This moist & delicious scratch Lemon Cake recipe has become one of our family favorites.
Not only are these homemade lemon cake layers delicious, but a simple lemon curd filling and lemon cream cheese frosting bring a triple dose of lemon to this fantastic dessert!
I love lemony desserts and am always looking for an excuse to make this cake! Over the years, this scratch lemon cake recipe has become one of our most popular on our site.
There’s just something about lemon, isn’t there? Mmmmm….
One of my favorite things about lemon cake is that it pairs wonderfully with so many flavors, including raspberry, blueberry, coconut, lime, and strawberry!
However, for today’s lemon cake, we’re pulling out all the stops and going FULL Lemon with a dreamy Lemon Curd Filling and my FAVORITE silky smooth Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting!
This cake is perfection!
Our Lemon Cake recipe is one of my favorite year-round desserts, but it is an especially popular choice for spring and summer gatherings, when everyone’s cravings for light and citrus filled desserts are at their highest!
While the lemon cake layers are the stars of the show, the homemade lemon curd and lemon cream cheese frosting are each so delicious that you will be tempted to forget the cake & just grab a spoon!
Lemon Lovers, you are going to want to save this recipe!
As we mentioned above, we filled our cake with a delicious and easy-to-make Lemon Curd Filling. You can find this recipe here: Amazing Lemon Curd Filling Recipe
What Frostings Pair well with Lemon Cake?
We frosted our cake with this flavorful, simple Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting Recipe. I just can’t get enough of delicious cream cheese frosting recipes!
This is definitely a keeper. However, if it’s buttercream that you are looking for, especially one that pipes perfectly and tastes amazing, look no further than our Lemon Buttercream Frosting Recipe!
How to Make our Homemade Lemon Cake
- After baking our two lemon cake layers, we allowed to cool for about 15 minutes on the wire rack before flipping them out and wrapping the layers in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil.
Wrapping the cakes while still a bit warm and then placing them in the freezer is a great way to make your layers even more moist!
- If you are working in advance, you can freeze your cake layers for up to three months, and then allow them to thaw on the countertop when you are ready to use.
We thaw our cake layers on the countertop while still wrapped…for about thirty minutes or so and unwrap as condensation begins to form on the foil. (It’s better for the condensation to form on the wrapping than on the cake itself!
- I think it’s easier to assemble and fill the layers while they are still partially frozen or at least well chilled since the layers are less fragile.
- When you are ready to assemble the cake, pipe a dam of the lemon cream cheese frosting around the outer edge of the bottom cake layer– we pipe about 1/4 inch from the edge. Then, spread the cake layer with a thin coat of lemon curd.
- Follow that by spreading on a layer of lemon cream cheese frosting. You may find it easier to pipe a spiral of lemon cream cheese frosting on top of the lemon curd, and then lightly spread it with an offset spatula. Then, add the next layer of cake.
- Once the two layers are stacked, I like to pipe lemon cream cheese frosting in the gap between the two layers to make sure that the filling is well sealed inside.
- *One note about the filling…it is SO good that you will be tempted to really slather it on thick between the layers. However, doing this will make your layers more likely to slip in slide.
- Next, we crumb coated the cake with a thin layer of Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting, and followed immediately with large rosettes piped using a large star tip (1M or 2D).
- *This cake should be refrigerated until closer to the time of serving, due to the lemon cream cheese frosting and lemon curd.
If you are unable to chill the cake, a buttercream filling and frosting would be a better option! (We have TONS of buttercream frosting recipes in our Recipes Section.)
A word about Measuring Your Ingredients…
*As with any of our scratch cake recipes, we highly recommend measuring the ingredients (especially dry ingredients) by weight with a kitchen scale. This will ensure that you are using the intended amount of flour, etc.
However, if you do not have a digital scale, lightly spoon the dry ingredients into your measuring cup and slide a knife across the top to level.
