Lime Velvet Cake
This delicious Lime Velvet Cake is so soft and moist with wonderful flavor from the lime cake layers, lime curd filling, and cream cheese frosting. This makes a great, light dessert for any special occasion- especially in the spring and summer months!
Servings: 15
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened (226g) We used one 8 oz package, full fat.
- 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened (168g) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar (400g)
- 4 large eggs, room temperature (to save time you can warm them in a bowl of very warm water for 5 min)
- 3 cups cake flour- see Notes for substitution (342g)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (8g)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (3g)
- ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
- 1 cup buttermilk (235g)
- ¼ cup lime juice (we used bottled lime juice (RealLime brand) but fresh squeezed is fine also) This is the amount in approx 1-2 limes.
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (we used canola oil) (54g)
- Zest of two limes
For the Lime Curd Filling
- ¾ cup sugar 150g
- ¼ cup cornstarch 30g
- ¾ cup water 180g
- 2 egg yolks slightly beaten
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter 28g
- zest of one lime optional
- ¼ cup lime juice 55g
Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
- 16 oz cream cheese softened We used two 8 oz packages of full fat cream cheese.
- 3 sticks unsalted butter softened (339g)
- ½ teaspoon salt 2g
- 6 ½-7 cups powdered sugar 747g
- 2 tablespoons Lime Juice
Instructions
For the Cake Layers
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour three 8 inch pans. We like to line the bottom of our pans with circles of parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt for 30 seconds and set aside.
- In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, vegetable oil, lime juice, and lime zest. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and cream cheese and mix at medium speed until smooth.
- Gradually add the sugar and mix at medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
- With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (We did 3 additions of the dry mixture, 2 additions of wet). Slightly increase the mixer speed just until combined.
- Divide the batter between the three prepared pans.
- Bake at 325 degrees F for 28-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pans on a wire rack before turning out. **Note that these pull away from the pan a bit more than most of our recipes, but once they are turned out, they look perfectly normal.
- This recipe makes approximately 8 cups of batter. Works for cupcakes also (although there will be little to no dome).
For the Lime Curd
- In a sauce pan add the sugar cornstarch, egg yolks, water, lime juice and zest and butter. Stir to blend.Cook on medium low heat, stirring until ingredients are smooth and well combined.
- Increase to medium heat and stir constantly until the mixture begins to thicken and bubble. Reduce heat and stir for about a minute more- it will take on a pudding-like thickness/consistency.
- Remove the sauce pan from the heat. Pour curd into a heat proof bowl. Allow to cool 15 minutes, press a piece of plastic wrap onto the top of the curd to prevent a "skin" from forming. Refrigerate until cool, the curd will thicken further as it cools.
- The curd can be refrigerated for a week. When ready to use, remove from the refrigerator and allow to warm a bit and stir for easier spreading. It can also be frozen for 3 months.
For the Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
- Add the softened butter to the bowl of your mixer, mix until smooth. Cut the softened cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, mixing until blended.
- Add the lime juice. Gradually add powdered sugar, mixing on low speed until combined. Gradually increase the speed to medium, mixing until smooth and creamy. Be careful not to over mix.
- This frosting will pipe best if used while still chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use, let it soften slightly and remix. If the frosting becomes too soft while using, refrigerate the piping bag or bowl for a short while to firm it up.
Assembling the Cake
- Place the first cake layer on the cake plate or pedestal.
- Pipe a dam of buttercream around the edge of the cake layer, using a piping bag with the tip snipped away (or ziplock bag).
- Fill within the dam with a layer of lime curd, then pipe on a layer of cream cheese frosting. (We piped a spiral of frosting over the top of the layer, using a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away.)
- Top with the next cake layer and repeat the steps of piping a dam, filling with curd, and a layer of frosting. Top with the third cake layer. Fill in any gaps between the layers with frosting.
- Crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of frosting. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes to firm things up (optional). Apply the final layer of frosting.
- Decorate however you like! We used an offset spatula to create texture around the sides and top of the cake. then created a pattern of piped shells for a top border using a 2D piping tip. As a final touch, we sprinkled lime zest over the top.)
Refrigeration and Storage
- Because of the filling and frosting, this cake should be refrigerated in an airtight container, under a cake dome, or in a bakery box. However, or the best flavor and texture, remove the cake from the refrigerator 2-3 hours before serving. This will allow the cake time to warm and soften.
Notes
Substitution for Cake Flour: (Using all purpose flour (plain in UK) to make Cake Flour) For each cup of flour in a recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour in the UK). This recipe has 3 cups of flour so you will measure out 3 cups of all purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoons and replace with 6 Tablespoons cornstarch, whisk to blend