Time for another layer cake! Not quite 14 layers like my no-bake s’mores cake or Smith Island cake, but just as fabulous as both. If you’re a lemon dessert lover like I am, meet our crowning glory.
This lemon layer cake recipe is adapted from the most popular cake recipe on our website: lemon blueberry cake. Lemon blueberry cake has consistently been in our top 10 recipes. It’s moist, sweet, buttery, and loaded with fresh lemon. Since its publish date, we’ve received many questions about leaving out the blueberries to make it plain. We decided a plain lemon cake needed its own separate blog post. Enveloped with lemon cream cheese buttercream and garnished with whipped cream, this towering beauty stands up to its blueberry studded sister!
Behind the Recipe
Besides the flavor and texture, this cake is loved is because of its ease. Very basic ingredients including a base of creamed butter + sugar, eggs, lemon, milk, and flour. We left out the brown sugar and replaced with more granulated sugar. No rhyme or reason here—just didn’t feel like reaching for both types of sugar this time. Between the cake and frosting, you’ll need 2-3 lemons. Both the juice and zest.
Let’s chat about the flour for a second.
The key to this recipe is using sifted all-purpose flour. Sifting the flour aerates it, creating an overall fluffier cake. Just like we found in our 6-inch citrus cake, cake flour is too light for this lemon cake; our cakes were squat and flimsy. All-purpose flour is great, sifted all-purpose flour is much better. Sift flour in a large bowl, then measure 3 cups. Whenever the word “sifted” comes before an ingredient, that means you sift before measuring. (Alternatively, if the word “sifted” comes after an ingredient, sift after measuring.) Here’s our set of sifters. Love them. We’re using the medium one in this photo.
The lemon cake batter is velvety and thick. Divide evenly between three 8-inch round cake pans. For a 2-layer cake, divide batter evenly between two 9-inch cake pans. Bake time will be longer, but you can use a toothpick to test for doneness. This lemon cake batter will fit into a 9×13-inch pan. Bake time will be close to 40 minutes. And while we’re on the subject of different size cakes, this recipe yields at least 30 lemon cupcakes. For 1 dozen cupcakes, here is our lemon cupcakes recipe. They taste identical to the cake!
Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream
We were torn between cream cheese frosting and lemon buttercream, so we combined the two by adding 8 ounces of cream cheese and a little extra confectioners’ sugar to lemon buttercream. The result is an infinitely CREAMY and BUTTERY lemon cream cheese frosting that we know you’ll love!!! Look at this stuff!!! Glides on effortlessly.
The raspberry frosting from my lemon raspberry jam cupcakes would also be fantastic here.
Optional Garnishes!
- Homemade whipped cream (I used Wilton 8B piping tip)
- Food-safe or edible flowers
- Lemon slices
- Fresh berries
- Fresh herbs
- Candied citrus
You could also add a filling between the layers: this raspberry cake filling would be delicious!
The cake stand you see in my pictures is the brand Juliska. I can’t find it anywhere online anymore! Here is a similar one.
Others I love:
- Wood slice cake stand
- Stoneware white cake stand
- Marble & wood cake stand
- Glenna cake stand
- Glass covered cake stand
If you love lemon cake, you’ll adore my lemon bars and lemon meringue pie! Be sure to check out our other favorites in the The Lemon Dessert Collection!
Print
Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: serves 10-12
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This 3-layer lemon layer cake is made completely from scratch with real lemons. It’s deliciously moist and light and is remarkable paired with tangy cream cheese buttercream.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (354g) sifted all-purpose flour* (spooned & leveled)
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 and 3/4 cups (350g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240ml) whole milk, at room temperature
- 1 heaping Tablespoon lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
- 1/3 cup (80ml) fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 8 ounces (226g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature*
- 4 and 1/2 cups (540g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- pinch salt, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease three 8-inch cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans. (If it’s helpful, see this parchment paper rounds for cakes video & post.)
