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Citrus Sheet Cake made with fresh-squeezed orange, lemon, and lime juices in a moist, fluffy cake and topped with a creamy and silky homemade cream cheese frosting and topped with citrus slices. A beautiful Spring and Summer celebration cake!
If you have been following Modern Honey, you know how much I love baking cakes! Sometimes you just don’t want to go through the work of decorating and frosting a layered cake. A simple sheet is the answer! You can throw all of the ingredients into one pan, bake it, frost it, and cut it into squares. It is so easy!
The one downside of sheet cakes is that they don’t look as aesthetically pleasing as a layered cake because they are usually served straight from the pan. So what if we flipped the sheet cake right onto a serving platter? Then all you have to do is frost the cake and you have a simple and easy gourmet sheet cake to serve to your friends and family.
This Citrus Sheet Cake combines all of the fresh citrus flavors — orange, lemon, and lime — all together in one cake. It is sweet and tangy with a silky cream cheese frosting and topped with freshly sliced citrus.
This sheet cake recipe is adaptable and you can make it into an orange sheet cake recipe or a lemon sheet cake recipe if you want to simplify it. The frosting is made with sweet cream butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and citrus zest. You will want to eat the entire bowl of citrus cream cheese frosting!
What ingredients are in Citrus Cake?
- Oil
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Buttermilk
- Flour + Baking Powder + Baking Soda + Salt
- Fresh Lemon Juice
- Orange Zest + Lemon Zest + Lime Zest
CITRUS CREAM CHEESE FROSTING INGREDIENTS:
- Butter
- Cream Cheese
- Powdered Sugar
- Lemon Zest, Orange Zest, Lime Zest
How to flip a Sheet Cake?
If you want to flip a sheet cake out of the pan, I would suggest lining the baking pan with parchment paper. Lightly spray the parchment paper with a non-stick baking spray which makes the cake come out much easier.
When the cake is finished baking, let it cool to room temperature. Once the cake has cooled, place a board or rack on the top of the pan and flip it over onto the board, dish, or rack. Carefully remove the parchment paper from the cake. Frost the cake with frosting and garnish it. Cut into squares to serve.
What baking pans do I suggest using for Sheet Cakes?
I usually baked with good-quality aluminum pans. I find that glass pans can be finicky and don’t bake evenly. I have been using the USA Brand Baking Pans for over 12 years and love the quality and durability. Click here for a 9 x 13 baking pan.
Click here for a 17 x 12 half sheet baking pan.
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- Love at First Sight CHOCOLATE Cake
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Citrus Sheet Cake
Ingredients
Citrus Sheet Cake:
- 1 cup Oil
- 3 large Eggs
- 1 1/3 cups Buttermilk
- 2 cups Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Zest
- 1 Tablespoon Orange Zest
- 1 teaspoon Lime Zest
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
- 1 Tablespoon Orange Juice
- 2 cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Citrus Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1/2 cup Butter (softened)
- (1) 8-ounce pkg. Cream Cheese (softened)
- 5 cups Powdered Sugar
- Orange, Lemon, Lime Zest
- Sliced Citrus (to place on the top of cake)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream together oil, eggs, buttermilk, sugar, lemon zest, orange zest, lime zest, lemon juice, and orange juice. Mix for 2-3 minutes.
- Fold in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Line a 9 x 13 aluminum baking pan with parchment paper. Spray with non-stick cooking spray. Pour batter into a cake pan and spread evenly.
- Bake for 27-33 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. Don't overbake. Let cool. Read the notes section to find out how to flip the cake.
Citrus Cream Cheese Frosting:
- In a bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl often.
- Add powdered sugar. Stir in orange, lemon, and lime zest or just garnish it on the top. For extra lemon flavor, add 2 teaspoons of lemon juice to the frosting.
- If you desire to flip the cake, read the instructions below. If not, frost the cake and top with citrus slices. Cut into squares and serve.
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Is there no lime or orange juice in this recipe? At one point, the recipe talked about all these juices being included but I just see zest.
This cake is perfect! So moist and delicious!
Bliss! Extremely moist and the perfect hit of citrus. I made a 9 inch layer cake and it worked perfectly. My husband loved it too. 3 days later it still tasted delicious.That is how long it took the two of us to eat it. I will definitely make this cake again
SO GOOD!!!!!
This is the BEST CAKE! My family is constantly requesting I make it! Perfect for this time of year in Arizona when the citrus is so plentiful. I made it for a church potluck and everyone that ate it asked for the recipe.
If I could leave a 10 Star rating for this cake recipe, I would. Best lemony citrus tasting, really moist crumb texture of cake. Thank you Melissa for such a wonderful recipe !
Subbed the sugar with 1 cup liquified honey. Added 2 tbsp. cornstarch to the flour. Baked in a 11 x 11 inch aluminum baking pan at 325 F for approx 25 min. Topped with a glaze of 180 gm white Swiss chocolate melted over low heat and 2 tbsp whipping cream, stirred well. Topped cooled cake with white chocolate glaze. Served cake with fresh blueberries and whipped cream. Very delicious !
Such a fresh and light cake for spring!
Combining two of my favorites, sheet cake and citrus! The cake is really moist and the citrus flavor is on point, bursting with flavor. Thanks for another great recipe, they all rock!
Hey Melissa
Just in time……We are have a get together tomorrow after Church. We are planning do do a Easter Egg hunt for the little one’s after Mass on Easter Sunday. This will be perfect to bring for this occasion. It looks so refreshing and delicious too. Thank you for the great recipe. I can’t wait to make this one.
Donna