I love all sorts of cakes all year round, but when summer arrives, I’m in the mood for something a little fruity! Bring me strawberry cake, lemon cake, coconut cake, Piña Colada, and I have a new one now–mmmm…..Lime Cake from Scratch!!
Today I’m going to share the most DELICIOUS homemade Lime Cake recipe. It is moist, flavorful, and has a freshness that feels like summertime!
Mom (aka our BeBe) is the mastermind behind many of our wonderful scratch recipes. Lucky for me, we work together every day and I get to taste test.
In the past week, we have tried at least six versions of lime cake, along with various combinations of frostings and fillings.
One thing that we discovered in our experimenting is that it is difficult to achieve a strong lime flavored cake from lime juice and zest alone.
We found the same for our favorite lemon cake recipe but we had lemon extract to bump up the flavor.
However, lime extracts are much more difficult to find, especially locally. We wondered if adding a bit of lime jello would be the answer– but it wasn’t…. the flavor was too artificial.
In the end, brushing our lime cake layers with lime syrup and lime curd was the key to giving us a delicious lime cake!
**This recipe would taste great with buttercream also, but we decided to use cream cheese frosting which was divine ;0) You can find the recipe here!: Cream Cheese Frosting
** This recipe calls for the Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing. This refers to the order that the ingredients are mixed, and the result is a cake that is slightly denser with a velvety texture. If you have never made a cake with the Reverse Creaming Method, you may want to watch our free video tutorial: Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing-Video Tutorial.
Lime Cake from Scratch-Recipe
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2 1/2 cups (285g) cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups (300g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons (12g) baking powder
- 1 1/2 sticks (12T) (169g) unsalted butter, softened slightly, still cold to the touch (do not soften in the microwave) you can cut into 1/2 inch slices onto waxed paper to soften more quickly.
- If it becomes too soft, just refrigerate for a few minutes.
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup (242g) milk
- 2 Tablespoons (18g) vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup (59g) lime juice (We used Nellie & Joe's bottled Key Lime Juice.)
- zest of 2 limes - best done with a microplane, just the green of the lime
For the Lime Simple Syrup:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 Tablespoons lime juice
For the Lime Curd:
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (30g) cornstarch
- 1 cup (236g) water
- 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
- 1 Tablespoon grated lime zest
- 4 Tablespoons (55g) lime juice
Directions
For the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 x 2 inch round pans. I split the layers for four layers to assemble the cake, your could also bake in three 8 x 2 pans. This will give you more lime curd per slice. I used the reverse creaming method for this recipe.
- In the bowl of your mixer combine the cake flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and lime zest.
- In a separate bowl combine eggs, milk, vegetable oil, and lime juice. Blend with a fork.
- Whisk the dry ingredients for 30 seconds to combine. Begin with your mixer on low speed, gradually increasing to medium speed as you add the slices of butter a few pieces at a time. Beat until the dry ingredients are crumbly and moistened by the butter. The look & texture will be similar to coarse sand. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to make sure there is no dry flour.
- Slowly add approximately 1/2 of the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes, the batter will become thick and fluffy. Scrape the bowl and add the remaining egg mixture in 2 additions, beating for 20 seconds after each addition.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes (25 to 30 minutes if you bake in 3 pans) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cakes cool 10 minutes then turn out. Makes 6 1/2 cups of batter, works well for cupcakes.
For the Lime Simple Syrup:
- In a saucepan over medium heat bring the water and sugar to a boil. Turn the heat to low and stir constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Remove from heat and stir in the lime juice. Cool. If you want the mixture to be a thicker consistency, cook longer over low heat. Brush a small amount of the syrup onto your cake layers before you begin assembling your cake. Apply sparingly so that the cake does not become soggy. We apply while the cakes are still warm but you could also do this at room temp just before assembling. We prefer to use a pastry brush. With lime juice added to the mixture it will last 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator.
For the Lime Curd:
- Combine sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan, pour in water. Over medium heat, stir the mixture constantly until it thickens and comes to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, remove the pan from the heat. Spoon about 1/2 cup of the hot mixture into a small bowl containing the egg yolks and stir quickly until combined. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan. Return pan to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, approximately 1 min. The mixture will thicken slightly. Remove from heat and stir in the butter, lime juice and lime zest. Cool before using.
To Assemble the Cake:
- After lightly brushing our layers with lime syrup, we filled with the lime curd, and then crumb coated and frosted the cake with our Cream Cheese Frosting recipe (linked above the recipe).
We frosted our cake with a delicious Cream Cheese Frosting. Find the recipe here!: Cream Cheese Frosting
Looks and sounds delicious!
Thanks Ellen!!?
Sounds delicious! Printing it out to try in my own way :)
Yummy!
I made this cake tonight into cupcakes. I brushed them with the simple syrup and filled them with the lime curd. The balance of lime was perfect and the cake was very moist. I used the fluffy vanilla cream frosting from this site. My family loved them, perfect for summer.