This is a much more accurate way to measure than “scooping” the ingredients, which will give you more than the intended amount. Make sure to put a digital scale on your wish list if you don’t have one–they are very reasonably priced and SO helpful!
Looking for a fabulous Lemon Cake that starts from a box mix Instead?
We LOVE this scratch Lemon Cake Recipe but good lemon cake is good lemon cake no matter if it is a scratch recipe or starts from a mix.
Some bakers prefer to work with box mixes for convenience, consistency, or just because it’s a fabulous recipe!
If you are someone who prefers to work with doctored cake mixes, we have you covered! You can find our Lemon Cake from a doctored cake mix here: Lemon Cake: Doctored Cake Mix Recipe
*last updated 5/8/18
Lemon Cake from Scratch
This light and lemony scratch lemon cake is so moist and flavorful! I love it year-round, but especially in the spring and summer months! This has been one of our most popular recipes over the years!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks (12T) (170g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups (300g) sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature (if cold, place in a bowl of warm water for 5 min.)
- 3 cups (342g) cake flour *if you do not have cake flour, see note below
- 1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (7g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (3g) baking soda
- 1 cup (242 g) milk
- 1/4 cup (57g) lemon juice
- 1/4 cup (53g) vegetable oil
- zest of 2 lemons
- 1 Tablespoon (10g) lemon extract
- *** ** If you don't have cake flour, for each cup of all purpose flour (or plain flour in the UK) remove 2 Tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch. For this recipe, measure out 3 cups all purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoons and replace with 6 Tablespoons cornstarch. Whisk to blend.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Grease and flour two 8 inch pans ( my pans are 2 inches deep). You could also divide the batter between three 8 inch pans for slightly thinner layers which allows for an additional layer of filling.
- In a medium sized bowl add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and zest of 2 lemons. Whisk to blend and set aside.
- In another bowl, add the milk, vegetable oil and lemon juice, and lemon extract. Whisk to blend and set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, beat the softened butter until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and mix on medium speed 3 to 5 minutes until it is lightened in color and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
- Add the flour mixture and the milk mixture alternately. Begin and end with the flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk). Mix until combined and smooth, do not mix above medium speed or over mix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pans, smoothing the tops with the back of a spoon. Bake at 350 degrees. If baking three 8 inch pans, bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. For two 8 inch pans, bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with only a few crumbs attached. Let the cakes cool in the pans 10 minutes then turn out.
(This recipe makes 7 cups of batter)
ASSEMBLY OF CAKE
- For the cake pictured in this post, we piped a dam of lemon cream cheese frosting about 1/4 inch inside the edge of the first layer. We spread a thin layer of lemon curd frosting, piped and spread a layer of lemon cream cheese frosting on top of it, and added the top cake layer. We thinly crumb coated the cake with our lemon cream cheese frosting before piping large rosettes all over the cake (use a 2D or 1M tip).
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More Lemon Cakes and Desserts!
If you’re looking for something to pair with your lemon cake other than lemon flavored fillings and frostings, we also love this Strawberry Lemon Cake! This cake with it’s unique and delicious combination of flavors is sure to become a favorite!
**You may also enjoy our scratch Pink Lemonade Cake Recipe! Moist, delicious, and with the perfect amount of tartness. This cake is a wonderful dessert for summertime parties!: Pink Lemonade Cake from Scratch
We also love this Lemon Blueberry Cake Recipe from scratch! There’s just something about the combination of lemon and blueberry– it’s the PERFECT combination of flavors! This cake also features lemon cream cheese frosting and a delicious Blueberry Buttercream!
Finally, I have one more lemon cake recipe to share! This easy Lemon Pound Cake recipe is a classic! If you are a fan of pound cake and lemon, you are going to fall in love with this recipe!
Learn Cake Decorating with My Cake School
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Finally, if you would like to have full access to the hundreds of cake decorating video tutorials that we’ve made over the years, you should consider becoming a member of My Cake School!
