As we ease our way into springtime, we find ourselves in the midst of citrus season. My Instagram feed has been flooded with blood oranges, clementines, and grapefruits galore. But in my heart, I am a lemon girl. That’s why I wanted to share this lemon cake with you. The sweetness and tartness join together to create the most lovely of flavors. This recipe can be used to make a three layer six inch cake. It can also comfortably make a two-layer 8 inch cake. I have not tested it as a sheet cake, but I am assuming it could easily fill a 13×9 inch cake pan. If you did that, it is also possible that you would even have some left over batter! Regardless of what pan you use, you will create with a gorgeous lemon cake the whole family will love.
How many lemons do I need for this lemon cake?
I always see recipes only listing lemon juice amounts, but not necessarily how many lemons are needed to produce that lemon juice amount. For this recipe, you will probably be using about one full cup’s worth of lemon juice, which I think you can easily harvest from four large lemons. If you are using smaller lemons, you will probably want upwards of 6 just to be safe.
Why does my milk curdle when I add it to the lemon juice?
Something important to recognize with milk is that it is a colloid of butterfat, protein, and water, among other things. Colloids are one of four types of mixtures. When it comes to a colloid, it means that you have a solution with little particles that float around in it, but the mixture does not separate. When it comes to curdling, it has to do with the milk protein casein. Usually, casein floats around in little groups in the milk without bonding to anything because they have a negative charge. Adding an acid changes its chemistry, allowing the casein to now bond together to create the chunky curdles! How cool! So, when you add the milk and lemon juice together and you see chunks floating around, do not fret, it’s expected!
Fluffy and Delicious Lemon Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 1/3 cups Milk
- 2/3 cup Lemon Juice freshly squeezed
- 3/4 cup Unsalted Butter room temperature
- 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
- 2 cups Granulated Sugar
- 3 tbsp Lemon Zest
- 3 Large Eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
For the Frosting:
- 2 cups (4 sticks) Unsalted Butter room temperature
- 5 cups Powdered Sugar
- ¼ cup Lemon Juice freshly squeezed
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ¾ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease and line three 6 inch cake tins with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together to combine and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and milk together. Letting these sit while you prepare the other ingredients allows the milk to curdle, which is good. Set aside and prepare the other ingredients.
- In a large bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer), add the butter, oil, sudar, and lemon zest. Beat with a hand mixer (or with the paddle attachment if you are using a stand mixer) on high for 3-4 minutes or until light and fluffy. This creams the butter and sugar together while extracting the lemon flavors from the zest.
- Next, add the eggs. Add each egg one at a time, mixing to fully incorporate the egg before adding the next. After the eggs are combined, add in the vanilla.
- Now, add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the large bowl, beating on low speed until just combined. Add in 1/2 of the lemon and milk mixture, and beat until just combined. Add in another 1/3 of the flour mixture, and again beat until just combined. Add the last half of the lemon and milk mixture, beat in until combined. And finally, add in the last 1/3 of the flour mixture. Beat until just combined and no streaks of flour remain.
- Once all of the ingredients are added, take a rubber spatula and fold the batter in on itself a couple of times, gently so as not to knock any air from the batter. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl and mix the batter closer to the bottom with the batter from the top. This ensures that all ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Evenly distribute the batter amongst the cake pans and bake in the preheated oven for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Once fully baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool before removing from the cake pans.
For the Frosting
- In a large bowl, add the butter and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Beat until combined. Then, add another cup of powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, beat until combined. Add two more cups of powdered sugar and the last three tablespoons of lemon juice. At this point, add in the vanilla and salt. Beat until well combined and taste the frosting. If you think it is sweet enough but needs more lemon flavor, add another tablespoon of lemon juice. If it is too sour, add a half cup of powdered sugar and taste it again. If the taste is perfect but the consistency is too thick, add a bit of milk to make it more spreadable.
- Frosting is so specific to each person. The best thing to do is to try it as you're making it and gradually add ingredients until it tastes how you want it to taste. Once you have the lemon frosting that you like, frost your cake (make sure the cake is completely cooled).
- For a fun decoration, I used my blow torch to give some life to lemon slices!
Follow me on Instagram @BAKINGWITHLEMON and hashtag your posts #BAKINGWITHLEMON if you make one of my recipes! I adore seeing you guys get creative with baking!
