Lemon Cake With Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream
Layers of soft, zesty lemon cake topped with delicious lemon cream cheese buttercream.
Ingredients
Lemon Layer Cake
- 3 1/4 Cups (344g) cake flour, sifted before measuring
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 Cups (410g) white granulated sugar
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 1/3 Cup (75g) sour cream, room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tsp pure lemon extract
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon zest (about 1 small lemon)
- 1 1/4 Cups (300ml) whole milk, room temperature
Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 16 oz (452g) cream cheese, room temperature brick-style, not the spread*
- 8 Cups (960g) powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 small lemon)
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
Make The Lemon Layer Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with a cooking spray (Baker’s Joy is my favorite) and a wax paper circle fitted to the bottom of the pan. Alternatively, you can grease and lightly flour the pans.
- Sift the cake flour and then measure by spooning and leveling it in your measuring cup. Add the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer (a handheld mixer works fine too!), cream the butter for on high for two minutes until it’s light and fluffy. Add in sugar and continue to mix on medium-high for another two minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add sour cream, vanilla extract, lemon extract, and lemon zest and mix for one minute on high, scraping down the bowl and paddle once more.
- With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the milk slowly and mix until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no lumps.
- Pour batter into prepared cake pans (no more than 2/3 of the way full) and bake for 30-35 minutes. They’re done when they spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan for five minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack for an additional few hours of cooling. Make sure they’re entirely room temperature before applying any frosting.
Make The Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and cream cheese on high until light, fluffy, and uniform (no lumps), about five minutes. Turn the mixer to low and add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add the lemon juice and salt, mixing on low for another 30 seconds.
Assembly
- After the lemon cake is cooled, torte each layer to remove the excess cake dome. Fill and frost with lemon cream cheese buttercream. To replicate the design pictured, after crumb coating the cake, divide the lemon cream cheese buttercream amongst three separate bowls. Color one bowl with yellow food coloring (I used Americolor Lemon Yellow). Mix a little of the yellow buttercream into another bowl of plain white to create a middle yellow shade. You should now have one bowl of deep yellow buttercream, one bowl of mid-yellow buttercream, and one bowl of white buttercream.
- Frost the bottom third of the cake with the deepest shade of yellow buttercream, the middle third with the mid-tone buttercream, and the top third with white buttercream. Smooth it with an icing smoother to create an ombre finish. Top with pretty piping, oven dried lemon slices, and a few yellow and white sprinkles for good measure.
Notes
*This frosting recipe only works with brick-style cream cheese, as the spread contains much more liquid and will result in runny buttercream. If you cannot find brick-style cream cheese, I recommend pairing this cake with either my Vanilla Buttercream or White Chocolate Buttercream.
Make ahead tips: the Lemon Layer Cake can be made ahead and stored at room temperature, covered tightly in plastic wrap, for up to two days. Alternatively, you can cover with plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to two months before thawing to room temperature.
The Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-whip with your stand mixer to bring it back to frosting consistency.