Mini lemon drop cakes are drenched in a mouthwatering lemon glaze making them delicious and addicting and perfectly sweet + tangy!
We love all things mini like fruit tarts, cinnamon rolls, and donuts. These mini Lemon Drop cakes are a perfect treat for lemon fans.
Easy Lemon Drop Cakes
I am a huge fan of all things lemon, and these Mini Lemon Drop Cakes are my latest experiment. The original recipe called for a cake mix, but it made 75 lemon drops. I didn’t need that many, so I decided to come up with my own recipe. I am thrilled with how they turned out.
I took them to a bridal shower, and they were a big hit! They are soft and buttery, and the lemon glaze soaks into every nook and cranny, making every bite delectable. Be careful, they are hard to stop eating!
Fresh lemon zest is the secret to incredible lemon flavor, so don’t leave it out. If you love lemons, you are really in for a treat! We love all things lemon, especially in the summer time, and we hope you’ll love these mini lemon cakes (aka lemon drops) for your next get together. I’m warning you now that they’re addicting, so beware!!
How to Make Lemon Drops
PREP. Spray mini muffin pans with non-stick spray; set aside.
DRY INGREDIENTS. Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a mixing bowl; set aside.
WET INGREDIENTS. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add water and bring to a boil.
COMBINE. Pour hot mixture over dry ingredients and beat with a hand beater till barely blended. Beat in the sour cream, egg, zest, and lemon juice till smooth.
BAKE. Scoop batter into muffin pans. Bake at 325° for about 12 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then turn onto cooling racks. Cool completely before glazing.
MIX. Whisk all glaze ingredients together in a small mixing bowl. Heat for about 10 seconds in the microwave till glaze is very thin.
GLAZE. Dip lemon drops top side down into the glaze. Let excess glaze drip off into the bowl, then invert lemon drops bottom side down onto cooling racks. (Place waxed paper underneath the cooling racks for easier clean up.) Let sit till glaze hardens.
Tips + SToring Info
These mini lemon drop cakes might just be the perfect lemony dessert! Here are a few helpful tips you might like before you get started with baking them:
- Use your stand mixer, if preferred, to make these. Just make sure to use your paddle attachment and blend the ingredients gently on the lowest speed.
- When making the glaze if you find that the consistency is a little too thick you can add a little more milk until you reach your desired consistency.
- Store leftover lemon juice in the fridge for a month or in the freezer for up to 6 months to use in other recipes.
- Use a vegetable peeler if no lemon zester is handy. If using a peeler be sure to work from the top to the bottom, carefully peeling off only the top layers of the skin of the lemon. Take care not to cut past the yellow part of the peel. The white pithy layer of the lemon is bitter and you want to avoid adding that to this recipe. Also, make sure you zest the lemon before juicing!
STORE covered on your countertop at room temperature if you plan to eat within a few days.
FREEZE them before you add the glaze. Flash freeze the cakes on a baking sheet for about an hour and then add them to a freezer safe container or Ziploc bag. They will store well frozen for up to 3 months. When you are ready to eat them just thaw out on your countertop and then make the glaze and dip your cakes.
If you love lemon, Here are a few more recipes to try:
- Butter Cookies with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- Amazing Lemon Brownies
- Lemon Curd
- Lemon Cookies
- Lemon Cheesecake
- Lemon Sheet Cake
- Lemon Bars
Lemon Drop Mini Cakes
Ingredients
Lemon Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp fresh lemon zest
- 1 Tbsp melted butter
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp milk
Instructions
- Spray mini muffin pans with non-stick spray; set aside.
- Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a mixing bowl; set aside.
- Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add water and bring to a boil.
- Pour hot mixture over dry ingredients and beat with a hand beater till barely blended. Beat in the sour cream, egg, zest, and lemon juice till smooth.
- Scoop batter into muffin pans. Bake at 325° for about 12 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then turn onto cooling racks. Cool completely before glazing.
- Dip lemon drops top side down into the glaze. Let excess glaze drip off into the bowl, then invert lemon drops bottom side down onto cooling racks. (Place waxed paper underneath the cooling racks for easier clean up.) Let sit till glaze hardens.
Lemon Glaze
- Whisk all glaze ingredients together in a small mixing bowl. Heat for about 10 seconds in the microwave till glaze is very thin.
No instructions to cool the batter off before you add the egg which is very important.
Recipe says scoop the batter into the pan, but the batter was very runny for me and I poured it into the pan. Not sure how that happened because I follow the instructions to a T.
Thanks so much for the feedback!
Mine have a flour taste……..😭 why? I followed the recipe exactly!!!! Came out of the pan perfectly, cooked perfectly, glaze is perfect…I don’t understand why it has a flour taste.
I’m not sure why that could have happened. The only thing I can think of is to switch flour brands and see if that makes a difference? I’m sorry the recipe didn’t turn out as you had hoped.
These look so good! I will have to try them! Thank you for sharing this!
You’re welcome! Hope you enjoy!
First of all, I didn’t glaze these because my husband started eating them before I had a chance. Secondly, I have to make more tonight because every single one is gone. These were amazing!!!
Yay!! I’m so glad they were a hit…. with or without the glaze. Thanks for sharing!
So good! The recipe as written made 45 little cakes for me. I sprayed the mini muffin tins liberally with Bakers Joy and they fell right out of the pan after baking and cooking. The only change I made was to dip the bottom of the cake in the glaze (not the top), so they ended up looking the ones in the picture. It was the perfect amount of glaze for dipping them this way. Very light in texture and perfectly lemony.
Yay!! I’m so so happy to hear that the cakes were a success! Thanks for sharing and giving the recipe a try.
I have made these several times and have now forwarded your recipe to two friends. Everyone loves them!
Awww, that’s wonderful! I’m so glad they all enjoyed the cakes as well.
Second time making these. My family loves them! Thank you for the recipe.
You’re welcome! We’re so glad the recipe is a family favorite!
This recipe was a disaster for me, and I followed it to the letter. Despite thoroughly greasing a high quality non-stick mini muffin pans, these refused to release, likely due to the high sugar content. The delicate sponge simply squished or fell apart, leaving me a pile of tasty cake crumbs. I had let them cool in the pan the 5 minutes. I let some cool longer and it didn’t help. It’s an odd recipe, with melting and boiling the butter with water and adding it to dry ingredients, rather than a typical recipe that creams fat and sugar first before adding other wet ingredients, then dry. The overall flavor was good if a bit too sweet (the 1:1 flour to sugar ratio is really high), but I would never make them again and would not recommend the recipe at all.
Thanks for the feedback and for giving the recipe a try!