Lemon Layer Cake
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This delicious lemon layer cake is moist and fluffy with a tender crumb and bright lemon flavor. It’s decorated with creamy lemon buttercream that’s not too sweet or too tart. This cake looks beautiful and is perfect for spring and summer.
With layers of soft lemon cake and lemon frosting – this lemon layer cake stands tall and tastes even more delicious than it looks. The lemon flavor is sunshine-y and bright, without tasting sour, and pairs perfectly with the soft cake texture. You’ll especially love the lemon frosting because it’s made with just a touch of cream cheese to cut the sweetness.
If you love lemon desserts – like lemon loaf or lemon bars – you’ll love this lemon cake for when you need a lemon dessert that’s a little extra special.
Key Ingredients
- Butter and Oil. Butter gives the cake more flavor, whereas the oil keeps the cake moist for longer. The combination of the two is perfect because you get the best of both worlds without the cake tasting oily.
- Lemon Zest and Fresh Lemon Juice for flavor. Do not use lemon juice from a bottle as it will be too sour. You’ll need about 3 large lemons or 4 smaller lemons for this recipe.
- Whole Milk for moisture. I didn’t want to complicate things with buttermilk and I found using whole milk produced a perfectly moist cake. Do not skim milk, as there isn’t enough fat in it to provided the needed amount for tenderness.
- Sifted Flour. Be sure to measure the flour properly and sift. Too much flour and the cake can get dry, lumpy flour leads to overmixing the batter and a tough cake crumb.
Step-by-Step
Feel free to click the link below to get directly to the recipe. However, I’ve included step-by-step photos and discussion for recipe tips and to show exactly what each step should look like.
Jump to Recipe- Prep. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line the bottom of three 8-inch round pans with rounds of baking paper and grease and flour the sides.
- I always line the bottoms with baking paper (instead of greasing and flouring the bottom as well) because the cakes are easier to invert after they’ve baked and cooled).
- In a small bowl or liquid measuring jug, whisk together the lemon juice and milk. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Then whisk together.
- In a separate large bowl, beat together the butter, oil, granulated sugar and lemon zest until creamed – about 2-3 minutes.
- This step helps to aerate the batter and make the cake lighter and fluffier – do not only mix for 30 seconds.
- Adding the lemon zest to this step helps to bring out the lemon flavor.
- Add in the vanilla. Beat the eggs into the butter mixture 1 at a time. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the owl after each addition.
- Doing this 1 at a time helps to avoid over mixing.
- Mix the flour mixture and milk into the butter mixture, alternating between additions. I always do 1/3 of the flour, followed by 1/2 of the milk and lemon juice. Then another 1/3 of the flour, followed by the rest of the milk. Lasty, mix in the final 1/3 of the dry ingredients.
- This process of alternating between additions helps to avoid overmixing and ensures that the batter has a consistent crumb.
- I always do a few stirs by hand first to help avoid overmixing. Be sure to stop mixing after each step as soon as you no longer see lumps of flour.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tins, distributing it evenly between the pans.
- The cakes will bake in the middle of the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until the tops look set, the sides are starting to pull away from the edges of the pan and an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with a few crumbs. It should not have any gooey cake batter.
Frosting
This cake is topped with a creamy lemon butter creamy frosting. It has a little cream cheese to cut the sweetness, but it’s not enough that I’d consider this a cream cheese frosting. For the frosting, be sure that:
- The butter is softened, but still slightly firm to the touch
- The powdered sugar isn’t lumpy – you very well may need to sift it first
- You’re using full-fat, brick-style cream cheese as opposed to spreadable.
If you’d prefer, the cream cheese can be substituted with additional batter.
FAQs
This recipe can also be made in a 9×13 inch (23×33 cm) cake pan. The bake time will be about 40-45 minutes. Divide the frosting recipe in half. For a two layer cake, use 9-inch (23-cm) round pans. The bake time will be about 25-30 minutes.
Cake layers can be made the day before you plan to serve. Bake and cool fully, then wrap or store in an airtight container at room temperature overnight. Frost and assemble the day you plan to serve.
Baked and cooled cake layers can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap (be sure to wrap each layer individually so that they don’t stick together), then placed in a freezer bag, freezer container or wrapped again in foil. Then freeze on for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge, then frost. Frosted leftovers can be wrapped tightly and frozen. Thaw in the fridge.
