Some cakes are just dessert… but Moist Lemon Layer Cake? This one is pure sunshine on a plate. 🍋✨ This old-fashioned beauty is bursting with bright citrus flavor, soft, tender layers, and a whipped lemon frosting so light and fluffy, it practically floats off the fork.
First published July 4, 2016. Last updated February 13, 2025 for readability, better images, and editorial improvements. *White chocolate ganache filling has been removed from this recipe.
Table of Contents
- 🗝️ Key takeaways: why this recipe is your new favorite
- 🧾 Gather your ingredients: what you'll need
- 🔪 Step-by-step guide: instructions for success
- How to cream butter & sugar
- 📖 Make it your own: yummy variations
- 💭 Insider tips: things to know
- 🥫 Leftover love: how to store lemon layer cake
- 👩🍳 Let's answer those questions: FAQs
- 📚 More Southern comfort: related recipes you'll love
- 🍽️ No waste: creative ways to repurpose
- 📞 Wrapping it up: the last word
- 📖 Recipe
- ✍🏻 A note from Marye...
- Lemon Cake
- 💬 Comments
One bite, and you’ll be transported to a time when recipes were handwritten, aprons were mandatory, and nobody dared call a cake dry.
Perfect for Sunday suppers, spring brunches, or impressing your nosy neighbor who thinks her lemon cake is the best (bless her heart). Get ready to fall in love with the ultimate sweet-tart masterpiece!
Save this recipe by clicking on the ❤️ heart on the right-hand side of the screen or in the recipe card.
🗝️ Key takeaways: why this recipe is your new favorite
- This cake is incredibly moist and bursting with natural lemon flavor, thanks to fresh lemon juice, a touch of lemonaid mix, and zest—it’s a lemon lover’s dream!
- Moist lemon cake is one of my favorite dessert recipes for birthdays, Mother's Day, showers, tea parties, and other special occasions.
- Push a few straws down through the three cake layers to hold them together like dowels and prevent them from slipping.
This tangy lemon layer cake is the perfect sweet 'n tart combination that'll make your mouth pucker. A luxurious white chocolate ganache separates the layers, and the whole thing is slathered with whipped lemon cream frosting—what’s not to love about that?!
🧾 Gather your ingredients: what you'll need
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
🔪 Step-by-step guide: instructions for success
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page. Click on the image to see it full size.
Lemon Cake
Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth.
Add the eggs, lemon juice, extract, and lemonade mix.
Alternate adding the flour mixture and milk.
Pour the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans.
Lemon Frosting
Beat the heavy cream in a chilled bowl until thickened.
Add the pudding mix, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and extract.
Frost the sides and top of the cake with the lemon frosting.
Push straws into the layers to prevent slipping. Remove before serving.
How to cream butter & sugar
📖 Make it your own: yummy variations
- You can turn this recipe into a lemon poppy seed cake by adding two tablespoons of poppy seeds to the batter. The poppy seeds add a delightful crunch.
- Fold in fresh blueberries or raspberries for a fruity twist. Toss the berries in flour first to prevent them from sinking to the bottom.
- If you want a thicker, tangier frosting, use my whipped cream cheese frosting base instead of the whipped lemon cream frosting. Substitute lemon pudding mix for vanilla and replace 1 teaspoon vanilla extract with ½ teaspoon lemon extract.
- Need a gluten-free lemon cake? Use your favorite 1:1 gluten-free flour substitute instead of the all-purpose flour.
- Use this easy cake recipe for lemon cupcakes! The batter will make about 3-dozen standard-sized cupcakes.
💭 Insider tips: things to know
- Use room-temperature eggs, butter, lemon juice, and milk for the cake batter. Cold ingredients will clump and curdle the mixture.
- Take your time creaming the butter and sugar. It takes about 5 minutes to get the mixture light and fluffy.
- Don’t overmix the batter, or the cake will be tough.
- Put straws through the layers of the cake to hold it securely in place for decorating—plastic bubble tea straws work great! This is a must for a tall, three-layer cake like this one.
- If you're transporting the cake, feel free to leave the straws in to keep it steady during the drive. Remove them before cutting in.
