Lemon Layer Cake

Lemon Cake on a cake stand in the sunlight.

5 from 4 votes

This Lemon Layer Cake is tender, moist and packs a huge punch of lemon flavor. It tastes like the bright beautiful sun. This version is a layer cake adapted from my mini sheet cake. It's perfect to make for any Spring time celebration.

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Cooling Time1

Total Time1 50

Course: Cake, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Author: Adrianna Adarme

Cost: $10

Equipment

2 (8-inch) round cake pans
Piping tips and piping bags
offset spatula

Ingredients

Lemon Cake:

3 (390g) cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 1/2 (500g) cups granulated sugar
4 tablespoons lemon zest (from about 6 lemons)
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/3 cup neutral oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract (optional)
4-5 drops of yellow food coloring gel (optional)
2/3 cup milk
6 large egg whites
1/2 cup lemon juice (from about 6 lemons), strained to remove pulp and seeds

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting:

3/4 (170g) cup unsalted butter at room temperature
12 (336g) ounces cream cheese at room temperature
Pinch kosher salt
1 whole vanilla bean scraped OR 4 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
5 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Lemon Decoration:

1/4 cup powdered sugar (this will help thicken the frosting)
Yellow food coloring gel
Green food coloring gel

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

To Make the Layer Cake:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line three 8-inch baking pans.
*Note: You can also do this in two 8-inch or 9-inch baking pans.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment (alternatively you can do this in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer), add the sugar and lemon zest. Beat the two together. This will release all of the fragrant oils in the lemon zest and infuse them in the sugar. We want this, we need this.
Add the butter and vanilla extract; beat until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the oil, vanilla extract and lemon extract; beat until smooth.
If you want the cake to be yellow in color, add the yellow food coloring gel. This is of course optional.
In a measuring cup, pour in the milk, egg whites, and add the strained lemon juice.
Turn the mixer to low speed and, alternating between the dry ingredients and the liquid ingredients, add them to the butter/sugar mixture, until the batter is relatively smooth.
Pour the batter evenly into the three prepared baking pans (about 500 grams of batter per pan) and smooth it out until it reaches the sides. Transfer the cakes to the oven to bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow the cakes to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then invert onto a cooling rack and cool to room temperature. It’ll probably take a good hour for them to cool completely.

To Make the Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting:

In the bowl of a stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment (or a medium bowl using an electric hand mixer), add the cream cheese and beat it until smooth. I like to do this or else the cream cheese frosting will have little clumps of cream cheese. Next, add the butter and beat it until smooth, about 15 seconds.
Add the powdered sugar, salt, vanilla and heavy cream. Start on slow speed so the powdered sugar doesn't fly everywhere. And then gradually turn it to medium speed. Beat for a full 2 minutes to ensure fluffy, delicious frosting.

To Make the Lemons for Decoration:

In two small bowls, add about 2 tablespoons of frosting to each. You can eyeball this. One will be our lemons (yellow) and another will be our stems (green).
If your frosting is super soft, add about 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar to each bowl and mix it in. This will help stiffen it up.
Add a drop or two of yellow food coloring to one frosting bowl. And add a drop or two of green food coloring gel to the second frosting bowl. Mix until smooth. Transfer the yellow frosting to a piping bag fitted with a small round piping tip.
Transfer the yellow frosting to a piping bag fitted with a (Wilton #1) small round piping tip.

To Decorate the Cake:

Place one cooled cake layer on a cake board. Add about 1/3 cup of white frosting to the top of the first layer and smooth out into a thin even layer. Place the second cake layer on top. Repeat with the third layer. Add a thin crumb coat of white frosting to the cake and smooth the top and sides. Transfer the cake to the fridge to chill for about 20 minutes. Then add a second layer of white frosting to the cake.
To add the lemons, pipe on rounds of frosting; they’ll end up looking like lemons once we add the tops. Add as many as you like. Make them any size you like, too. Dip your finger in a bit of water and tap the tops of the lemons to make them appear smoother.
Pipe on a small “V” shape at the top of each of the lemons. This will make it appear like they have a stem.

To Store Cake:

I keep this cake covered at room temperature on my counter for up to 24 hours. After that I like to store it in the fridge with a cake top on.

Notes

Tips and Tricks:

Make this recipe ahead! Bake the cake a day in advance, let it cool completely and then wrap it in plastic wrap. Frost and decorate how you like the next day.

Storage - Store this cake covered at room temperature for 2-3 days.

Decorating shortcuts - Skip piped lemons for a simple frosting finish, or add sprinkles for a playful touch.

Food Coloring - I recommend using about 5-6 drops of food coloring gel which is thicker with a stronger pigment. If you’re using food coloring, I would say to use about 3-4 drops so it doesn't affect the consistency of the cake.

Egg yolks - Use your leftover egg yolks for my homemade lemon curd! Which would honestly be perfect layered in between this cake.

Nutrition