Moist, fluffy and with the perfect lemon flavor – this lemon layer cake is delicious for spring, summer or whenever you’re looking for a beautiful lemon dessert!
More lemon desserts to love:
Lemon Layer Cake
Equipment
- 3 8-inch (20 cm) cake pans
Ingredients
Lemon Cake
- 3/4 cup whole milk (180 ml)
- 6 tablespoons lemon juice (90 ml), freshly squeezed, not from a bottle
- 2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (343 grams), measured carefully
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (168 grams), softened
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil (60 ml), or canola oil
- 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar (350 grams)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
Lemon Frosting
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (340 grams), softened, but still slightly cool to the touch
- 2 ounces full-fat cream cheese (56 grams), brick style, or sub with an additional 1/4 cup butter
- 4 1/2- 5 1/2 cups powdered sugar (495-605 grams), sifted
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (30 ml), freshly squeezed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1-2 tablespoons whipping cream (15-30 ml), as needed
Instructions
Lemon Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line the bottom of your pans with rounds of baking paper and grease and flour the sides. I do not recommend just greasing and flouring the pan and omitting the paper, as the cakes are more likely to stick.
- Whisk together the milk and lemon juice in a measuring jug or bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate medium bowl, sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter, oil, granulated sugar and lemon zest until well creamed (about 2-3 minutes).
- Add the vanilla into the butter mixture. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition.
- Mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients into the bowl of the butter mixture, alternating between additions. First, mix in 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Then mix in 1/2 of the milk and lemon juice mixture. Mix in another 1/3 of the dry ingredients, followed by the second 1/2 of the milk. Lastly, mix in the final 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Do not overmix. I always do a few stirs of each step by hand first. You may see pieces of lemon zest, but there shouldn't be lumps of flour.
- Evenly distribute the cake batter between the prepared tins and smooth the tops. Bake in the middle of the preheated oven, with all the cake pans on the same rack, for about 20-25 minutes. When finished, the cakes should be starting to pull away from the sides of the pan and an inserted toothpick should come out clean or with a few crumbs, but no gooey cake batter.
- Cool the cakes in the pans for at least 20 minutes before very carefully inverting onto cooling racks.
Lemon Frosting
- In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy.
- Add in 3 cups powdered sugar, along with the freshly squeezed lemon juice and salt. Start with the mixer on a low speed and beat together until combined.
- Turn off the mixer and scrape down the bowl. Beat in the rest of the powdered sugar about 1/2 cup at a time, alternating with a little cream if the frosting is too thick, until the desired sweetness is reached.
Assemble
- Ensure that the cake layers are completely cooled. If the tops are domed, use a serrated knife to carefully saw off the rounded tops of each cake layer.
- Place 1 cake layer on the plate that you plan to serve the cake on. Frost the top with about 3/4 to 1 cup of frosting. Place a second cake layer on top. Frost the top with another 3/4 – 1 cup of frosting. Then place the third cake layer on top. Frost the sides and top of the cake with swirls of buttercream.
- When ready to serve, slice the cake with a thin, sharp knife. I do not recommend slicing with a table knife.
Notes
- For a Two Layer Cake: This batter can be made in two 9-inch round (23-cm) cake pans. The bake time will be about 25-30 minutes.
- Lemons: You will need about 3 large lemons or 4 medium lemons for this recipe. Zest the lemons before squeezing out the juice. You can likely get 2 tablespoons of lemon zest from 1 lemon and 6 tablespoons of juice from 2-3 lemons (you can use the same lemon for juice that you zested).
- Room Temperature Ingredients: The butter, milk and eggs should all be at room temperature before getting started. For the frosting, the butter and cream cheese should be slightly softened but still slightly cool to the touch.
- Make Ahead Tips: Make the cake the day before you plan to serve it. Cool the cakes fully, then wrap tightly and store at room temperature or in the fridge overnight. Make the frosting and assemble the day you plan to serve. Unfrosted cake layers can be wrapped tightly and frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Fresh cake is always best.
- Nutrition: Details are an estimate only and based on 1 slice, assuming that all frosting is used, no cake is sliced off when trimming the domed cake cake layers, and the cake is sliced into 12 uniform pieces.