Our site is the best, most fun way to learn cake decorating- and we have tutorials for all skill levels!
We would love to have you! You can find all of the details here: Membership details for My Cake School
Hi
I usually bake my cake layers the day before frosting and refrigerating. So do you still recommend freezing them, if I do my cakes that way.
Hi Jackie, Our preference is to bake our layers and wrap in plastic wrap while still warm and freeze until needed. It makes the layers more moist. If you are freezing for a longer period you would also use plastic wrap then wrap in aluminum foil or a put into a freezer bag. If freezing for just a day or two a double layer of plastic wrap will be fine. If you do not want to freeze (it is optional) just let the layers come to room temperature and cover to keep airtight until the next day.
Hi there. Can I use 9″ cake pans for this recipe?
Hi Loretta, Yes, you can bake in two 9 inch pans. Your cake layers won’t be quite as tall, but will be fine. Bake at 350 degrees ( 325 degrees if you are baking in dark colored pans). Check at 25 minutes, the cake will be done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
Hello! Can this lemon cake be made in a 9 x 13 pan? If so, what would be the bake time?
Hi LaTanya, Yes, you can bake the Lemon scratch recipe in a 9×13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. If baking in a dark colored pan, reduce the temperature to 325 degrees and bake a bit longer. This will give you a cake that is approximately 2 inches high. You will need to double the recipe for a two layer 9×13 cake. Hope all goes well.
Hello there! Would it increase the volume of the cake if I whip the egg whites and fold them in? Thanks!
Hi Lyanna, Folding in beaten egg whites will add air into the cake batter making it fluffy, and will give you light and airy layers. It won’t make the cake layers noticeably taller.
Can I replace the lemons with oranges to make an orange cake?
Hi Lyanna, In the recipe section of mycakeschool.com we have 2 orange cake recipes you might like. Here is a link
https://www.mycakeschool.com/recipes/cakes-and-cupcakes/
I noticed that this cake recipe uses vegetable oil AND butter. Can I use just butter? Also, can I substitute the milk for half and half or buttermilk?
This came out great, I made it for my husband’s birthday. I used the lemon curd for the filling and the lemon buttercream to frost. I think the lemon buttercream was a little too sweet, but over all …great recipe thank you
Hi Zondra, We have not tried using half and half or buttermilk, but I think it would work for the recipe.
Hi Linda, Thank you for posting! I’m so happy you tired the recipe and enjoyed the cake. For a less sweet buttercream you can reduce the powdered sugar by 2 cups, it will also be a bit softer.
Hello there! Can I use shortening instead of the butter since it’s cheaper? Thanks!
Hi Talia, Generally you can substitute shortening instead of butter for a cake recipe and it will be moist and tender. The butter gives more flavor, so it is going to be a matter of your personal preference. Some bakers use half and half. If you give it a try, I would love to know your thoughts.
So good I made cupcakes,with my granddaughter makes 24 reg. And 24 mini I fill a little over 3/4 They are so tasty going to frost with coco butter frosting I will always use this recipe.
Hi Ben, It is good to know the recipe makes so many cupcakes. Thank you so much for your nice review of the recipe.
Hi
Could you help me to take a look at the cake texture? is the cake texture suppose like kind of dense and will not fluffy a lot? or just the way i mix it?
I made for my daughter birthday, the taste was fantastic, just it wasnt raised a lot to fill the Wilton 3D choo choo cake so i got 1 side of the train flatted.
Thanks
Hi Phoebe, I am sorry you had a problem with the recipe. There are several possible causes for the cake not rising properly and the texture of the cake. Make sure that your baking powder is not out of date. Under mixing and also over mixing can cause problems with height and texture of the cake. When mixing the cake batter, do not mix over medium speed. Is your oven heating to the correct temperature? You can check this with an oven thermometer. Also, did you have enough cake batter? This recipe makes 7 cups batter so you should have had enough.
Love Love Love your recipes! 100% they are fantastic!
