Lemon Layer Cake | Life, Love and Sugar

July 4, 2023

This lemon layer cake is bursting with actual lemon taste! Three layers of sunshine, fluffy lemon cake are stuffed and frosted with lemon cream cheese frosting. You’ll fall in love with this completely vibrant and scrumptious cake!

A slice of lemon layer cake on a plate.

The Finest Lemon Layer Cake Recipe

I like the intense taste freshly squeezed lemon juice provides to recipes. Incorporate it right into a dessert and I’m utterly bought. Between the citrusy taste and shiny colour, lemon desserts are simply excellent for spring and summer season.

I’ve executed a few lemon layer muffins over time however couldn’t resist sharing this new recipe with you. It’s easy, flavorful and completely attractive. Each the cake and the frosting are bursting with recent lemon taste, whereas lemon slices add a aromatic and delightful final touch.

Get able to sink your tooth into three layers of sunshine, fluffy, lemony cake divided by layers of clean, lemony cream cheese frosting. It’s a dream come true for these of you citrus lovers on the market.

Overhead of lemon layer cake.

Why You’ll Love This Lemon Dessert

There’s rather a lot to like about this cake however permit me to fill you in on a few of my favourite issues about it.

  • Properly-balanced. Some lemon desserts will be so lemony that they overwhelm your palate and make your mouth pucker. This lemon layer cake doesn’t have that downside. It strikes the proper steadiness between candy and tart. The tangy lemon taste sings via the cake and the frosting however isn’t so sturdy that it overwhelms the dessert.
  • Actual lemon taste. The lemon taste on this cake comes from freshly squeezed lemon juice and recent lemon zest. No store-bought juices and positively no lemon extract right here and gosh are you able to inform the distinction!
  • Excellent for summer season. There’s one thing in regards to the taste of recent lemon juice that simply screams summer season to me. This cake is nice all yr spherical however I significantly like it throughout heat summer season months stuffed with sunny, out of doors gatherings.

What You’ll Want

Right here’s a have a look at what you’ll have to whip up this lemon layer cake recipe. Make sure to scroll to the recipe card beneath for precise measurements.

Ingredients for lemon layer cake separated into bowls.
  • All-purpose flour – Nothing fancy wanted right here. Simply common all-purpose flour.
  • Leaving – Baking powder and baking soda are each used on this cake for the perfect rise and texture. Ensure yours are recent.
  • Salt – All the time wanted to amplify the flavour of the cake.
  • Unsalted butter – The butter ought to be at room temperature in any other case it is not going to cream correctly for the cake or mix correctly within the frosting. We don’t need lumps.
  • Vegetable oil – For added moisture within the cake.
  • Sugar – Common granulated sugar is used within the cake layers. This provides sweetness and in addition moisture to the cake.
  • Vanilla extract – For taste.
  • Eggs – They need to be massive (not medium or additional massive) and ideally at room temperature for simpler mixing.
  • Milk – I counsel utilizing 2% or complete milk right here.
  • Contemporary lemon juice – Don’t use the bottled stuff! Belief me. Taking the additional minute to squeeze recent lemon juice is nicely value it. The flavour is only a hundred occasions higher.
  • Contemporary lemon zest
  • Cream cheese – The cream cheese ought to be at room temperature. It can produce a a lot smoother, lump-free frosting.
  • Powdered sugar – So as to add sweetness and quantity to the frosting. Cream cheese frosting tends to be softer than buttercream, so it’s going to assist thicken the frosting and make it pipe-able as nicely.

Learn how to Make Lemon Layer Cake

Layer muffins can appear intimidating however this one is fairly simple. You’ve obtained this! Right here’s a fast overview of methods to make it. Make sure to scroll to the recipe care beneath for extra detailed directions.

Make the Cake

  • Prep. Line the bottoms of three 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper circles. Grease the edges. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Whisk collectively the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  • Beat the butter, oil, sugar, and vanilla extract collectively till gentle in colour and fluffy.
  • Add the eggs separately, mixing till largely mixed after every.
Whisking together dry ingredients for cake.
Creaming together butter, sugar, oil, and vanilla for cake batter.
Mixing eggs into cake batter.
  • Put all of it collectively. Add half of the dry components to the batter. Combine to mix. Add the milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Combine to mix. Add the remaining dry components. Combine to mix.
  • Bake. Divide the batter between the cake pans. Bake for 22-25 minutes.
  • Cool. Take away the muffins from the oven. Enable them to chill within the pans for 2-3 minutes earlier than turning them out onto wire racks to chill utterly.
Mixing dry ingredients into wet ingredients for cake batter.
Lemon cake batter divided into three cake pans.
Three lemon cakes ready to be stacked, filled, and frosted.

