Lemon Cake
The Best Lemon Cake Recipe is moist, light, and fluffy made with fresh lemon juice and layered with lemon curd and lemon cream cheese frosting. This is the lemon cake of your dreams!
Servings: 16
Ingredients
- 1 cup Oil (canola, vegetable, coconut, or olive)
- 3 large Eggs
- 1 1/3 cups Buttermilk or Whole Milk
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Zest
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
- 2 cups Sugar
- 2 cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Frosting:
- 1 cup Salted Butter (softened)
- (1) 8-ounce pkg. Cream Cheese (softened)
- 4 1/2 to 5 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Fresh Lemon Zest
- 1 to 2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste
For Assembling:
- 8 ounces Lemon Curd
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, add oil, eggs, whole milk or buttermilk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Cream for 2 minutes. In large bowl, add sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir into egg mixture and fold.
- Generously spray two 9-inch or three 8-inch cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. See blog post for tips on how to spray the pans and how to remove the cake once it is done baking.
- Place batter into baking pans. If using three 8-inch pans, bake for 20-26 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. If using two 9-inch pans, bake for 30-36 minutes. Cool.
Frosting:
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping sides of bowl often. Add powdered sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and lemon zest and cream together. Chill.
To assemble cake:
- Remove cakes from pan. Spread lemon curd on top of one cooled cake layer. Then spread frosting on the top. Place the other cooled cake layer on top and spread another layer of lemon curd and then frosting all over. Let chill for 20-30 minutes to let the frosting set up.
- Store covered in the refrigerator.
Notes
How to know when the lemon cake is done baking?
Knowing when your lemon cake is perfectly baked is crucial to achieving the ideal texture. Use a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of the cake – it should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached. If it is completely wet, the cake needs to bake longer. Avoid overbaking, as this can lead to a dry cake.Frosting Tip:
To make this lemon cake easier to frost, I suggest freezing the cake layers for 30 minutes to 1 hour before frosting. When a cake is frozen, it becomes firmer and more stable. This makes it less likely to crumble or break apart while you're applying the frosting. The firmness provides a solid foundation for the frosting to adhere to.Nutrition
Calories: 462kcal | Carbohydrates: 81g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 349mg | Potassium: 90mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 68g | Vitamin A: 440IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 47mg | Iron: 1mg