@Heather- I’m so happy to hear it! Thanks for your feedback! xoxo
Sounds great, wondering if I could substitute buttermilk for the milk?
I made this cake for my daughter’s birthday last weekend. I was concerned about the lime flavor coming through, so I took about a cup of lime juice and cooked it over a very low heat until it was the required 1/4 cup. The lime flavor was amazing! I didn’t even do the syrup glaze. I paired it with a coconut cream cheese filling. Thanks for the great recipe!
HI Trisha, Great tip on heating and reducing the lime juice, I’m going to try that the next time I make this cake. It sounds divine paired with coconut cream cheese filling!
Can I use all purpose flour instead of cake flour?
Hi Cynthia, If you do not have cake flour, this is a substitute you can use. For each cup of flour, measure out (lightly spoon and level) one cup of all purpose flour. Remove 2 Tablespoons from the cup and replace it with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch. Whisk to blend. For this recipe you would measure out 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, remove 1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoons of the all purpose flour and replace it with 1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoons cornstarch and whisk to blend.
Hi Melissa! Can I cover this cake with fondant? Thanks
Can I use freshly squeezed lime juice
Hi Claudia, Yes, the cake can be covered in fondant.
Hi Bukoye, Yes, you can use freshly squeezed lime juice. You will get a more intense flavor if you are able to use key limes.
My cake didn’t rise… it was super heavy/dense. The rest turned out great. I made it twice with the same results. Totally disappointed.
Hi Jennifer, I’m sorry that your cake didn’t turn out. If you’ve never made a recipe using the Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing, I’ve added a link to our video tutorial above the recipe that may help.
When adding the butter, you should stop mixing when it takes on the consistency/look of coarse sand. Mixing beyond this can lead to the cake becoming super dense. Also, the egg mixture should be added slowly or it could cause problems.
If you prefer using the conventional method of mixing rather than the reverse creaming method, we are working on having many of our reverse creaming method recipes listed with a conventional method alternative. (Conventional method results in a fluffier cake.) I hope this helps!
Would conventional creaming of ingredients work with this recipe?
Hi Vivi, Yes, you can use the conventional mixing method with this recipe. I suggest writing it out in the conventional format and counting the ingredients to make sure nothing has been overlooked. Hope you like the recipe.
I planned to make this for my mom’s birthday, paired with the coconut cream cheese frosting. The cake rose a little while baking, then fell immediately. I ended up with two very dense thin layers. The curd is delicious, but otherwise, we probably have to toss it!
I’m just craving. Moreover delicious and mouth watering cakes and cupcakes are here at Dreamy Creations.
Hi i followed this recepie to bake just the cake and the cake turn out well n tasty. I use fresh lime juice n my husband n kids love the taste.
It took me 45 minute 160 c to bake using fan feature.
Hi Harvin, Wonderful!! So happy you like the recipe!
This was one of the best cakes I’ve EVER made. My family went berserk. I used fresh lime juice. Followed the directions exactly but my cakes turned out dense and thin like some of the other commenters above but it didn’t matter in the end because it was INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS. Thanks for this stellar recipe!
Can you use store bought lime curd instead of making your own?
Hi Heather, yes, it will be fine to buy the lime curd.
Wow, this is absolutely Wonderful!! I can’t stop eating. it! So moist! Refrigerate it a couple hours before serving to let the frosting harden and the flavors to settle in the cake.AAA+++
YAY!! I am so happy you like it. Thanks for posting!
Hey, I’m having trouble with the measurement for the butter is it 1 1\2 cups or sticks also the grams are not adding up to the cup measurement… Please help….
Hi Kathy, yes the recipe above calls for 1 1/2 sticks of butter which is the equivalent of 12 Tablespoons. I’m not sure why the gram weight isn’t working out for you, unless maybe your scale isn’t zeroed out…should be right around 170g.
I tired this recipe twice.the first time it came out dense and barely rose.I tried it again and when it came out the oven it immediately sank dense.both times very pale in colour.
Hi Kelly, It sounds as though you had a problem using the reverse creaming method. If you ever decide to try the recipe again you might want to use the conventional mixing method, which is: In a separate bowl, add the flour, salt, baking powder and lime zest. Whisk and set aside. In another bowl, combine the milk, vegetable oil, and lime juice. Set aside. In the bowl of your mixer, cream the butter until softened, gradually add the sugar and mix 3 to 5 minutes until it is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing each egg until the yellow of the yolk is blended in. Alternately add the flour and milk mixture. Beginning and ending with the flour mixture (3 additions of flour mixture and 2 of milk mixture. Mix until just blended, do to over mix or mix above medium speed. Pour in pans. Hope all goes well.
my layers were very dense and small. I tried the reverse creaming even timed the beating time. Flavor was good. Not sure if it is supposed to be so dense. used 3 8″ pans cake was small?