A beautiful and bright lemon cake with a rich and creamy lemon cream cheese frosting
My pairs partner’s birthday really crept up on us this fall. It seems like yesterday that we were competing at Adult Nationals (we are STILL waiting for our official videos from the competition, believe it or not). And yet, here we are, only a few weeks away from Christmas.
A few of us talked briefly about how we were going to celebrate my partner’s birthday and we agreed to get together for dinner after Learn to Skate classes one week. Last year, I made a lemon curd cake for him, and this year, I made a less complicated lemon cake.
I didn’t cut into this cake to show you the cross section since I leave the cake cutting to the recipient, so you will just have to use your imagination for this. There are two layers of lemon cake with a generous layer of lemon cream cheese frosting sandwiched in between.
And because my skating friends were the ones that ate the cake, my family did not get to try any. Sadly, I had no cake scraps to snack on either.
I am just happy that my pairs partner enjoyed his birthday cake! For what it’s worth, he rated this a 4.5 out of 5 (he said that the candied lemon slices in last year’s cake was amazing and missed it in this cake).
Husband’s rating: N/A
Addie’s rating: N/A
My rating: 4.5 out of 5
Lemon cake
Ingredients
Lemon cake
- 2 and ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 and ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter softened
- 1 and ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons lemon zest about 2 lemons
- 1 cup buttermilk I used one cup of 1% milk and added a teaspoon of white vinegar and let it sit for a few minutes
- ¼ cup lemon juice from about 2 lemons
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Lemon cream cheese frosting
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 8-ounce package cream cheese room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest from 1 lemon
- 7 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the cake
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Generously grease and line two 8 inch round baking pans with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, cream the butter on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the sugar and lemon zest and mix well. Then add the eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Add the vanilla and the lemon juice.
- Turn the mixer to low speed and add half of the flour and half of the buttermilk.
- Alternatively add the remaining dry ingredients and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until everything just comes together.
- Evenly distribute the batter into your prepared baking pans and bake I. Your preheated oven for 35-40 minutes. The cakes will start to pull away from the sides of the pan.
- Allow the cakes to cool completely before assembling.
Make the lemon cream cheese frosting
- In the bowl of a clean stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the lemon zest and mix well.
- Turn the mixer to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Then add the vanilla. If the frosting is too runny, add more powdered sugar. If it seems too thick, add a splash of milk.
Assemble the cake
- Place one cake, flat side down, on a cake plate or cake stand. Top with about 1 cup of the frosting.
- Place the second cake, flat side up, on top of the frosted layer.
- Apply a thin layer of frosting on the top and sides of the cake. Place in the refrigerator to firm up. Then apply the rest of the frosting to the top and sides of your cake and decorate as desired.
- Slice and enjoy.
So excited to try this! You posted on work slack and I started following you before you switched jobs. So glad that I now have two lemon cake recipes!
Author
Awesome – thanks for following me, Kay! Hope all is well!