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Lemon Icing Glaze is very easy to make and consists of four simple ingredients. Read on to find out how to make this great, simple lemon glaze that will be amazing on your cakes, cupcakes and more!
Lemon Glaze Recipe
In order to make my Lemon Blueberry Bundt all it could be and more, it needed an amazing lemon icing. To achieve this, one needs to mix icing sugar with lemon juice as the base. I decided to add in a ton of lemon zest and a teensy, weensy bit of butter to try and give it a good slick, crackly crust. This was loaded with lemon flavor, no taming the taste buds here! My lemon dishes have to scream lemon, then slap you in the face with flavor, and this is exactly what this glaze did.
What do you need to make lemon glaze?
- 1 3/4 cups of confectioners sugar
- 1/4 cup of lemon juice
- the zest of one lemon (or more!)
- 1 tsp of salted butter
In a large Pyrex measuring cup, the 4 cup capacity ones are the best, combine the sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest.
Tips and Tricks for the Perfect Lemon Glaze:
- Now, again, I use salted butter. If you want to add another layer to the lemon flavor, feel free to toss just a pinch of salt into the mix now. We all know how I feel about salt in icings, such as my Buttercream Icing / Frosting Recipe. The salt is a necessity to cut the sugar taste and add some complexity past that overwhelming sweet rush. Just the tiniest pinch, depending on how salty your butter is.
- Add in the butter then microwave on high for 45 seconds.
- Take out the measuring cup and whisk until smooth, making sure there are no lumps.
- Let it sit for a few minutes then pour it over your creation. This would be beyond amazing on scones, cakes, bundts of course, anything that you can think of that needs a lemon glaze works.
Troubleshooting this Lemon Glaze
- If you have a watery glaze, you have too little icing/powdered/confectioners sugar. It can get really packed together in the bags that it comes in, so someone that uses 2 cups of packed icing sugar is going to have a very different result from the person that uses 2 cups of loosely packed or sifted confectioners sugar.
- Don’t use lemon juice to make the flavour more prominent, use lemon zest and make it as small as you can. It works wonderfully to add that lemon flavour!
What can you use this lemon glaze on?
You can use this lemon glaze on:
- Lemon Strawberry Bundt Cake
- Lighter Lemon Blackberry Muffins
- Glazed Meyer Lemon Scones
- If you want to try another amazing icing glaze, try my Cherry Icing Glaze!
Happy Baking!
Karlynn
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How to Make a Lemon Glaze
- Prep Time
- 3 minutes
- Total Time
- 3 minutes
- Course
- Dessert
- Cuisine
- American
- Servings
- 1 batch
- Calories
- 868
- Author
- Karlynn Johnston
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 zest of one lemon
- 1 teaspoon salted butter
Instructions
- In a large Pyrex measuring cup, the 4 cup capacity ones are the best, combine the sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest.
- Now, again, I use salted butter. If you want to add another layer of taste, feel free to toss just a pinch of salt into the mix now. We all know how I feel about salt in icings, such as my buttercream icing recipe. The salt is a necessity to cut the sugar taste and add some complexity past that overwhelming sweet rush. Just the tiniest pinch, depending on how salty your butter is.
- Add in the butter then microwave on high for 45 seconds.
- Take out the measuring cup and whisk until smooth, making sure there are no lumps.
- Let it sit for a few minutes then pour it over your creation.
Recipe Notes
Tips and Tricks
- Now, again, I use salted butter. If you want to add another layer to the lemon flavor, feel free to toss just a pinch of salt into the mix now. We all know how I feel about salt in icings, such as my Buttercream Icing / Frosting Recipe. The salt is a necessity to cut the sugar taste and add some complexity past that overwhelming sweet rush. Just the tiniest pinch, depending on how salty your butter is.
- Add in the butter then microwave on high for 45 seconds.
- Take out the measuring cup and whisk until smooth, making sure there are no lumps.