- Make the cake: Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract on high speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients just until combined. With the mixer still running on low, add the milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice and mix just until combined. You may need to whisk it all by hand to make sure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl. The batter will be a little thick.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Bake for around 21–26 minutes or until the cakes are baked through. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done. Allow cakes to cool completely in the pans set on a wire rack. The cakes must be completely cool before frosting and assembling.
- Make the frosting: In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the cream cheese and beat until completely smooth and combined. Add confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes. Add more confectioners’ sugar if frosting is too thin, more lemon juice if frosting is too thick, or add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet. (I always add a pinch of salt!)
- Assemble and decorate: Using a large serrated knife, slice a thin layer off the tops of the cakes to create a flat surface. Discard (or crumble over ice cream!). Place 1 cake layer on your cake stand, cake turntable, or serving plate. Evenly cover the top with about 1 cup of frosting. Top with 2nd cake layer and evenly cover the top with about 1 cup of frosting. Top with the third cake layer. Spread the remaining frosting all over the top and sides. I like to top mine with homemade whipped cream (I used Wilton 8B piping tip).
- Refrigerate for at least 30–45 minutes before slicing. This helps the cake hold its shape when cutting.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: The cake layers can be baked, cooled, and covered tightly at room temperature overnight. Likewise, the frosting can be prepared then covered and refrigerated overnight. Let the frosting sit at room temperature to slightly soften for 10 minutes before assembling and frosting. Frosted cake or unfrosted cake layers can be frozen up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before decorating/serving. See How to Freeze Cakes for more information, and a helpful video tutorial.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 8-inch Cake Pans | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cooling Rack | Citrus Zester | Citrus Juicer | Cake Turntable | Icing Spatula | Piping Bag (Reusable or Disposable) | Wilton 8B Piping Tip | Cake Carrier (for storage)
- Flour: Sift all-purpose flour before measuring.
- Whole Milk: You can use lower-fat or nondairy milks in a pinch, but the cake won’t taste nearly as rich and moist.
- Recipe updated in 2022: The amount of leaveners are now 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. (Increased from 2 teaspoons and 1/4 teaspoon, respectively.) The amounts listed above amount help provide extra rise, which creates a lighter cake. I also now recommend whole milk instead of buttermilk, so the cake batter is slightly less acidic.
- Vanilla Cream Cheese Buttercream: For a vanilla cream cheese buttercream, replace lemon juice with milk or heavy cream in the frosting. Add an additional 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
- 2-Layer Cake: For a 2-layer cake, divide batter evenly between two 9-inch cake pans. Bake time will be longer; use a toothpick to test for doneness.
- Lemon Cupcakes: This recipe yields about 30 lemon cupcakes. Bake for 18–22 minutes. Use a toothpick to test for doneness. For 1 dozen cupcakes, here is my lemon cupcakes recipe. They taste identical to the cake!
- 9×13-inch Cake: This batter will fit into a 9×13-inch pan. Fill 2/3 full. If there’s extra batter, you can make a few cupcakes. Bake time will be around 40 minutes; use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I am in high school, and this is the first cake I have ever baked. I’ve never even used a boxed mix! I like the recipe because it is straightforward. I baked it for a contest at my chorus retreat and it won me Best Tasting!
Lemon Yumminess! I entered this cake in my local county fair and one a BLUE RIBBON FIRST PLACE for the best layer cake in the Any Other category! Thank you Sally!
Hi Sally! I’m wondering if I could use one tall pan instead of three shorter ones for this recipe. Would that be possible? Specifically: will the cake be easy to slice? Also, how would using one pan affect the baking time?
Hi Wessel, we don’t recommend baking this batter all in one taller cake pan. Using one pan will make it harder for the cake to bake evenly and will risk overflowing. Best to still split the batter between 3 pans, or if you only have one pan, baking in 3 batches.
Thanks, will do!
