Lemon Velvet Cake
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Lemon Velvet Cake. Our most popular cake to date, for its real lemon flavour and incredible light, airy texture, while still staying moist and delicious.
Before this Lemon Velvet Cake, it all started with me trying to develop the best Red Velvet Cake recipe I could.
It was such a success and I loved the moist, tender texture of that cake so much that I just had to try a White Velvet Cake and then an Orange Velvet Cake.
Those turned out to be a couple of the most popular cake recipes ever on Rock Recipes so I couldn't stop there. Keeping the lemon lovers like me in mind, a luscious lemon version was inevitable.
The creamy, tangy lemon buttercream frosting goes particularly well with this beautiful lemon cake too.
Am I done with Velvet Cake recipes yet? Maybe not, I have an idea that might work out for yet another version. Here's a clue... think pink. 🙂
Update: That pink version is now posted as Raspberry Velvet Cake!
Looking for more Velvet Cakes?
Be sure to check out all of the other recipes in the Velvet Cake Collection too!
I generally bake this cake in round 8 inch pans or 9 inch Aluminum Cake Pans but the recipe can also be made as a sheet cake in a 9 x 13 baking pan
I've found that the 9 inch pans may bake up a little quicker so be sure to check it 5 minutes early.
Depending on whether you use glass or not, the 9x13 size could take a few minutes longer. Just let the toothpick test be the final judge.
Lemon Velvet Cake as a birthday cake, anniversary cake or wedding cake.
2018 update: Since this recipe was first developed several years ago, I have heard from countless people who have made this cake for every possible occasion from an Easter Cake to a Mother's Day Cake. Wherever you find lemon lovers, this cake is sure to to be a hit.
However, I'll give one word of caution about fondant and wedding cakes. This is a very light textured cake, so if using fondant icing on a celebration cake be sure to use the thinnest layer you can.
Minimal stacking is also recommended unless you are using a weight supported stand. Too much weight can compress the light airy crumb structure of this cake.
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Lemon Velvet Cake
Developed from an outstanding Red Velvet Cake recipe, this lemon cake is a perfectly moist and tender crumbed cake with a lemony buttercream frosting. An ideal birthday cake for the lemon lover in your life.
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups sifted all purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups sifted cake flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup vegetable shortening at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon good quality vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon pure lemon extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk
- zest of two small or one large lemons, grated and finely chopped
For the Frosting
- 4 cups icing sugar, powdered sugar
- 1 cups unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon pure lemon extract
- 1 teaspoon minced lemon zest, optional
- 2 tablespoon milk, approximately
Instructions
- Grease and flour 2 nine inch round cake pans and line the bottom with 2 circles of parchment paper. Sift together both flours, baking soda. baking powder, salt and sugar, Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer beat together the vegetable oil, shortening, vanilla and lemon extract. Beat well at high speed with whisk attachment until light and fluffy
- Beat the eggs in one at a time.
- Fold in the lemon zest.
- Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk.
- I always add dry ingredients in three divisions and liquid ingredients in 2 divisions. It is very important to begin and end the additions with the dry ingredients. Do not over mix the batter. As soon as it has no lumps in the batter, pour into the two prepared 9 inch cake pans.
- Bake at 325 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.
To prepare the frosting
- Mix together the icing sugar, lemon zest and butter until it becomes sort of crumbly.
- Add the lemon extract and a little of the milk.
- Beat until smooth and fluffy, adding only enough milk to bring the frosting to a creamy spreadable consistency.
- Fill and frost the cake. Garnish with candied lemon zest if desired.
To make candied lemon zest
- Remove the zest with a sharp vegetable peeler in long strips, avoiding as much of the white pith as possible.
- Bring one cup of water and one cup of sugar to a slow boil.
- Add the pieces of lemon zest and boil for about 15 minutes. Drain the lemon zest on a wire rack.
- When cool, cut them in strips and roll in fine sugar.
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Notes
Previous versions of this recipe have included twice the amount of frosting. In this recent update I've halved that to provide enough frosting for the middle and top as many people seem to prefer. If you want to frost the entire sides of the cake as well. please feel free to make one and a half or even two times the recipe. It depends on how much frosting is your personal preference.