- Let it sit for a few minutes then pour it over your creation. This would be beyond amazing on scones, cakes, bundts of course, anything that you can think of that needs a lemon glaze works.
Nutrition Information
All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Made this recipe?
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Please rate this recipe in the comments below to help out your fellow cooks!
MEB says
I didn’t stir before I out in microwave and I think this is why it came out to to runny. Thoughts?
Lou Avakian says
Perfection! I’m so grateful. Thank you!
Rachel says
I made this icing for my lemon Bundt cake and it turned out perfect.. I saw some people saying it was “too runny” so I was very hesitant but I followed the recipe and it looks just like the picture.. I mixed the sugar, lemon juice, and zest together then added the unmelted butter and microwaved it all for 40 sec. Then mixed and let it sit for about 3 min to thicken. I then drizzled it over my cooled cake. I can’t wait to try this in other stuff!!
Cheryl says
Literally impossible to get the consistency as shown in the picture with just 1 3/4 confectioner’s sugar. I am up to 4 cups and still too runny.
Mr. Kitchen Magpie says
If you follow the instructions, it will work for you.
Shari says
Absolutely the best! I LOVE lemon with zucchini – they really do compliment one another. After a friend gave me a couple of zucchini, I got busy and made some muffins. Looked for a glaze recipe with LOTS of lemon. I came across this recipe and it is definitely a keeper. I did alter it though as I only made a dozen muffins, so halved the recipe, but kept the “zest of ONE lemon” in the recipe. D E L I S H! I also used salted butter AND added a smig of fresh ground sea salt as well. Great recipe and keeper!
Here’s the breakdown of half of the recipe using a scale (grams) so you won’t have to figure it out: 114 g confectionary sugar, 1/8 c fresh lemon juice, zest of 1 lemon (my hack – whole lemon), and 2.3 g of salted butter.
Joyce says
Great lemon glaze, I wish I had read the tips first, mine was too runny. It was my own stupidity, I should have used more powdered sugar or less lemon juice. Next time it will be perfect!
Shelly Floreani says
O. M. G. !!!! Seriously THE BEST glaze I’ve ever had and it was stupidly easy. Thank you so much. I made a box lemon cake and added some extra lemon zest in. Let it cool then put this on top. It was to die for. My whole family loved it. My 7 yo said I make the best desserts! ☺️ Thank you for sharing. Can’t wait to try your other recipes.
Kris says
I’ve never had luck with lemon glazes. They’re always too sweet and never lemony enough. I followed your recipe exactly and this is the best lemon glaze I’ve ever made. Thank you!
Betty says
I’m making your glaze for my lemon blueberry Bundt now. Should I pour the glaze on a warm or cooled cake ? I always drizzle my glaze on my warm kolachki (cookies) to get it to dry crispy.
Mary Liz says
I used this recipe loosely as a reference to glaze a Lemon Poppy seed bread. I added a splash of lemon extract and the pinch of salt as you suggested and it turned out fantastic! Thank you for sharing so many terrific recipes!
Dee Cee says
This glaze tastes amazing!!! The pinch of salt was genius! I made half of the recipe and it was a perfect amount of glaze on my bundt cake. Thank you for posting, I will use this recipe again and again!
Lisa | Handmade in Israel says
Worked perfectly and was very lemony. My only concern is that it tasted powdery. Did I do something wrong?
Mr. Kitchen Magpie says
My guess is something didn’t get mixed in properly? Did you use the exact same ingredients?
Jellybean says
Oh my goodness- this is my Go-To glaze from here on out! Thank you so much for your creativity! This is the best!
Terrie J Peterson says
I can only agree with the previous comment: OMG, the best lemon glaze ever and it was stupidly easy!!! I made a lemon w/blueberries bundt cake (1st time) then drizzled this lemon glaze (1st time) over the cake and VOILA! Magnificent!!! Raves from everyone! Just the thought of the fresh squeezed lemon and zest makes my mouth pucker! So delish!