Thula's Cake Lab

When life throws you Lemons…. Make [{the most delicious}] LEMON CAKE !!

Cakes, Recipe | October 8, 2016 | By

lemon-cake-1

Hello from India !!!! It’s been just over a few hours since I landed… with jet lag kicking in and having an entire night ahead of me , thought why not share this delicious lemon cake recipe with my readers ! 

I used this cake recipe for my daughter’s yellow themed second birthday cakes (made her two) and it was another hit… one of the guests mentioned that it was by far my best cake recipe! Hooraah!! 🙂 

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This cake has a hint of zest that balances the sweetness of the frosting giving a fresh new taste! The citrus zest is achieved with a fresh grated lemon peel, a suggestion from my neighbor… thank you Diedri !!!!

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I torted the two cake layers in half to create 4 layers. Filled these cake layers alternately with lemon cream cheese frosting and lemon curd as shown in the picture collage above.

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The cream cheese frosting alternated with the lemon curd in combination with this lemon cake…. such a heavenly combination !……and look how moist the cake appears!

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So don’t wait !! Celebrate your weekend with this delicious cake recipe and take some left overs to your colleagues to help them beat Monday blues !!!! 

 

Zesty Lemon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Serves 14
A delicious and zesty lemon cake recipe.
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Prep Time
25 min
Cook Time
45 min
Prep Time
25 min
Cook Time
45 min
For the Cake
  1. Thula's White Cake Mix (click for recipe)
  2. 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  3. 1/4 cup water
  4. 250g Granulated Sugar
  5. 3 whole eggs (or Ener G Egg Replacer equivalent to 3 eggs)
  6. 3/4 cup Buttermilk (beat yogurt and milk together)
  7. 1/2 cup Oil
  8. 1 tsp Lemon Essence
  9. 1/4 tsp almond extract
For the Frosting
  1. 1 1/2 cup/3 sticks Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
  2. 100 g Vegetable Shortening
  3. 200 g Cream Cheese (softened)
  4. 1 1/2 tsp Lemon Essence
  5. 500 g Confectioners Sugar
  6. For the Topping
  7. A thin slice of lemon slit in center
  8. Freshly grated peel from one large lemon
Lemon Cake
  1. Pre-heat oven to 320F
  2. Mix the lemon juice, water and sugar together, and heat on high flame or microwave until the sugar completely dissolves. keep this aside.
  3. Add the rest of the wet ingredients to a kitchen mixing bowl and mix on medium speed for 30 seconds.
  4. Reduce the speed to low and add the previously made "hot sugar syrup" slowly along the side of the bowl. continue mixing for another 30 seconds.
  5. Stop, add the sifted Cake Mix. Mix at medium speed for 60 seconds. Stop and scrape down the sides and continue mixing for another 60-90 seconds at low speed until it becomes a smooth batter.
  6. Split batter evenly into two 8 *3 inch cake pans and bake at 320F for 45 minute
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
  1. Add the cream cheese, shortening and butter to a mixing bowl and mix at high speed for 5 minutes.
  2. Add the Essence and reduce speed to low. Add sugar 1/2 cup at a time.
  3. Once you have added all the sugar mix at high speed for 7-10 minutes until a smooth velvety frosting forms.
Cake Assembly
  1. Apply a dab of icing on an 8 inch cake board and Place the first torted cake layer (this will secure the cake to the board). spread a thin layer of frosting on this layer.
  2. Place the second cake layer. Fill this layer with lemon curd and a half portion of the grated lemon peel.
  3. Place the third cake later and again apply a thin layer of frosting.
  4. Place the fourth and final layer. Apply frosting tinted in desired food gel coloring. I did an ombre of yellow (I can prepare a tutorial if you are interested, leave a request in comments)
  5. Top the cake by sprinkling with remaining lemon grating and serve !
Notes
  1. g- gram
  2. tsp- teaspoon
  3. You can use margarine in place of shortening.
  4. Generous serving feeds 8 people. Party serving feeds 14- 24 as per the Wilton serving chart
  5. Use the right utensils for measuring your wet and dry ingredients.
Article you will find useful in perfecting this cake recipe
  1. 10 steps to succeed in baking- Follow my 10 guided steps with linked tutorials to achieve perfect soft and tender cakes!
Thula's Cake Lab https://thulascakelab.com/

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this recipe …. if yes, please share and leave a comment Below, TIA !

