The ultimate rich lemon cake, with a decadent cream cheese frosting that perfectly balances the sweet acidity of the lemonade flavor.
Cooking Light Magazine debuted their Lemonade Layer Cake recipe in 2002, and it has become their most pinned recipe ever. For good reason! This cake is literally to die for, and I have tweaked it to be less dense and slightly larger to feed a crowd. It’s the kind of cake you need a party for – so make it, and invite your people over.
I first made this cake after reading the recipe in 2002, as a Mother’s Day treat for my mom, my mother-in-law, and aunt, and it instantly became a hit. I have a bit of a love hate relationship with it, as my mother-in-law requests it every year for her birthday on July 6th. It’s usually a fairly busy time, and this cake requires a little prep time and some not always on hand ingredients. She is worth it, of course, but now my daughter also asks for this on her birthday – in October? I love it, but shouldn’t we have chocolate in October!? Regardless, it’s a labor of love, and I will happily make it for anyone who asks.
I had two problems with the original recipe, and I think I have fixed them both with this updated version. First, the cake was too thin – probably the magazine’s attempt at keeping portion size in check. However, when I’m making a birthday cake for someone I love, I’m not focussed on portion size or calories. So I increased the size of this and it now works great for our usual crowd of 15. The second fix, addresses the density. I am all for a dense, rich cake, but this was a bit too dense. I increased the amount of baking soda to balance the acidity from all the lemonade concentrate, and also added two tablespoons of sour cream to the batter. These worked – the cake is still perfectly moist, but now has a bit of fluff to the consistency. DELISH!
Ultimate Lemonade Layer Cake
Ingredients
Lemonade Layer Cake Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 9 Tbsp Butter
- 1.5 Tbsp grated lemon rind
- 4 Tbsp defrosted lemonade concentrate
- 3 tsp vanilla
- 3 eggs
- 3 egg whites
- 2 Tbsp sour cream
- 3 cups flour
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2.5 cups buttermilk lowfat
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp butter at room temp
- 4 tsp grated lemon rind
- 4 tsp defrosted lemonade concentrate
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 8 oz packages of cream cheese at room temp
- 7 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Lemonade Layer Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line two 8 inch round cake pans with parchment paper, set aside until ready to bake.
- In a stand mixer using the whisk attachment, or a hand mixer, combine the butter and sugar, whipping until fluffy. Add the lemon rind, concentrate, vanilla and then one by one, the eggs and egg whites, all while running the mixer at a low speed. When fully combined, add the sour cream.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flours with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Finish the batter by slowly adding the dry ingredients in small quantities, and then the buttermilk, starting and finishing with the dry ingredients. Don't over mix - this is not a cake that needs two minutes at a high speed as it will become dense. Fill the pans and bake on center rack for 22-25 minutes until golden brown on top and cooked through.
- Remove the cakes from the pans and cool fully on wire racks.
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a stand mixer, combine the butter, lemon rind, lemonade concentrate, vanilla, and then the cream cheese blocks. It's important all ingredients are at room temperature to ensure smooth consistency. Slowly add the 7 cups of powdered sugar until fully mixed in.
- When the cakes are cooled, frost as you like. I prefer a naked cake with exposed sides, but this recipe makes enough to fully frost the entire cake. I like to top it with a slice of lemon. I prefer this cake chilled, so if possible, chill for a couple of hours before eating. It will keep for days!
Notes
Happy Birthday Juju! Thanks for keeping this recipe top of mind for all these years!