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4.70 from 10 votes

2 Ingredient No Bake Lemon Cloud Cake

This unique lemon dessert is so light and airy, it is like eating a cloud. The cake is just 2 ingredients and doesn't require any baking.
Servings: 9 slices
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
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Ingredients

  • 1 1/3 cups (316 ml) lemonade, see notes
  • 1 tbsp + 1 tsp (12 g) unflavored gelatin powder

Instructions
 

  • Line an 8 inch square baking pan with a single large sheet of parchment paper. Make sure your parchment paper covers the entire inside of the pan and has enough extra above the pan that you can use as handles to lift the cake out later.
  • Add lemonade to a medium saucepan. Sprinkle gelatin on top. Use a whisk to fully mix the gelatin in until no clumps remain. Bring your mixture to medium heat on the stove. Let the mixture get hot but don't let it reach a simmer. Whisk a few times once the mixture is hot to ensure that the gelatin is fully dissolved. Remove mixture from heat.
  • Pour mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer. Let your mixture cool to room temperature (about 15-20 minutes). Once the mixture has cooled, use the wire whisk attachment and beat on highest speed for about 15 minutes. The mixture should gradually thicken, turn white and eventually should looked like meringue. When you stop your mixer, your wire whisk should be able to hold a soft peak. Even if your mixture has not reached meringue consistency after 15 minutes, stop your mixer. Let the mixture stand for 1 minute and then beat for about another 5 minutes or until it can hold a soft peak. See post for photo of what the mixture should look like when it is ready. If you use store bought lemonade you will need less mixing time than if you use homemade lemonade. See notes for more details.
  • Pour mixture into your prepared pan. Use a spatula to spread it evenly across and smooth the surface. Place into fridge until set. This should take abotu 30-60 minutes. To check if cake is set, press lightly on the surface. The cake should not be wet or liquid and it should feel springy and bounce back.
  • Keep the cake in the fridge until ready to serve. Before serving, you can decorate the cake with whipped cream frosting or other frosting. Slice cake with a very large and sharp knife. The cake is best served chilled. Store any uneaten cake in the fridge.

Notes

  • This recipe is very easy to make but you do need to be careful about adding the correct ingredients and quantities. Adding too much lemonade will prevent the mixture from whipping up correctly. Adding too much gelatin will change the texture of the dessert and it won't be soft and fluffy.
  • I do not have a substitute for unflavored gelatin powder.
  • I used Knox unflavored gelatin powder.*
  • *This product link is an affiliate link. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
  • When measuring the gelatin, make sure to level off the top of the measuring spoon with a knife to have an accurate measurement.
  • The cake texture will vary slightly if you use store bought versus homemade lemonade. I prefer the texture of the cake when I used the store bought lemonade as it was a little fluffier. In addition, the store bought lemonade version only needed 15 minutes of mixing on high speed. The homemade lemonade version will need more time, about 20 minutes (but you should stop after 15 minutes and let it rest one minute as instructed). The homemade lemonade version is also slightly denser.
  • For store-bought lemonade, I used Simply Lemonade brand. It should work with other brands but try to use ones that are refrigerated, not from concentrate, and contain about 11% juice and contain a regular amount of sugar. Or use the homemade lemonade recipe I share further below in these notes.
  • The batter is best mixed in a stand mixer. While you can use a hand mixer, it may take longer and you will want a very deep bowl so there is no splatter.
  • This cake is sweet (but not super sweet) and has a good zesty lemon flavor. If you've made my other cloud cakes before, this one is definitely sweeter and has more flavor because of the lemons.
  • Homemade lemonade: If you prefer to use homemade lemonade I recommend you use the recipe below. I also recommend you make the lemonade ahead of time so that it has time to cool in the fridge before using. Homemade lemonade recipes can vary a lot in amount of lemons and sugar, which does affect the dessert and can prevent it from whipping up correctly, so I recommend you using to the recipe below.
    • Ingredients: 1/2 cup lemon juice (make sure to strain all pulp so it is just pure lemon juice); 1/2 cup sugar, 2 cups water (divided).
    • Directions: First, make the simple syrup. Add 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water into a small saucepan. Bring stove to medium high heat and keep stirring the mixture until the sugar is fully dissolved. Do not let the mixture reach a simmer. You don't want it to get too concentrated. Once sugar is dissolved, turn off heat.
    • Pour lemon juice into a large container. Add in simple syrup and 1 1/2 cups of water. Stir until fully combined. Place into fridge until chilled. This recipe will yield a little less than double the amount you will need to make the cake so make sure to measure out only 1 1/3 cups for the lemon cake.
  • If you prefer a sweeter cake, add a frosting. You can also add a frosting for appearance. I added a simple whipped cream frosting and added a few drops of yellow food coloring. Since the cake itself is white, I wanted yellow frosting to represent the lemon flavor of the cake.
  • Whipped Cream Frosting: Add 1 cup of cold heavy cream and 3 tbsp of sugar to a large mixing bowl. If desired, add 2-3 drops of yellow food coloring. Beat on highest speed until stiff peaks form. You can substitute the sugar with sugar substitutes. I also added some fresh lemon zest on top after I frosted the cake.
  • Low Carb Version: This cake can easily be made low carb. You can purchase keto-friendly lemonade or make your own following my homemade recipe and using a sugar substitute (I used erythritol) to make the simple syrup. Make sure your sugar substitute is something similar to erythritol, monkfruit or allulose. Something concentrated like Stevia drops will not work well to make the simple syrup.
  • The nutrition estimate is for the regular version of this cake made with Simply Lemonade, not the low carb version and it also does not include the optional frosting.
Serving: 1slice, Calories: 22kcal, Carbohydrates: 4g, Protein: 1g, Sodium: 2mg, Sugar: 4g, NET CARBS: 4
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. This is not a comprehensive list of all the nutrients in the recipe (i.e., does not include vitamins, cholesterol, etc). I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
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