Watch more recipe videos in YouTube and join the community !

With Baking Love,

Thula

Comments

  1. Leave a Reply

    Maria newnwes
    October 9, 2016

    Please keep me updated also let me know how you did the inner effect on the lemon cake.
    Thanks
    Maria

    • Leave a Reply

      Thulashitha RD
      October 9, 2016

      Sure Maria ! 🙂

  2. Leave a Reply

    Roy Miller
    October 9, 2016

    Lemon is one of our family favorites. I cannot wait to make this for the holidays!

    • Leave a Reply

      Thulashitha RD
      October 9, 2016

      It is one of my favorites too! I cant wait to know how it turned out … keep me posted 🙂

  3. Leave a Reply

    Pipli
    October 9, 2016

    Gorgeous bake.. would love to know about the yellow ombre effect in detail. so vibrant !

  4. Leave a Reply

    Katie
    October 9, 2016

    Love this cake! The yellow hues are so pretty and lemon is one of our family favorites.

    • Leave a Reply

      Thulashitha RD
      October 9, 2016

      thank you Katie ! 🙂

  5. Leave a Reply

    Paige Strand
    October 9, 2016

    I love this, such beautiful colours! I’ve sent this to my mom for my birthday 🙂

    • Leave a Reply

      Thulashitha RD
      October 9, 2016

      Thank you Katie . Happy Birthday to you! 🙂

    • Leave a Reply

      Thulashitha RD
      October 10, 2016

      Thank you Dionna ! 🙂

  6. Leave a Reply

    Kim Smith
    October 10, 2016

    Lemon cakes are one of my favorites and this looks awesome. Layer cakes make the best presentation so I need to try this asap.

    • Leave a Reply

      Thulashitha RD
      October 10, 2016

      Thank you Kim ! 🙂

    • Leave a Reply

      Thulashitha RD
      October 10, 2016

      Thank you Renee ! please do try out the recipe and let me know how it turned out…

    • Leave a Reply

      Thulashitha RD
      October 10, 2016

      Aww… thank you Lisa, that’s very kind of you 🙂

    • Leave a Reply

      Thulashitha RD
      October 10, 2016

      perfect for India 😉 !

  7. Leave a Reply

    Sarita Fernandes D'Souza
    October 12, 2016

    Please could you post the tutorial too. Also wanted to know if we can use almond essence instead od extract. Should the sugar syup be hot when mixing with the wet ingredients. TIA.

    • Leave a Reply

      Thulashitha RD
      October 12, 2016

      Hello Sarita, yes the sugar syrup needs to be hot, not boiling. yes you can use essence instead of extract. sure will keep your request in mind !

  8. Leave a Reply

    Amanda
    October 12, 2016

    Lemon desserts are my favorite!! Thanks for sharing! Xo

  9. Leave a Reply

    Zeba
    October 12, 2016

    It is a very beautiful cake. Please do teach us icing too…

    • Leave a Reply

      Thulashitha RD
      October 12, 2016

      Thank you Zeba, i will put a tutorial together. thanks !

  10. Leave a Reply

    Preet
    October 14, 2016

    Please share the tutorial of how u usef gel icing to give shades of yellow

    • Leave a Reply

      Thulashitha RD
      October 14, 2016

      I sure will put together a tutorial Preet!

  11. Leave a Reply

    lakshmi
    October 27, 2016

    Awwwww…its ssoooooo beautiful and yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm thulasitha <3 Can i replace the eggs with ur flax gel recipe?

  12. Leave a Reply

    Okuneh Martha
    March 9, 2020

    I just read your cake recipe article and would love to give it a try but a video tutorial would be much appreciated please. Thanks.

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