Frost and Assemble Your Cake

  • Make the frosting. Beat the cream cheese and butter till clean. Add half of the powdered sugar. Combine till clean. Add the lemon juice and zest. Combine till nicely mixed. Add the remaining powdered sugar. Combine till clean.
  • Flatten the muffins. Take away the domes from the highest of the muffins with a big serrated knife.
Lemon cream cheese frosting in a mixing bowl.
Three layers of lemon cake stacked on top of each other with cream cheese frosting between each layer.
A smoothly frosted layer cake on a cake stand.
  • Stack. Place the primary cake on a serving plate and unfold 1 cup of frosting excessive. Repeat with the opposite two muffins.
  • Frost the surface of the cake. Seek advice from my tutorial for frosting a clean cake, if wanted.
  • Enhance. Add swirls of frosting to the highest of the cake and end it off with some lemon slices.
  • Refrigerate the cake till able to serve.
  • Serve. Notice that this cake is greatest served cool, however not chilly. So take it out of the fridge for a couple of minutes earlier than slicing and serving.

Can I Make This Cake Forward of Time?

Sure, you possibly can! Bake the muffins and permit them to chill utterly. You’ll be able to retailer them in an hermetic container at room temperature for a day or two, or wrap them in clear wrap and foil and place then within the fridge. For longer storage, wrap them and place them in separate Ziplock baggage within the freezer for as much as 3 months. When you find yourself able to serve, all it’s important to do is unwrap and thaw the muffins within the fridge and stack, fill, frost, and embellish.

It’s also possible to make the frosting as much as 7 days upfront. Simply retailer it in a separate hermetic container within the fridge. Deliver it again to room temperature earlier than utilizing it. For longer storage, freeze it for as much as 3 months.

Lemon layer cake on a cake stand.

Suggestions for The Finest Layer Cake

This citrus-filled recipe is fairly manageable for many talent ranges however I positively have some easy suggestions and methods for you that may make it easier to make the most effective lemon layer cake doable. Right here they arrive.

  • Measure your flour accurately. That is the commonest concern with getting a dry, dense cake. The perfect and best factor to do is use a food scale to make sure that your flour is correct.
  • Room temperature components. It will be significant that the butter within the cake batter in addition to the butter and cream cheese within the frosting are at room temperature. The butter within the batter is not going to cream correctly with the sugar, vanilla, and vegetable oil whether it is too chilly or too melted. This will provide you with an excessively dense cake. With regards to the frosting, If the butter and/or the cream cheese are too chilly, they won’t incorporate easily and also you may find yourself with a lumpy frosting. So assume forward and let your components come to room temperature earlier than starting.
  • Don’t skimp on cream time. When creaming collectively the butter, vegetable oil, sugar, and vanilla, beat the components for 2-3 minutes. No much less. The combination ought to change into fluffy and lighten in colour considerably. The method of creaming incorporates air into the combo. This air is, partially, accountable for making the cake gentle and fluffy. Skimping on creaming time will provide you with an excessively dense cake.
  • Scrape down the edges of the bowl periodically as you add components and blend them in. Do that when making the cake batter and the frosting. It will be sure that any components caught to the edges and/or backside of the bowl make it into the batter and are nicely integrated.
  • Don’t over-mix. When incorporating the dry components into the moist components, don’t overmix the batter. This could trigger the glutens within the flour to overdevelop, leaving you with a tricky, dense cake.
  • Let it cool. Earlier than stacking, filling, and frosting the cake remember to permit the cake layers to chill utterly. If the cake continues to be heat, the frosting will slide proper off, leaving you with a visually unappealing mess.
Lemon layer cake on a plate with a bight taken out of it.

Learn how to Retailer Leftovers

If you end up with leftover lemon cake, retailer it in an hermetic cake provider. You’ll be able to depart it at room temperature for as much as 24 hours, then ought to refrigerate it. When you don’t have a cake provider, permit the cake to sit back within the fridge for a few hours earlier than overlaying it in plastic wrap. Use toothpicks to prop the plastic away from the cake, if wanted. Alternatively, you possibly can organize the slices in a single layer in an hermetic container. In any case, retailer your lemon cake within the fridge for as much as 4 days.

If you wish to freeze the cake, pop it within the freezer for a few hours to agency up earlier than wrapping it in a double layer of plastic wrap. Retailer it within the freezer for as much as 3 months. Alternatively, organize slices in a single layer in an hermetic container and retailer them within the freezer for as much as 3 months. Enable the cake to thaw within the fridge earlier than serving.

Extra Lemon Desserts

Are you a citrus nut like me? Good. I’ve simply the factor(s) for you. After you make this wonderful lemon layer cake, strive one (or a number of!) of those equally scrumptious lemon desserts.

See How To Make Lemon Cake

Learn Transcript

Print

clock clock icon cutlery cutlery icon flag flag icon folder folder icon instagram instagram icon pinterest pinterest icon fb fb icon print print icon squares squares icon

A slice of lemon layer cake on a plate.