Lemon Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting- A light and bright lemon cake perfumed with lemon syrup and topped with a silky lemon cream cheese frosting, this single layer lemon cake with lemon cream cheese icing is a slice of sunshine.
Another layer cake is in order! It doesn’t have as many layers as my no-bake s’mores cake or Smith Island cake, but it’s just as delicious. Meet our crowning treasure, if you’re a lemon dessert fanatic like me.
This decadent Lemon Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting is a platter of sunshine! It’s just sweet enough, soft enough to melt in your tongue, and overflowing with fresh lemon flavor. This is the finest lemon cake recipe I’ve ever had, anywhere, and quite likely the greatest cake I’ve ever eaten.
The Story Behind the Recipe:
Aside from the flavor and texture, this cake is popular due to its simplicity. A base of creamed butter and sugar, eggs, lemon, buttermilk, and flour are all very simple components. Although I prefer the tanginess that buttermilk adds to the cake, you may substitute whole milk or 2 percent milk. I replaced the brown sugar with granulated sugar instead. I didn’t feel like reaching for both forms of sweets this time for no apparent reason. You’ll need 2-3 lemons for the cake and icing. The juice as well as the zest. The use of sifted all-purpose flour is crucial in this recipe. Sifting the flour helps to aerate it, resulting in a fluffier cake. For this lemon cake, cake flour is too light; my cakes were squat and frail. Sifted all-purpose flour is far superior to all-purpose flour. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour and measure 3 cups. When the term “sifted” appears before an ingredient, it signifies the substance was sifted before being measured. (Alternatively, sift after measuring if the term “sifted” appears after an ingredient.) This is my collection of sifters. They’re fantastic.
About This Frosting Of Lemon Cream Cheese:
Lemon cream cheese frosting is just cream cheese frosting with the addition of lemon juice and lemon zest to make it even more tasty. It works well with lemon cake, vanilla or white cake, banana cake, and just about any other type of cake.
With the exception of chocolate cake, perhaps. Chocolate cream cheese icing is used for this. It’s fantastic!
This frosting recipe yields 2 cups, enough to cover a 9-inch cake or 24 cupcakes. Make at least one and a half batches for a layer cake, and more if you’re using it as a filling between layers.
What Is Unique About This Cake?
Here are just a few of the reasons why you should serve this dessert at your next dinner party. Making lemon cake from scratch is well worth the effort.
- When you cut into the cake crumb, it is light and fluffy yet still holds together.
- The lemon flavor is bright and well-balanced.
- The layers are quite easy to manipulate and frost.
- It cuts smoothly and looks lovely on the plate, which is crucial in any cake, but especially in a celebration layer cake.
How to Make a Scratch Lemon Layer Cake?
With only a few simple ingredients, this cake comes together quickly. For a truly unique treat, top it with tart lemon cream cheese icing.
While this isn’t a very nutritious lemon cake, it’s well worth the indulgence (remind yourself that you are baking with real, simple ingredients, not making lemon cake with cake mix).
To make the Lemon Cake:
- Flour for baking. It’s lighter and airier than conventional flour, thus it’s crucial for the texture of the cake. If you don’t have cake flour, all-purpose flour and cornstarch can be used. In the recipe notes, you’ll find my suggestion.
- Buttermilk is a kind of dairy product. Aids in the creation of a delicate, sensitive crumb. To lighten things up, I used low-fat buttermilk.
- Whites of eggs Another important factor in the cake’s delicate texture is (save the yolks to make Banana Ice Cream).
- Extract + Lemon Zest The stars of taste! Lemon extract has a strong taste that brings out the best in the lemon.
- Butter, to be precise. Gives the cake a rich taste and a melt-in-your-mouth texture.
To make the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:
- whisk together the cream cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest
- Cream cheese is a type of cheese that is used to make It adds body to the frosting, balances the sweetness, and adds a tart taste. Lemon cream cheese icing is my preference over lemon buttercream.
Butter, to be precise. Take a chance! This is a delectable icing. - Sugar in powdered form. It adds sweetness without going overboard.
- Zest + Lemon Juice Lemon taste that is bold, fresh, and zesty.
- Vanilla is a flavor. In lemon dishes, I like to include vanilla since it accentuates the taste.
Notes On This Lemon Cake With One Layer:
Again, a Google search turned up few single layer lemon cakes, with the exception of enormous sheet cakes, which no one needs right now. I’m still amazed that there aren’t more one-layer cake recipes out there, but I’m delighted I can fill in the gap.