Marye's Tip o' the day
Use fresh lemon juice, grate the rind, and add both to the batter for a punchier burst of lemon flavor in every bite.
🥫 Leftover love: how to store lemon layer cake
It's best to store cakes with creamy, dairy-based frosting in the fridge. Place cake leftovers in an airtight container or wrap them in plastic wrap, then refrigerate for four to five days.
You can freeze the cake unfrosted, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Wait to frost it until it’s thawed overnight in the fridge, just before serving.
🤫 Marye's secret for zhuzhing it up
For extra flair, decorate your cake with lemon rind curls, thin lemon slices, sprinkles, or a sprig of fresh mint. For a pretty yet effortless frosting design, swirl the tip of your spatula around in little circles.
zhuzh: verb. To make something more interesting or attractive
👩🍳 Let's answer those questions: FAQs
Have other questions? Ask me in the comments!
Abso-fruitly! You can substitute lemons with oranges, limes, or grapefruits for a unique citrusy twist.
Yes, but using 9-inch instead of 8-inch baking pans will affect the baking time. 9-inch pans are wider and shallower than 8-inch ones, creating thinner cake layers that bake more quickly and may be slightly drier. Check for doneness around 20-25 minutes.
Yep, this cake stays moist and delicious for several days, making it a great make-ahead dessert option.
You can substitute all-purpose flour with a gluten-free flour blend. However, the texture will likely be slightly different.
⏲️ Marye's time saving hacks -
Bake the cake 1-2 days in advance, wrap the layers in plastic wrap, and store them at room temperature. Make the white chocolate ganache a day before and store it in the fridge. When ready to use, let it soften slightly at room temp or warm it gently for a smoother consistency. Then, all you have to do is decorate and serve!
📚 More Southern comfort: related recipes you'll love
🍽️ No waste: creative ways to repurpose
Leftovers from a cake this good shouldn’t go to waste! Here are some creative ways to repurpose extra cake, frosting, and ganache:
- Lemon Cake Truffles: Crumble leftover cake and mix with some of the whipped lemon cream frosting. Roll into small balls, chill, and dip in melted white chocolate.
- Lemon White Chocolate Parfaits: In small glasses, layer the cake crumbs, whipped lemon cream frosting, and ganache. Add fresh strawberries or blueberries on top.
- Lemon Cake Bread Pudding: Place cake cubes in a baking dish and cover with a simple custard mix (milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla). Bake it at 350F until golden and set, and serve warm with a white chocolate ganache drizzle.
📞 Wrapping it up: the last word
This old-fashioned dessert is packed with fresh lemon flavor that's perfectly balanced with a soft, tender crumb that melts in your mouth, and an airy lemon frosting.
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.
If you love this recipe please comment below and give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Moist Lemon Layer Cake
Print Pin Recipe Save Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup butter, softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- ⅓ cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon sweetened lemonade mix, powdered mix
- 1-½ cups milk
Lemon Cream Frosting
- 1 quart heavy whipping cream
- 3.4 ounces serving size package lemon pudding
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Grease and flour 3 8-inch round cake pans with high sides.
- Set aside.
- Blend the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
- Set aside.
- Add the softened butter the the bowl of a mixer and beat until light and fluffy.
- Add in the sugar and beat on high until the mixture is light and most of the sugar crystals have dissolved.
- Add the eggs and egg yolk one at a time, beating well after each.
- Blend the lemon juice and lemonade mix until the mix is dissolved.
- Beat into the butter mixture with the lemon extract.
- Add ⅓ of the flour mixture blending in on low speed.
- Add ½ the milk, continuing to blend on low.
- Repeat once more then add the remaining flour.
- Beat on low, scraping sides once or twice, until the ingredients are blended in and the batter is smooth.
- Pour an equal amount into each cake pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool in pans 10 minutes then turn out to finish cooling.
Lemon Cream Frosting
- Add the heavy cream to the chilled bowl of a mixer.
- Beat on medium and until the mixture starts to thicken then add the pudding mix, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon extract.
- Beat on high until the frosting is thick and creamy and holds its shape on a spoon.
Assembly
- Smooth lemon cream frosting over the first layer of cake.
- Gently add the next layer.
- Spoon more frosting over the top of the second layer.
