemade sugar-free lemon cake is simple, delicious, and comes together in all of about 40 minutes. Make sure you hide the cake box—everyone will think it took you hours to make, and no one will notice the missing sugar.

For better portion control, divide the batter among 16 mini bundt pans. If you don't have bundt pans available, you can bake them in muffin tins. To add a finishing touch that's pleasing to both the eye and tongue, top the cooled lemon cakes with sugar-free strawberry sauce when serving. It's a simple berry sauce that has lots of fresh berry flavor. It pairs wonderfully with this lemon cake, an angel food cake, or key lime pie.

Ingredients

For the Cake:

  • 1 (16-ounce) box sugar-free yellow cake mix

  • 3/4 cup water

  • 3 large eggs, room temperature

  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil

  • 2 medium lemons, zested and juiced

For the Sauce:

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Sugar-Free Lemon Cake ingredients

    The Spruce / Yana Karin

  2. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease or lightly coat 16 mini bundt pans or muffin tins with cooking spray and set aside.

    butter the bundt pans

    The Spruce / Yana Karin

  3. To a medium mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl, add the yellow cake mix, water, eggs, vegetable oil, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Set the mixer to medium speed and beat for about 2 minutes or until smooth.

    add the yellow cake mix, water, eggs, vegetable oil, lemon juice, and lemon zest to bowl

    The Spruce / Yana Karin

  4. Divide the batter evenly among the greased mini bundt pans and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes. If you are baking in greased muffin tins, bake for 15 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

    batter poured into bundt pans

    The Spruce / Yana Karin

  5. Cool for a few minutes before turning the cakes out of the pans and cooling completely.

    baked cakes in bundt pans

    The Spruce / Yana Karin

  6. To make the sauce, add the sugar-free strawberry preserves to a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the preserves turn to a liquid consistency.

    add the sugar-free strawberry preserves to a small saucepan

    The Spruce / Yana Karin

  7. Stir in the sliced fresh strawberries and continue to stir over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Simmer the strawberries and preserves, while stirring, until they break down to form a sauce.

    add fresh strawberries to the preserves in the saucepan

    The Spruce / Yana Karin

  8. Cool the sauce for several minutes. Top each cake with a little sauce and serve.

    Sugar-Free Lemon Cake with strawberry sauce on top

    The Spruce / Yana Karin

Tips

  • You can also use 2 (9-inch) cake rounds and bake them for 29 to 33 minutes at 325 F. When a toothpick inserted comes out clean, your cakes are done.
  • The strawberry sauce recipe makes about one cup of sauce.
  • Food seems to taste better with fresh-squeezed lemon juice rather than bottled lemon juice. Remember to wash and thoroughly dry the lemons before zesting.
  • To juice the lemon, Use firm pressure to roll a room-temperature lemon on a counter several times before slicing in half and squeezing out the juice with a reamer, by hand, or with an electric juicer, making sure no seeds get in the juice.
  • Microwave a room-temperature lemon on high for 25 to 30 seconds before slicing and extracting the juice.

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