Lemon Cake

The BEST homemade, double-layer Lemon Cake has a delicious Lemon Buttercream Frosting. A cake lovers’ dream!

Don’t miss all of my favorite cake recipes, including my popular Coconut Cake with Pineapple Filling and German Chocolate Cake.

Hooray for Friday, and hooray for CAKE! I use weekends as an excuse for baking something delicious. If we’re having friends or family over for a meal I like to make something special, like a beautiful cake. It’s just as easy as any other dessert, and super impressive.

When baking cakes I usually bake the cake a few days in advance. I let it cool completely, then wrap it well in plastic wrap and place it in a freezer ziplock bag. Freeze until the day it will be served. I like to make my frosting fresh, the day of serving, but you can also make it in advance and refrigerate it for a few days.

By preparing the two parts of the cake this way it makes it super easy and stress-free to put together a beautiful cake!

I’ve provided two recipes for this cake for you guys, and I gotta tell you–BOTH are awesome!

FIRST is a “from scratch”, delicious homemade lemon cake

SECOND is a, dare I say it, equally as amazing doctored cake-mix version. Ghasp! it’s not completely from scratch! I wont lie to you, I love a good doctored-up cake mix recipe when baking cakes. Pair it with an amazing homemade frosting recipe and no one would guess it’s not from scratch 🙂

Consider trying these popular desserts:

• Snickerdoodles Bars
• Mississippi Mud Brownies 
• Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake
• Apple Crisp

You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST for more great recipes!

Lemon Cake

The BEST homemade, double-layer Lemon Cake has a delicious Lemon Buttercream Frosting. A cake lovers' dream!

4.6 from 10 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Servings: 12

Calories: 740kcal

Author: Lauren Allen

Ingredients

1. Lemon Cake (FROM SCRATCH):

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter , softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons lemon zest from about 4 medium lemons
• 2 large eggs
• 4 large egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

2. Lemon Cake (CAKE MIX version):

• 1 box lemon cake mix I use the betty crocker brand
• 1 small package lemon instant pudding
• 1 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
• 3/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup oil (vegetable or canola)
• 4 large eggs

Light Lemon Frosting:

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature
• 6 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 - 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Instructions

Lemon Cake (FROM SCRATCH):

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grease and flour two 9'' round baking pans. Set aside.
• Sift all-purpose flour and cake flour into a mixing bowl. Add baking powder, baking soda and salt and stir to combine.
• In a separate mixing bowl add the butter, sugar and lemon zest and mix with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
•  Add the whole eggs and mix well. 
• Add the egg whites one at a time, mixing after each. Stir in the vanilla.
• Alternately add in a little bit of the flour mixture and then the buttermilk stirring between each addition.
• Divide batter evenly between the two prepared round cake pans. 
• Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted into center of the cakes comes out clean, about 24-29 minutes. 
• Remove from oven and allow to cool several minutes in the pans, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Lemon Cake (CAKE MIX version):

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grease and flour two 9'' round baking pans. Set aside.
• Add the cake mix and pudding mix to a large bowl and stir to combine. 
• Add Greek yogurt, water, oil, and eggs and mix with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined, about 2 minutes. 
• Pour evenly into prepared round pans. 
• Bake in preheated oven for 24-29 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Don’t overbake or the cake will be dry!

For the frosting:

• Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat with electric mixers for 1 minute. 
• Add 4 cups of powdered sugar, half of the lemon juice and the lemon zest. 
• Beat well until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. 
• Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, and the remaining lemon juice until you reach your desired frosting consistency. 
• Frost cake once the cake is completely cool.

Nutrition

Calories: 740kcal | Carbohydrates: 109g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 113mg | Sodium: 303mg | Potassium: 168mg | Sugar: 84g | Vitamin A: 1005IU | Vitamin C: 1.3mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 1.1mg

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