- Add the top layer.
- Poke 4 straws down through the cake to hold it securely.
- Frost the top and sides thickly with the lemon cream frosting.
- Refrigerate until serving time.
- Remove the straws and smooth the top before serving.
Notes
-
- Use room-temperature eggs, butter, lemon juice, and milk for the cake batter. Cold ingredients will clump and curdle the mixture.
-
- Take your time creaming the butter and sugar. It takes about 5 minutes to get the mixture light and fluffy.
-
- Don’t overmix the batter, or the cake will be tough.
-
- Put straws through the layers of the cake to hold it securely in place for decorating—plastic bubble tea straws work great! This is a must for a tall, three-layer cake like this one.
-
- If you're transporting the cake, feel free to leave the straws in to keep it steady during the drive. Remove them before cutting in.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
✍🏻 A note from Marye...
I know y'all don't always like the stories bloggers tell so when I have one I try to put it at the very bottom so you can read or skip as you like.
July 2016
I told you that I had made two cakes for Kyrie and Nick's birthdays -- a chocolate shadow cake and this lemon layer cake. The chocolate one was Nick's and this one was Ky's.
One of the things I love about this particular lemon cake is that the cake is tangy but the filling is rich and sweet. I've used the whipped frosting because it isn't as sweet as American buttercream and it keeps the whole cake a nice balance of flavors and textures.
Lemon is a happy memory flavor for me. When I was little you didn't have mega-markets. You went to the grocery store, the butcher shop, the bakery... It wasn't all in one spot. The bakery we went to was narrow with a long glass case on one side that was filled with pastries, cakes, pies, and donuts. I can't begin to explain the scent that wafted over you when you walked in. Something like sugar-vanilla-apple-cinnamon-lemon-bread-chocolate-cheesecake.
Something like that.
Anyway, I was adorable as a child. Really, really adorable. I sat for hours on my mom's dresser while she twisted my long hair into finger curls like Shirley Temple's.
Maybe not hours but it sure felt that way. The only good thing about those giant ringlets was that they were seemingly the key to free pickles from a big barrel at the butcher shop and a free lemon donut at the bakery.
The filling was so puckery sweet that the insides of your cheeks imploded with each bite. It makes my mouth water just to think of it... and I am sure there never has been another bakery that can create lemon donuts like those.
Of course time and memories are a wonderful flavor enhancer, don't you think?
I think this cake has the kind of flavor that people will remember like I remember those donuts.
Don't lose this recipe!
Lemon Cake
Pin to your favorite Pinterest board so you'll always have it where you can find it.
Alison cox says
Hi this cake looks amazing !! Can i use something other than the lemonade powder and the pudding mix in the recipe?? I live in the uk so would nt know where to find these ingredients .
Thank you
Alison
Marye says
Hi Alison-
I think you'll need to replace the buttercream on this cake with one of your own. I don't know of any good replacements that will give you that same texture. Sorry!!
Donna F Brock says
Cab white chocolate chips be used for the white chocolate?
Marye says
yes. 🙂
Lynn Copeland says
Is the lemonade mix the type that contains sugar? Attempting to make this for my moms 82 birthday dinner. She loves anything lemon!
Marye Audet says
Yes, it's the kind with sugar. Sorry it took so long to get back to you. Several comments were misplaced.
Marye Audet says
Thanks Kristen. Yep, those pickles.... yum.
laura@motherwouldknow says
I love anything with lemon, but especially cakes and cookies. This one is beautiful to boot! I never had ringlets as a child and my mom never played with my hair, but this cake takes me back to the days of standing in front of the bakery counter just hoping that the nice lady behind the counter would give me a cookie with sprinkles.
Marye Audet says
YES! I miss being four. :/
Cynthia | What A Girl Eats says
I love lemon anything! This sounds yummy!
Marye Audet says
It was amazing. 🙂
Catherine says
Dear Marye, what a beautiful cake to celebrate with. This looks perfect and so pretty. I wish I had a slice too! xo, Catherine
Marye Audet says
Thanks so much, Catherine!
Aimee @ ShugarySweets says
I am such a sucker for lemon desserts. This cake is gorgeous!
Marye Audet says
Thanks Aimee! It was so good.