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Recommended Products
Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
Nutrition Information
Yield
16Serving Size
gAmount Per Serving Calories 538Total Fat 26gSaturated Fat 10gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 15gCholesterol 69mgSodium 278mgCarbohydrates 73gFiber 1gSugar 54gProtein 4g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
I'm thinking of using this cake with your 'The Ultimate Lemon Cake' recipe because it looks so much lighter and fluffier. What do you think? I found each of your recipes during separate searches then realized that they were both yours!
That would be great too I think.
Hello Barry. I am planning on making this cake for an outdoor birthday party. It's already summer. Do you think it would work well? I am not planning leaving it in the sun but it will likely be warm. Do you think the frosting could suffer?
I'd make it the day before and keep it in the fridge overnight to chill completely through. That should give you plenty of time for it to stand up to the warm temperatures.
I made this cake over the weekend and it turned out great! as of day 3 it was completly gone and my family want me to make another for the 4th. Now the only thig is the frosting makes way too much and i did have plenty left over so i will be able to cut that part of the recipe.
Would you possibly create a peach velvet cake? My mom loves the peach muffins we get at Folks & I would love to make a peach cake for her birthday!
Might be tricky to get real peach flavour into a cake. Maybe use a peach filling instead? What is Folks? Is it a restaurant chain?
can you make this cake ahead of time and freeze it and how long can you have it in the frezzer ?
It probably could be frozen for a couple of weeks. Let me know if you try it.
ThIs cake came out fantastic! Everyone loved it. I had a lot of frosting left over so when I make it again, I will reduce the ingredients by half. Thanks for posting.
Some people do prefer less icing but I'd get complaints on the other side if I reduced the frosting recipe. 😉
I would love to try this recipe, but I have a soy allergy, so the vegetable oil or shortening won't work for me. I'm new to the allergy and just getting back into baking. Any alternative suggestions?
I don't know much about allergy friendly cooking. I'd look for soy-free options for both.
Fantastic recipe - thank you, Barry! I have searched and searched for the perfect lemon cake and have finally found it. I just needed a small cake, though, so made 2 x 6" - approx 424g batter/pan, and 1 dozen regular size cupcakes. Baked all together - cupcakes came out perfectly at 20 min. Cakes took another 15. This is just lovely! Thanks again. Debbie
So glad you enjoyed it.
Absolutely delicious--moist and flavorful. Directions were perfect. I received many raves about this cake. The only things I changed: I used butter instead of shortening (because I didn't have any shortening) and I halved the frosting recipe. I thought that 8 cups of powdered sugar would make more icing than I needed. I had no shortage frosting the cake with half the recipe. I think using a full recipe of frosting may have looked better, but I'm surrounded by people who frequently pass on any dessert, so I wanted it to look a little less indulgent. Will definitely make this again and again.
Thanks for the rave review. It's in our top ten recipes for a reason!
Made this cake for my family reunion.turned out great! So moist
Thank you, Barry! This was one of the best cakes I've ever baked. It was light and moist...the frosting was to die for;-) Everyone that tasted it raved about it. I did it exactly as you wrote it except for I used lemon oil in the frosting to give it a stronger lemon flavor. Divine....many thanks...looking forward to trying more of your cakes!!!!
I made this cake yesterday for my hubs birthday and it was delicious! This cake is far better than the Famous Lemon Cake from our local "Sweet Surrender Bakery" that Oprah Winfrey has raves about. Better because it remains fluffy and more intense in flavor whereas the famous Sweet Surrender cake becomes firm (I suspect due to a lot of shortening). I am going to tell the world about this cake. I followed the recipe to a T and it came out beautiful. And I did have to make my own cake flour using the flour cornstarch thing and sifting it 5 times which was not a bit troublesome at all. Can't wait to check out your other recipes! Was glad hubs wanted lemon this year.
Hi, could you add strawberries or raspberries to the cake? Or would it mess up the whole recipe?
Dangerous. This is quite a delicate cake.
This cake is amazing, just loved the taste and texture. This is a keeper and thank you so much!!!
hello
Made this cake on Labor Day...huge success...just need to clarify frosting....was the butter to be melted or softened?
Not melted.