Will this recipe work for high altitude? I’m in Colorado and want to make sure I don’t have cake batter burning on the bottom of my oven ? thank you!!
Hi Megan, We do not have experience baking at high altitude. Here is a link to information that I think you will find helpful.
https://www.craftsy.com/baking/article/how-to-bake-at-high-altitude/
This cake with my own touch turned out light and fluffy with my homemade whipped lemon cream cheese topping!! Thank you for sharing!!
Hi Stacey, Thanks so much for posting a picture of your cake, it looks and sounds delicious! I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe!
Can I use a spring form pan?
Hi Masey, We have not baked a cake in a springform pan, but you should be able to do so. Grease and flour the pan and put a piece of parchment paper or waxed paper in the bottom of the pan to keep it from sticking.
You might want to put aluminum foil under the pan just in case it might leak while baking. You will have 7 cups of batter in one pan so you should use bake even strips around the sides of the pan. If you do not have this, you can use strips of an old towel that is cut into strips the height of the springform pan. Wet the strips and squeeze out the excess water. Wrap a piece of towel. around the outside of the pan and secure with a safety pin or a paper clip. This will help in preventing the outside of your cake from over baking and drying out before the center of the cake is fully baked. A cake bakes from the outside inward. Fill the pan approx. 2/3’s full. It will be a longer baking time with all the batter in one pan, so keep an eye on it ……it is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. After taking it out of the oven, run a knife around the edges to loosed it before cooling and opening the latch.Hope all goes well. It might be a good idea to look for a youtube video on using bake even strips or towel strips, if you are not familiar with them.
Hi, Can this cake be used for lemon cupcakes or will it be too dense? Can you recommend a recipe on your site to be used for lemon cupcakes? I will need to make a raspberry filling for them as well. Thank you!
Hi there…was looking at the butter measurement and was confused. It says 1 1/2 sticks of butter or 12 T or 170 grams but I believe a stick of butter is 1/2 cup? That would be 1 1/4 cups right? I live in Canada and use cups and was converting using Google and it says 12T or 170 g is 3/4 cup. Can you please clarify? Thanks so much!
Hi Lola, I am sorry that was confusing. In the US butter is often in stick form, and 1 stick of butter is 8 Tablespoons (1/2 cup). So 1/2 stick of butter is 4 Tablespoons (1/4 cup). The amount of butter needed for the recipe is 3/4 cup (170g).
This was definitely worth the effort. A slightly longer bake time than I expected but came out moist and perfect, frosting was also very good. Thank you!
Hi, can I use buttermilk? If so, would i need to alter the amounts of baking soda and powder?
Hi Kimberly, Yes, you can use buttermilk. Since the recipe already has baking soda because of the lemon juice in the recipe, I think you will be fine to use the amounts listed. Hope you will enjoy the cake.
Hi Annie, Your slice of cake looks wonderful. Thank you so much for posting your nice comments.
Hi! I am looking forward to trying this recipe! It has been requested by my daughter for her 21st birthday :) What to do if one doesn’t have lemon extract? The closest thing resembling it where I live is lemon essence, but it is synthetic flavour and glycerine based. Can I omit? Or add more lemon juice/rind? TIA :)
Hi Carla, I don’t have experience using lemon essence, so I can’t give a recommendation on using it. We have found that using lemon juice alone in a cake recipe gives very little lemon flavor. Without using lemon extract, lemon zest would be the best option. I think you would need to double the amount of zest for the cake, frosting, and lemon curd filling (if you are making a filling). Saying this, I still worry that you will have the lemon flavor you need. Using a microplane is the best way to zest a lemon. Do you have time to order lemon extract online? We have used Watkins and McCormick brands. You can also make a simple lemon syrup that can be brushed onto the tops of your cake layers. This will add more lemon flavor as well as moisture to your layers. Be careful not to add to much or the cake will be soggy. Recipe: 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup water. Add this to a saucepan set over moderate heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Let cool completely before brushing on cake layers. This can be made in advance, put in a covered container and refrigerated for 1 week.
