If you’ve been searching for the BEST recipe for Lemon Cake from a doctored cake mix, we are happy to say that this is it!
This lemon cake has a lovely soft texture, is ultra moist, has fantastic lemon flavor, works for cupcakes as well as cake layers, and is sturdy enough to hold up to fondant! What’s not to love?
We’ve frosted this lemon layer cake with a luscious Lemon Buttercream, which is a new recipe for our site also! We’ve fallen in love with it’s lemon flavor and it pipes like a dream.
We’re so glad to have this lemon buttercream option for slathering and swirling onto all sorts of cakes from lemon cake to homemade vanilla buttermilk cake to classic yellow, coconut and even strawberry! Lemon buttercream pairs perfectly with so many cake flavors.
However, our Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting as well as our homemade Lemon Curd Filling would both be great choices!
Now let’s back to the business of doctoring up a simple cake mix to make the BEST Lemon Cake ever!
First, you’ll start with a simple white cake mix (look for recipes that do not contain pudding in the mix as we’ll be adding a bit of lemon pudding to this recipe). We used Duncan Hines.
- Combine the sifted cake mix with the flour, sugar, and pudding and whisk to blend. *Just 4 tablespoons of pudding is all that we needed to really make a difference in the texture and flavor of this cake.
- We tried baking without the lemon pudding, and while it was good, the stand-out favorite among all of our family taste-testers was the version that contained pudding. The texture is more velvety and the lemony flavor is really nice. We also tried using Lemon Cake Mix instead of White, but didn’t like the flavor as much.
- Add the remaining ingredients, including the eggs, water, sour cream, extracts, and lemon zest. The addition of pudding, sour cream, and flour give the cake a from-scratch feel, as it is a bit denser than a straight from the box cake mix cake…but I wouldn’t describe this as a dense cake. It is light, has a soft texture, and did I mention an amazing lemon flavor? SO good!
This recipe makes about 7 1/2 cups of batter which was just the right amount to divide between three 8 inch layers. I love cake recipes that have enough batter for three layers so that you can have an additional layer of filling! Mmmmm….bring on the lemon buttercream!
I should also mention that while we adore this doctored Lemon Cake Mix recipe, we have a favorite Scratch Lemon Cake Recipe as well! If you enjoy baking scratch recipes also, this is a great one! We hope to eventually have a doctored cake mix version and scratch version of all of our recipes!
Lemon Cake: A Doctored Cake Mix Recipe
Nobody would guess that this amazing lemon cake recipe all starts with a simple cake mix! So moist and lemony!
Ingredients
- 1 box (15.25 oz.) white cake mix, sifted ( Duncan Hines or any mix without pudding in the mix)
- 1 cup (114g) all purpose flour (plain in the UK)
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- 1/2 box (4Tablespoons, 48g) instant lemon pudding (we used Jell-O brand)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/3 cups (322g) water
- 1 cup (242g) sour cream
- 1 Tablespoon (12g) lemon extract
- 1/2 teaspoon (2g) vanilla extract
- zest of one lemon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 8x2 inch round cake pans.
- In the bowl of your mixer, add the dry ingredients and whisk at least 30 seconds to blend.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix for 1 more minute. If you are using a hand mixer, mix for a bit longer.
- Pour into prepared pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Check at 25 minutes, if a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached, it is done.
- Cool in the pans 5 to 10 minutes then turn out.
- Makes 7 1/2 cups batter
- Works well for cupcakes
Hi Cat, A cake mix makes 24 standard size cupcakes so this may make 28 to 30 depending on how full you fill the liners. Cupcake do dry out quickly because they are so small. You could make the cupcakes in advance a freeze them. Double wrap in plastic wrap then aluminum foil. If kept airtight they will be fine. To thaw, remove from freezer keep wrapped, when condensation forms on the outside of the aluminum foil, unwrap. The cupcakes can be frosted before they thaw completely. If you cannot freeze them I would bake and frost the day before the event for best results. Hope all goes well.
Hi, is there a good time estimate for how long to bake in a 9×13 pan? And if my plan is to make two 9×13’s put side by side to make a bigger sheet cake, would that be just two batches of batter?
