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.
Made this for a party tomorrow. The recipe made 24 cupcakes (could have got 28 but didn't want to dirty another pan). My oven was 17 min. I checked at 12, 15, 17. Didn't use lemon extract in batter I substituted with zest.
I added juice from one and 1/2 lemons to frosting and OMG!!!!!! Decreased milk to 2 TBSP but next time (there will definitely be a next time!) I will do the lemon juice 1st and then milk because could probably used touch less milk. Can't wait to get everyone's reaction tomorrow.
See post above- Oops I halved the frosting measurements and it was perfect for 24 cupcakes with a little extra so I could like the bowl!
OMG just tried this as cupcakes and I"m in love. Am going to pair them with a lime buttercream 🙂 \Have you ever tried this recipe without the lemon and just making it as a vanilla cake. I love the texture. Light and moist but not crumbly.
There are several versions of this cake on this site, including a white cake.
Can I use butter and coconut oil or avocado oil?
I've never tried that. This recipe is pretty specific to get the right texture/crumb.
Made this for a coworker's birthday - BIG HIT!!!!
How long should it take for the oil/shortening to fluff up? I'm not sure what I did wrong but one hour later it still isn't fluff in my kichenaid at high speed. Please help!!
A few minutes. I can't believe you whipped it for an hour!
is room temperature shortening considered crisco? or are you talking about margarine, oleo?
Shortening is vegetable shortening, like Crisco, not margarine.
Hello ,I live in Italy and I doubt if vegetable shortening is available .what can be used as a substitute .thanks
Lard perhaps.
Here's a suggestion put wax paper or parchment pater in your pan it may help you. Lady that thinks because she floured her pan and that's why it stuck.
Need your help, I've made several of your velvet cakes. I love the flavor and texture of your cakes, but found them to be a little to moist. So much so they feel wet to the touch. Also, the don't rise quite as high as I like. I've tried adjusting the baking soda as you suggested in post, and it helped some, but I don't want to over do it. My cakes rise about 1" 1/2. Would this be correct height. Really need answer though for the dampness of the cake!!!
It could be partially the humidity where you are. I'd try adding a tad more flour and maybe using smaller pans. I often use 8 inch pans to get some height to a cake, especially if I am not frosting the sides. It looks better.
Thank you! Well I tried it again. I normally use powdered buttermilk (liquid form is hard to fine in pint sizes). Using the powdered buttermilk, I mix with the flour mixture and add the water required as instructed for the buttermilk. The batter was very thin, so what I did was use 1/4 cup less liquid(water) and added 2 tbsp of flour, still a thin batter, but not as thin. My cake is beautiful and not damp to the touch!!!!! It also has a nice rise to it ( I replaced my baking powder, which may have been a factor)! I have not yet tasted the cake, but sure it is just as delicious. I will let you know!!!
Tried this it is a very good cake family and friends loved it not a crumb left will try some of the other versions no problems with the cake for me . very nice will make again
This cake turned out great!!! Most and perfect. I have tried so many recipes and this by far is the best. I will try your other recipes soon. Thanks for a great recipe.
I have made many cakes and tried many many recipes. This cake turned out great first time I made it. It was moist and delicious and had great lemon flavor. I reduced the amount of the frosting by half and used heavy cream and it was more than what I needed to frost cake and in middle. Excellent. I will be trying your other recipes soon. Thanks for a great recipe.
Hi! I tried this recipe a few days ago and absolutely loved it! By any chance do you have the nutritive value to go with it?
Can i use lime juice instead of lemon extract?
That wouldn't add much flavour.