Can this recipe be halved?
Hi Kaylee, It should be fine to do so.
Aloha,
I am wondering if I can use lemon pudding as a filling, rather than the lemon curd?
Mahalo.
Hi Catherine, The lemon curd has a more tart taste but, yes, I think you could use lemon pudding. Are you using Jello brand? I have not made instant pudding in a while, I’m not quite sure how thick it is. Don’t spread the filling too close to the edge or when you put on the next layer, it could be pushed out. Another option……below is a link to our orange mousse that uses vanilla Jello pudding and orange extract. You could use lemon pudding with lemon extract.
https://www.mycakeschool.com/recipes/orange-filling-recipe/
Can i add lemon jello to this cake for extra lemon flavor? If so, at what point in the recipe would I add it?
Hi Carla, We have not tried lemon jello for flavor in this recipe so I cannot be sure of the outcome. Do you want to add jello because you don’t have lemon extract?
Love this recipe! Accidentally reversed the leavening agents, but it turned out so fluffy! I didn’t have any lemon extract, but I used this country time lemonade powder and it worked so well! Will definitely make this again! Thank you!!
Hi Ryann, Your cake is beautiful! Good to know about the Country Time lemonade powder. How much powder did you use?
I recently tried the lime cake with the buttermilk substitution (thank you; it was great). I wanted to try this lemon cake also. I saw a previous comment re: no other substitutions needed for buttermilk. The lime and lemon cake are slightly different. I will not have time to test. I did use conventional mixing with the lime and the lime simple syrup. (1/4 water & sugar & tablespoon lime juice) . Just curious about why the lime and lemon would be slightly different. Thank you as always for your suggestions. :)
Can I make this into an orange cake by swapping out the corresponding juice and zest
Hi Sujatha, In theory it should work, I just don’t know how intense the orange flavor will be. In our Orange Dreamsicle Cake (link below) we used frozen orange juice concentrate. I don’t know if that product is available to you. You will definitely need to use 1 Tablespoon orange extract to get the depth of flavor needed. Hope all goes well, let us know what you think.
https://www.mycakeschool.com/recipes/dreamsicle-delicious-homemade/#mv-creation-84-jtr
Thank you for the tip!
Will definitely try and let you know
Hi Melissa and BeBe-
Do you think this recipe would make 3 6″ layers, around 1 1/2″ tall each? I am sure that I have made this recipe before but I can’t recall. I just made another lemon cake recipe using ap flour, but I don’t know if I love it. Many recipes I am looking at use cake flour. Must be a reason with lemon cakes? Finer, softer texture and crumb?
Thank you and hope everyone is well. :-)
Hi Paula, This recipe makes 7 cups of batter. The suggested amount of batter for 6 inch round pans is 2 cups per pan, so you should have no problem with your layers being 1 1/2 inches tall.
We like using cake flour for a lighter more tender cake. It comes down to personal preference, because either flour could be used. We are all good here, just staying home more than usual as the numbers in NC have been increasing the last 2 weeks. Take care.
Just wanted to let you know that I tried to make an orange cake with the same recipe and turned out well!!
Hi Sujatha, That is great! Thanks for letting us know!
Your cake looks beautiful, I want to make it as a surprise for my mom but I have a question. Does this cake typically dome or should I use cake strips?? TIA!
Hi Emily, We did not use baking strips. If there is a dome it is very slight. It will be fine to use the baking strips as a precaution.
Thank u so much for your response! I have another question, if I wanted to make the cake layers the night before, how would I go about chilling/freezing it, if needed, for the next day to frost?? And then once it’s iced, how long should I leave it out at room temperature to serve without the buttercream messing up?? Thank u so much!!
Do you have a cook time recommendation for 2 x 9 inch round pans?
