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Lemon Sheet Cake Recipe
Moist sour cream lemon sheet cake recipe with a fresh lemon cream cheese frosting.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Shamrock Farms. The opinions and text are all mine.
When you want to serve a crowd of people, there is nothing easier than making a homemade sheet cake. You don’t have to worry about getting the cake out of the pan, stacking it and making sure it stays perfectly centered, and then trying to frost it to make it look presentable. A sheet cake takes away all of those time consuming steps and makes life that much easier.
I have been to my fair share of potlucks in my days. I always love to bring a large sheet cake because it is such a crowd pleaser and the first thing to be devoured. It can be cut into small or large pieces so it can feed 24 or even 48! This Lemon Sheet Cake recipe is the perfect summer potluck recipe.
This Lemon Sour Cream Sheet Cake is so moist with such a tender texture. It is made with a combination of oil and Shamrock Farms sour cream, which gives it such a delicate, fluffy texture.
The lemon cream cheese frosting is made with sweet cream butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, fresh lemon juice, and lemon zest. It has the perfect balance of tang and creamy sweetness.
How to make the BEST LEMON SHEET CAKE:
- Start with the dry ingredients. Stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. The two leavening agents give the lemon sheet cake a nice rise.
- Adding Oil makes the lemon sour cream cake extra moist. You can use your favorite type of oil — extra-virgin olive oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, or coconut oil.
- Use Fresh Lemon Juice and Fresh Lemon Zest to impart authentic lemon flavor into the cake. This gives it an all-natural lemon flavor. A zester is an essential tool in the kitchen to ensure you only get the lemon peel, instead of the bitter white rind.
- Sour Cream helps to create a perfect texture. By using sour cream, it creates a tender crumb.
- Bake just until a toothpick comes out clean in the center of the cake. Don’t over-bake the cake.
- Once the cake is cool, frost with homemade lemon cream frosting. The frosting is made by whipping butter and cream cheese for 4 minutes until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and lemon zest.
The reason I love to make homemade cakes from scratch instead of reaching for box is that I know what ingredients are going into my cake. I try to buy high-quality, local ingredients and they just taste that much better. I like to know where my ingredients come from and how it’s made. I love using sour cream in my cakes since it helps create that moist texture. Since I was a young girl, I have been using Shamrock Farms real, fresh, hand-crafted sour cream. You can taste the difference!
The best sour cream starts with the best milk, and that’s why Shamrock Farms Sour Cream is better than the rest – because they begin with pure, wholesome, nutritious milk with no added growth hormones. That is important to my family! Its smooth and creamy texture is perfect for topping or using as a high-quality recipe ingredient.
You can find out more information about Shamrock Farms and their products by visiting here
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Lemon Sheet Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups Cake or All-Purpose Flour
- 1 3/4 cups Sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 3/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Oil
- 1 cup Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
- 3 large Eggs
- 1 cup Full-Fat Sour Cream
- 1-2 teaspoons Lemon Zest
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1 cup Salted Butter (softened)
- 8 ounces Cream Cheese (softened)
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1-2 teaspoons Fresh Lemon Zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, stir flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In another mixing bowl, mix together oil, lemon juice, eggs, sour cream, and lemon zest until completely mixed.
- Fold in dry ingredients, mixing only until combined. Lightly spray a 18 x 13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour cake batter into pan and spread evenly.
- Bake for 17-20 minutes. To test if the cake is done, insert a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. Let cool for 15 minutes before frosting.
To make Lemon Cream Frosting:
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese for 4 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape down sides of the bowl halfway through mixing. Stir in powdered sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Once cake is cooled, frost with lemon cream cheese frosting.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Took this to our Bible study on Wednesday night. The cake was done by the end of dinner time! Definitely recommend! Super yummy! I made it exactly as directed and no problems at all.
took this to church and everyone loved it! i followed the recipe, didn’t change anything and it was requested again! thank you!
I appreciate it so much that you did this recipe from scratch and that knowing what ingredients go into what you bake matters to you as much as it does to me. I try to do everything from scratch to ensure my family is getting ultimate health benefits and not a bunch of chemicals or poison. Thank you!
I just took mine out of the oven and now waiting for it to cool so that I can frost it. I’m sure there won’t be any leftovers at our fellowship lunch at church tomorrow!
So moist and heavenly!!
Hi! Will this recipe work in a 9×13 cake pan instead of 18×13 pan?
I have baked this multiple times in my 9 x 13 and it bakes up perfectly, taller than in the pictures but ideal for me.
Perfect thanks so much!
This is one of my last cakes I got to cook for my Mama. She’s in Heaven with Jesus ???? and now I’m making it for the school kids at my church. It will be a go to for most of my cakes for a while
Oh that is so so sweet! I am so sorry about you losing your Mom. That is so hard! She is in Heaven with Jesus and that does give some comfort, I hope. Thank you for making it for her and for continuing to make it for others. 🙂
Made this for Erin’s B-day and everything was great, but decided it’d be healthier to use a cup of olive oil…..bad choice, totally overpowered the lemon flavor. The frosting was delish and the cake was moist, just tasted like olive oil.
I just took it out of the oven….. Yes, I used 1 cup (juice from about 9 lemons!) It baked wonderfully. Frosting is really nice and light and tasty, I was concerned about 1 cup of butter and 8 oz of cream cheese. Beat for 4 minutes as instructed and I used mixer to add powdered sugar, recipe says stir in. Haven’t tasted the finished product but it looks wonderful. I am going to make red stripes with raspberries and cluster blueberries in corner. FLAG!!! for 4th of July. Texas dump cakes freeze well so I’m hoping this leftover cake will too!
HAVEN’T EATEN YET!!!!
Am I reading correctly? 1cup lemon juice?
I want to make this recipe, looks soooo good!
thank-you