I bake in 3″ high sheet pans. For a quarter sheet, 9″X13″, I make 2 1/2 batches of cake. I bake no higher than 300 degrees which allows the edges to bake higher before being set, and usually have flat cakes. When I can smell the cake, I know it’s almost done. If it looks done, I press gently in the middle, and if the cake pops back, I test with an instant read thermometer for doneness. At 212 degrees, the liquids are boiling and evaporating, resulting in a dry overbaked cake. I pull my cakes at 208 degrees since they will continue to bake a few minutes out of the oven. Before a cake is cool, about 30 minutes out of the oven, I cover the cake with saran and a cookie sheet, flip all over, remove the pan, and wrap the cake tighly with the saran. If the middle of the cake is still exposed, I cover with another piece of saran. Put the cake back in the pan, upside down, and leave on the counter for a day to ‘season’.
For a 2″ high sheet pan, I’d use 2 batches of cake. If you put 2 quarter sheets together to make a half sheet, place extra cardboards under the cake.
Hi TXBunny, A 9×13 sheet pan needs 7 to 10 cups of cake batter. This recipe makes 7 1/2 cups batter. So you will be fine to make the recipe twice or double the recipe if your mixer will handle that much batter. Of course, if you add 10 cups of batter your cakes will be taller. Baking at 350 degrees the 9×13 pan with 7 cups of batter will bake for 35 – 40 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean — 10 cups per pan will need 40 – 45 minutes. Below are two charts showing cake batter amounts and baking times ( they are guidelines you do not necessarily have to follow exactly). You may find them helpful in the future.
link to fromkarenskitchen.com
link to wilton.com
Hi TXBunny, I answered your first post before seeing your second post. I think your methods sound good.
Bebe, thank you so much for replying! I get nervous making cakes for other people. Another commenter replied to me right after I posted. It looks like you have two Bunny’s on your site. :)
I have a question about this lemon cake… I was wondering why there is no oil or butter in this recipe. Is this an accidental omission or is this correct? I don’t think I’ve ever baked a cake without one or the other?
Hi Donna, yes, it is correct as written! Hope you enjoy it ;0)
Thank you so much for replying so quickly! Happy baking!
Can vodka be added as part of the water?
Hi Lee, We have not tried that so I don’t know the outcome, let us know if you give it a try.
I am making this cake right now. I followed the directions exactly. I’m pretty nervous. It’s been in the oven for 35 minutes already and the edges are dark brown but the center is not even close to being done. What could I have done wrong?
Hi Aflanigan, Did you put the batter in the correct size pans 8×2 inches round. Cover the top of the pans loosely with aluminum foil so the cakes won’t become too dark while baking. Let me know how it goes.
Do you add the dry lemon pudding mix to the recipe or 4 tbs of lemon pudding? And would you suggest adding flour to the cake recipe as I am at 6000 ft?
Hi Meg, You will be adding 4 Tablespoons of dry pudding mix. We do not have experience with high altitude baking as we are on the east coast. Below is a link to information that should be helpful to you.
link to craftsy.com
Baked this cake yesterday to take to our Tuesday Bible Study, frosted with the lemon cream cheese frosting and it was a big hit. I made the cake in a 9 X 13 pan which took 45 minutes to bake and the only problem I had was the frosting did not want to adhere to the cake. No one seemed to mind though and I will definitely file this away for future baking although I do like to change it up each week which everyone seems to enjoy because they don’t know what to expect.
Thank You.
I made a muffin version
Thanks for your feedback, ladies! So happy that you liked the recipe! @Jane- those are too cute!
@Patricia- Strange about the frosting not adhering! Had the frosting become too firm in the refrigerator so that it wasn’t spreadable? Or if it was too soft, you could chill it a bit longer before frosting. Glad you all enjoyed it though!
Hi Patricia, Thanks so much for your nice review of the recipe. I’m happy your friends enjoyed the cake!
Hi Jane, Thanks for posting your picture, they look delicious!!
I will make a large round cake; my pan currently uses two Duncan hines mixes for each layer. Should I make two recipes and fill as usual for each layer. I bake my cakes at 325 degrees until toothpick is clean. I usually wrap each layer in saran and decorate the next day.
Hi Susan, This recipe makes 7 1/2 cups batter. I don’t know the size of your pans . I am posting links below to 2 cake batter amount charts that you will find helpful. I think you will need to make two recipes and depending on the size of your pans you may have some batter left over to make a few cupcakes.
link to fromkarenskitchen.com
link to wilton.com
Those asking about the lack of butter/oil in recipe, just try it & u will have everyone asking for ur recipe. I use a vanilla recipe similar to this that everywhere I take it, people say it is the most flavorful & moist cake they have ever had.