This Lemon Cake Recipe is so luscious and fluffy. It’s the perfect lemon cake full of lemon flavor.
Do I have to use buttermilk in this recipe?
The buttermilk in this recipe interacts with the baking powder to create a fluffier cake. If you do not have buttermilk, you can easily make a buttermilk substitute.
My Other Recipes
Can I use a different kind of frosting in this recipe?
This lemon cake recipe uses a cream cheese frosting. If you do not like cream cheese frosting or cannot find cream cheese, you can replace the cream cheese with butter which will create a buttercream frosting.
What is the easiest way to frost a layered cake?
The easiest way to frost a layered cake is to transfer all of your frosting to plastic piping bags. Place the empty piping bags into a tall glass to make it easier to transfer the frosting. You don’t need to use a piping tip, simply snip off the bottom. Squeeze the frosting in a spiral on top of each layer of cake, then use a knife to spread it out in an even layer. Once all layers are assembled, you can squeeze the remaining frosting around the outside of the cake as well and smooth it out.
Can this lemon cake be made into a 2 layer cake?
Yes, this recipe is designed for either a 3 layer cake with thin layers, or a 2 layer cake with thicker layers without making any adjustments to the ingredients in this recipe. For a 2 layer cake, add 5 to 10 minutes to the baking time.
If you like this recipe, you may be interested in some of our other delicious cake recipes:
Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
Lucious Lemon Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup salted butter softened
- 1½ cups sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract optional
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3½ cups flour
- 4 teaspoons of baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
Lemon Frosting
- 1 cups softened butter
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
- 6 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Grease three 9-inch pans. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to cream the butter and sugar together.
- Use a fork to combine the eggs, buttermilk, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and lemon extract together in a bowl or 2 cup liquid measuring cup. Set aside.
- In another mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add ⅓ of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix in until just combined. Add in half of the milk mixture and combine. Add in another ⅓ of the dry ingredients until combined followed by the remainder of the buttermilk mixture. Add in the remainder of the dry ingredients and mix with the hand mixer until just combined, using a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom to make sure everything is mixed in. Gently fold in lemon zest.
- Divide the batter among the three prepared pans. Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes. Let sit in pans for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before layering and frosting.
Nutrition
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Leena says
Hey Rachel, I love your chocolate cake and i was excited when I saw you have a lemon cake recipe too. Just one question, can I substitute the egged with curd or buttermilk??? I need to bake the cake tonight for my daughters birthday tomorrow, please confirm
Nicole says
I made this cake over the weekend for the birthday dinner for my mom–who loves all things lemon! It was soft and delicious! I baked mine for 30 minutes,. I actually took a risk and put the third cake pan on the rack below the other two, and they all cooked evenly! (But I guess try this at your own risk?) The color of the exterior of the cake as well as the interior was very light. (It looked like a true white cake.) Like Rachel suggested, I also added a little yellow food coloring to the icing….it was the perfect touch!
I also attempted Rachel’s wavy design…mine was not as pretty, but I thought it was much better than competing against the perpetual humidity that is my kitchen and painstakingly trying to ice a cake.
One thing I will do differently for next time: I will run a knife through the batter of each of the prepared pans before popping them in the oven. I always forget to do this and every time, my cake has some holes in them. Not a deal breaker and does not impact the structure of the cake, but I think it would have looked nicer had I remembered.
All in all, success! My sister requested this for her birthday next month. Since her favorite color is pink, I think I might add a little pink food coloring to the icing this time for a “pink lemonade” feel! 🙂
Thanks for another go-to recipe, Rachel!
Nicole
Kirstin says
The icing turned out amazing! I used an extra tsp of lemon juice and lemon zest. Not sure what happened to my cake but it turned out dry and crumbly. I used cake and pastry flour instead of all purpose not sure if that made a difference. Also I over baked the cake I would love some pointers on what I did wrong..
Rachel Farnsworth says
Unfortunately cake flour and pastry flour are different enough that it definitely impacts the recipe in a negative way. Using all purpose flour will yield a better result.
Gabrielle says
This cake turned out wonderfully. I added a few blackberries from my backyard in between the layers. The last few lemon recipes I made, the cake came out VERY dense. This one came out lighter, exactly how I wanted it. The frosting is the kind of frosting that makes you dance around your kitchen goin, “Mmm mmm mm!” after you dip your finger in for a taste.
Thanks for the recipe.
Cindy Minuti says
This cake is amazing!!!! We have dairy protein allergies in our family, so I substituted Earth Balance’s dairy-free, soy-free butter for the regular butter and made my buttermilk out of So Delicious coconut milk with 1.5 Tablespoons of vinegar added. Also made the butter substitute in the icing. It was scrumptious!!!!
Jamie says
This cake recipe is incredible!!! I was searching for a lemon cake and tried another website’s recipe that I was disappointed in. Then I remembered that your chocolate cake recipe is my absolute favorite so I decided to search and see if you had a lemon cake one I could try for my daughter’s birthday. And thank goodness you did. It was so delicious! I’ve made it twice now and have gotten rave reviews! Thank you for another dynamite recipe!
Rosario says
Thank you for your great videos and recipes. love your chocolate cake! Today, I’m making your Lemon Cake. In the future, I’d like to use 6″ X 2″ round pans for a smaller cake. Can I just cut the recipe in half?
Rachel Farnsworth says
You can use any size of pans you’d like. You’ll just have to be sure to not overfill it and adjust the baking time.
Giuli says
Can I use unsalted butter?
Rachel Farnsworth says
Yes you can.
Topcheese says
For some ingredients, you listed different amounts in the video and in the written recipe. Like the buttermilk, you said 1 and 1/2 cups in the video amd you wrote 1 and 1/4 cups in the recipe, so also for the frosting, there are differences….i got confused because i want to male your exact recipe(the best one) and i don’t know what to follow
Karen says
Can I make cupcakes instead? I don’t like making layer cakes. Way too much work. Thanks
Rachel Farnsworth says
Yes, you should end up with about 24 cupcakes.
Jocelyn says
At 350 degrees also for 20-22minutes ? Or at 325 just like your other cupcake recipes?
Rachel Farnsworth says
I would do 325.
Jocelyn says
Thank you so much!!! Your batters are absolutely wonderful, a huge hit when I make them!