Hi Victoria, One 9 inch pan can hold 5 1/2 cups batter. Since you are dividing 7 cups batter
in this recipe between your your 2 pans, keep the baking time the same. Keep an eye on the pans, may take a bit longer, I’m not sure. Hope you will enjoy the recipe.
Thank you. I baked for for 30 minutes and they look wonderful. Just finished making the lemon curd and now on to the frosting. So far everything is wonderful and smells amazing.
Can I use this recipe for cupcakes? What’s the yield and bake time?
Hi Angela, Yes, it works well for cupcakes. For standard size cupcakes bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes. I think you may get 28 to 30 cupcakes with this recipe. Give us a follow-up on how many you get.
Hi Amanda, Yes, you can bake this cake in a 9×13 pan. Bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes, keep an eye on it and check at 30 minutes. If baking in a dark colored pan, reduce the temperature to 325 degrees and check sooner. Hope you will enjoy the cake.
Have you tried dividing each cake layer to make it a 4 layer cake? wondering if the actual cake will crumble if I try this and I am using 8″ rounds….thanks for info :)
Hi Felicia, We have not divided the layers but I think the recipe would work well for you to do that.
Hi Sukhi, I use whole milk
Hi! Just wondering if I can use whole wheat pastry flour for this recipe.
Hi Chanda, I have read that it could be used in place of all purpose flour, but I have no experience using it. This recipes uses cake flour.
Very tasty! I swapped the oil and butter for olive oil, and used maple sugar (either that or coconut, which is too dark for a light cake like this). I’ll definitely be making this again!
Hi. Is this cake dense enough to use as a 3 tier wedding cake?
Can this recipe be used for 3 9” deep cake pans
Hi Loree, Yes, it is dense enough to use as a tiered wedding cake. You will be having dowels or bubble tea straws supporting the tiers.
Hi Sarah, Thank you for you nice post.
Hi Robyn, Do you mean three 9 inch round pans? This recipe makes 7 cups of batter. If your pans are 9×2 inch round pans. You can divide the batter between the 2 pans, having 3 1/2 cups for each pan. A 9×2 inch pan can hold 5 cups of batter, so your layers will be approximately 1 1/4 inches high. This will still look fine when filled and frosted. If you want to use 3 pans, you could double the recipe.
My batter went up and over the pans within 10 minutes of being in the oven! 9″ pans! That left me with a very tedious cleaning job?
Hi Bonnie, This recipe makes 7 cups of batter. A 9×2 inch round pan can hold 5 cups of batter. You used 2 pans so I do not know why this would have happened. I think when too much baking powder/soda is used the batter will rise rapidly, then collapse. I am sorry for this disappointment, I know clean-up was terrible.
I doubled the recipe and split it between 3 9inch by 2 inches deep and they came out fine
Thanks Robyn, I’m happy to hear all went well for you.
Best Lemon Cake, Lemon Curd and Frosting!!! Made a cake for my friend’s housewarming and they love it!!!
Hi Kimmy, Your cake and presentation is lovely!! Thanks so much for posting the photo and your nice review of the recipe!
The cake tasted perfect but it wasn’t yellow?
Hi Lori, It will only be as yellow as the egg yolks and butter you use. Some brands of butter are more yellow than others. You will need to add food coloring for a deeper yellow color.
What is the reason to use lemon extract, instead of real lemon juice?
Hi Vincent, We have tried using just lemon juice but the flavor bakes out. Lemon zest gives more flavor than lemon juice but for the depth of flavor we wanted we use lemon extract. Hope you will enjoy the recipe.
Hi Melissa and BeBe, the recipe is so easy and fabulous. Thank you so much for sharing :)
Thank you! It turned out great. I halved it for testing. Used buttermilk instead of milk. Lovely texture and a very delicate flavor to it. Thank you for sharing the lovely recipe <3
Hello I wanted to ask if if can skip the lemon extract or is it essential in the cake
Hello, can you make this cake the night before and then put it in the fridge for the next day?