Like the one I had at RPM, I wanted a lemon cake that was positively exploding with lemon flavor. At first, a few tries with this cake produced flavorless results, which no one desires. After some experimentation, I discovered that pouring the lemon juice as a syrup over the cooked cake, rather than putting it in the batter, created the most vibrant taste. Of course, a thick layer of creamy lemon cream cheese icing on top of the whole thing never hurts. I used a couple tablespoons of store-bought lemon curd in the icing to really bring out the brightness, but it’s completely optional and the cake would still taste great without it.
Tips And Tricks:
- Before creaming with the butter, combine the lemon zest and sugar. This releases the oils in the lemon zest, bringing out the true flavor of the lemon.
Use buttermilk for the greatest flavor, but if you don’t have any, I’ve included several alternative suggestions below the recipe. Yogurt or sour cream can be substituted. - Before you pour the lemon syrup over the cooked cake, make sure you flip it out onto the serving tray. I made the error of pouring the syrup over the warm cake while it was still in the pan, and when I went to remove it from the pan onto a cooling rack, it completely disintegrated and adhered to everything.
- It’s not looking good. We avoid having a sad cake disaster on our hands by turning the cake out onto the serving dish first, then poking holes and pouring the syrup over it.
- Before you ice the syrup-soaked cake, make sure it’s absolutely cold. The frosting will melt as it is spread if it is still warm, and the sticky cake will adhere to it.
- This is a soft, delicate cake, especially after the syrup is poured over it. Make certain to handle with caution!
MORE DELICIOIUS RECIPES HERE:
Baked Garlic Parmesan Zucchini Chips
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Lemon Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
A light and bright lemon cake perfumed with lemon syrup and topped with a silky lemon cream cheese frosting, this single layer lemon cake with lemon cream cheese icing is a slice of sunshine.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (354g) all-purpose flour, sifted
- two and a half teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- a half teaspoon of salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted to room temperature
- 1 and 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 big, room-temperature eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup room temperature buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- fresh lemon juice, 1/3 cup (about 2 lemons)
- Frosting: Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted to room temperature (230 g)
- 8 ounces (224g) softened full-fat brick style cream cheese
- Confectioners' sugar, 5 cups (600g)
- 2 tbsp. (30 ml) fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (pure)
- to taste, a sprinkle of salt
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius). Oil three 9-inch cake pans, then line them with parchment paper and grease that as well. The cakes are easier to remove from the pans when they are wrapped in parchment paper.
Make the cake as follows: Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Remove from the equation.
3 minutes on high speed using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, whip the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy. With a rubber spatula, scrape along the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as required. On high speed, beat in the eggs and vanilla essence for about 2 minutes, or until incorporated. As required, scrape along the sides and up the bottom of the basin. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer on low speed and mix just until incorporated. Add the buttermilk, lemon zest, and lemon juice to the mixer while it's still on low and beat just until incorporated. To ensure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl, you may need to whisk everything by hand.
Fill cake pans equally with batter. Bake for 21-26 minutes, or until the cakes are well cooked. Insert a toothpick into the center of the cake to check for doneness. It's finished if it comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool fully in their pans, which should be placed on a wire rack. Before icing and assembling the cakes, they must be entirely cool. The cooked cakes are light and fluffy, but not very thick (approximately 1 – 1.5 inches).
To make the icing, follow these steps: In a large mixing basin, beat the butter on medium speed for 2 minutes with a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment. Beat in the cream cheese until it's entirely smooth and blended. With the mixer on low, add the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla essence. Increase the pace to high and continue to beat for 3 minutes. If the frosting is too thin, add more confectioners' sugar; if the frosting is too thick, add more lemon juice; if the icing is too sweet, add a touch of salt.
Assemble and decorate the cakes by slicing a small layer off the tops of the cakes with a big serrated knife to produce a level surface. Throw it away (or crumble it over ice cream!). On your cake stand, cake turntable, or serving plate, place 1 cake layer. 1 cup of frosting should be enough to cover the entire top. Cover the top with the second cake layer and roughly 1 cup of frosting. Place the third cake layer on top. Apply the remaining frosting on the top and sides of the cake. My favorite way to serve it is with homemade whipped cream (I used Wilton 8B piping tip).
Before slicing, chill for at least 30-45 minutes. When cutting the cake, this helps it keep its form.
Refrigerate any leftover cake securely covered for up to a week.
Notes
This recipe requires cake flour to guarantee that the layers are particularly fluffy and airy. If you don't have cake flour, create your own by measuring 2 12 cup all-purpose flour, omitting 5 teaspoons, adding 5 teaspoons cornstarch, and sifting the mixture 5 times.
Measure out the 2 14 cup of flour required for the recipe, then bake according to the directions.
Bake the cake layers 1 day ahead of time, then cool entirely before wrapping airtight and storing at room temperature.
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