Sally let me start by saying I LOVE ALL of your recipes. They have never let me down! I was hoping you could give me some guidance. I had someone request a cake or dessert without eggs. Their favorite is lemon cake. Any suggestions? TYIA!
Hi Destanie, we haven’t tested an egg-free version of this cake, but here are all of our naturally egg-free recipes if you’re interested in browsing!
Hi! Is the frosting on this cake pipeable?
Hi Beth, cream cheese frosting can work for simple piping designs, but it’s not as thick as regular lemon buttercream which is more ideal if you’re planning intricate designs. Let us know what you try!
Can Monk sugar be substituted for granulated sugar?
Hi Patti, We’d love to help but we are not trained in baking with sugar substitutes. For best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt this recipe since it may not work properly), it may be more useful to find a recipe that is specifically formulated for sugar substitutes. Thank you!
Hey Sally! I did not see a key lime cake recipe on the site, so I’m wondering if it would be possible to replace the lemons in this recipe with key limes to make a key lime cake? Would there be a difference in the amount of lime juice vs lemon juice given the difference in citrus? I made your lemon blueberry cake already and got raving reviews by everyone! It was delicious! Thank you so much for sharing all your baking secrets!!!
Hi Pilar, that should work!
The flavor is incredible, however, the cake hardly rose and is far too dense.
Hey can I used half butter half vegetable oil to keep it nice and moist?
Hi Ash, we do not recommend using oil here. You need a fat that is solid at room temperature so that it can be properly creamed with the sugar. You could try using solid coconut oil in its place, but we’re unsure of the exact results.
Hi! I’m wondering if I can add poppy seeds to this cake. If so, how much would you recommend? My husband is requesting a lemon poppy seed cake for this birthday so I don’t want to disappoint!
Hi Vanessa, you can add 1 Tablespoon of poppy seeds to the dry ingredients. That’s usually plenty, but feel free to add a little more if you think the batter needs it. No need to adjust anything else.
Can I use this recipe and convert it to cupcakes?
Hi Carol, This recipe yields about 30 lemon cupcakes. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Use a toothpick to test for doneness. For 1 dozen cupcakes, here is our lemon cupcakes recipe. They taste identical to the cake!
Hi , Can I use the Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream frosting on the Blueberry Lemon Cake Recipe, or will it be too sweet overall?
Hi Meg, you can absolutely do that!
Love all your recipes so much! Does the frosting need to be made with full-fat cream cheese, or will 1/3 less fat do? It’s all I have in the fridge 🙂
Full fat is definitely ideal. I would avoid low fat when making frosting.
I need a 3 layer 9 inch cake for 20 people, would I need to double this recipe? Thank you! Love all your recipes
Hi Holly, If using a 9 inch pan, you can make 2 layers are outlined in the recipe notes. You could try for 3, 9 inch layers, but they would be quite thin. You can use this post detailing how to make a homemade wedding cake as your guide for sizes and scaling up this recipe. Hope this helps!
This cake was DELICIOUS! So moist, full of flavor and the frosting had the perfect amount of lemony kick to it. I followed the recipe exactly and was actually worried once I popped the pans in the oven because my batter ended up being pretty light but it turned out amazing. Everyone went for seconds! Immediately added to my tried-and-true recipes.
Can i use white chocolate ganache frosting for this
Hi Maria, absolutely!
This cake is trouble! Every time i make it, it causes trouble because there is fight over who gets the last piece! We may as well arrest Sally because it should be a crime how good her recipes are. This lemon cake is absolutely perfection! She is truly the Baking Queen!
How could you make this a strawberry lemon cake? Could I add something strawberry to the frosting?
Hi Jana, you could use our strawberry buttercream recipe instead. Delicious!
This looks great! I like a tall cake, can I make this in 3 – 6″ pans instead?
Hi Molly, this will be too much batter for 3, 6-inch cakes, but you can use this batter and fill your pans 1/2 way for several layers. Or make the 3 layers needed and use the leftover batter for a few cupcakes on the side. Or if you only want 3 layers, you can use our lemon cupcakes batter and follow the baking times and directions from this 6-inch cake recipes post.
I’d like to make this icing a lemon buttercream. What do I add after removing the cream cheese?
Hi Steven, here is our lemon buttercream recipe that you can use instead.
I’m interested in trying this for whoopie pies. Would you make any modifications to make the cakes smaller & hand-held, or are you satisfied with how the cupcakes hold up in-hand that you think it would work as-is?
Hi Mike, we do not have a lemon whoopie pie recipe at this time, and it would definitely take some tweaking of this recipe. This batter is best in a pan with sides (like a cake pan or cupcake pan) rather than on a cookie sheet—it would just spread. You may have better luck searching for a specific lemon whoopie pie recipe that has plenty of positive reader reviews. Let us know if you find one you love!
Thanks for the reply; I decided to experiment myself. Had some good success, here’s what I did and what I’ll try next time. 1) substituted butter for shortening. That’s my go-to since developing my recipe since it holds better than butter, but I think I’ll go back to butter (for flavor) because 2) I substituted AP flour for casava flour + 1 t xanthan gum. casava flower holds up REALLY well and is like velvet–and is gluten free, and YOU CAN’T TELL. I HIGHLY recommend this for GF recipes. I also 3) used brown sugar because I thought the flavor would be nice, but it was too much vs. the lemon so next time i’ll use regular sugar. I also added 2T poppy seeds because…lemon. Lowered temp to 325, baked for 16 mins and the are really good (didn’t rise all that much but they hold shape more than adequately) Nice flavor (but I’m sure switching back to butter will be far superior). Eager to try your lemon buttercream for a filling!!
This recipe is byfar the best Lemon Cake recipe. I’ve tried alot but this is a keeper. it was so moist and Lemony. I made this for my husband’s birthday and it was a hit! Thank you!
Do you think this would taste good with lemon curd or would that be overpowering? I’m trying to figure out what sponge to use for a lemon meringue cake!
Hi Izzy, lemon curd between the layers would be fantastic there!
I made this for my mom’s birthday and now she requests it to be the only birthday cake she has! Second one being served up this weekend.
This is the best lemon cake!! Moist and super tasty. My friends request it and so do my kids when it’s their birthday. Tried, tested and well loved.
For a wedding shower cake can I make this in a 12 X 18 half sheet pan then cut in half to make two layers. Should I double the batter? How long to bake?
Hi Colleen, We have not tested this batter in that pan size. You can take a look at our post on cake pan sizes and conversions for a helpful guide. Let us know if you give it a try!
Can I add poppyseeds to this cake?
Hi Diane, Feel free to add 1 Tablespoon of poppy seeds to the dry ingredients. That’s usually plenty, but feel free to add a little more if you think the batter needs it. No need to adjust anything else.
Can I use a 10″ baking pan? That’s all I have.
Hi Fraser, you can, but the layers will be very thin and take less time to bake. You could try dividing the batter in two instead of three layers if you want them to be thicker.
Can this recipe be used for a rainbow themed cake? I’m worried the colors won’t come out correctly
Hi Amanda, This cake would be fantastic for a rainbow cake. You may need to play around with the colors a bit because this cake (and batter) are a little yellow.
I’d like to make this cake and try the raspberry filling between the layers. I’m assuming you don’t suggest also using the buttercream frosting between layers. If not, will the stated recipe for the frosting be too much covering the cake? Should I cut the frosting recipe in half? Or just go for it and have extra frosting?
Hi Danny! We would make the full recipe of frosting, still. We do recommend piping a “dam” of frosting around the cake edges to hold in the raspberry filling, like we do with our chocolate raspberry cake.
I just checked it out. That makes sense! And the chocolate raspberry cake recipe sounds amazing.