Lemonade Cake

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A sweet and tart Lemonade Cake topped with lemon buttercream frosting and candied lemon slices for a taste of summer in a cake! This recipe originally published July 2013.

A Top view of a Lemonade Cake with candied lemons on top.

Welcome to #LemonWeek 2022 hosted by Lynn from Fresh April Flours and Rebecca from Devour Dinner.  This week is sponsored by Rodelle and La Tourangelle. I may have received product samples from these sponsors to help in the creation of my recipes. All opinions are my own. Come join me and my fellow Lemon Week bloggers as we bring you recipes from appetizers to drinks to entrées and desserts!

A few weeks ago we were invited to a BBQ.   I was asked to make dessert so I started looking through my Pinterest board so I could find something new and exciting to make.

I found a lemonade cake that had lemon slices on the top and looked perfect for summer.  I don’t know about you but I like bright and flavorful desserts in the summertime.  I also thought that the cake would hold up well if it was outside in the heat.

A cutting board with a stick of butter, a bowl of powdered sugar, a bowl of lemonade, and a bottle of vanilla extract.

Ingredients:

  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil Spray
  • butter
  • sugar
  • eggs
  • Rodelle vanilla
  • lemon
  • lemonade concentrate
  • flour
  • baking powder
  • salt
  • milk
  • powdered sugar

To Make the Cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray two 9 inch cake pans with cooking spray.  In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar.  Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add the lemon peel, lemonade concentrate, and vanilla.  Mix until combined.  In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until combined.  Slowly stir in the milk, mixing until it is incorporated into the batter. Divide the batter into the two pans.  Bake for 25 minutes.

To Make the Candied Lemons:  Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Take the lemon slices and totally coat them in the sugar. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.

To Make the Lemon Buttercream Frosting:  Combine the butter, lemonade
concentrate, and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix with a hand mixer at medium speed until the mixture is smooth. Add the powdered sugar and mix until your frosting is the desired consistency.

A Lemonade cake with white frosting and yellow piping.

I’ve never made a cake that had lemonade concentrate in it before but I have to say that I loved it!  It really gave the cake a nice lemon flavor without it tasting fake like some extracts.   This is a great idea to put in your back pocket.

This recipe is not going to make a super tall cake so if you are thinking of a big, beautiful layer cake that isn’t this cake.  This cake does have two layers but it’s shorter and more reserved.

It’s really perfect for taking to friends or to a BBQ because it doesn’t look like a huge celebration cake, it just looks like a yummy lemon cake that everyone is going to want to dig into.   Plus the lemonade frosting?   You can’t beat it.

Can I use lemonade instead of concentrate?

No you can’t.   While it will add a bit of flavor, it won’t add as much as the concentrate.   So if that’s your only option then go ahead and do it, but the concentrate is the better option.

Do I have to make the candied lemons?

No you don’t.   They are an easy way to decorate the cake but if you have another idea or want to decorate it with frosting go for it!  You can also decorate with sprinkles.

Do I have to use the parchment circles on the cake pans?

No you don’t have too but I promise this will be one hack you use over and over again!  I never make a cake without doing this anymore.  Using the parchment assures that the cake won’t stick to the pan.

Can I make the cake ahead of time?

You can make the cake up to 24 hours in advance.  Simply wrap the cakes in plastic wrap to avoid them drying out.  You can also make the candied lemons 2-3 days in advance.  When you are ready to put the cake together make the frosting and put it all together.

Pin Collage:  A Top view of a Lemonade Cake with candied lemons on top, text title, a cutting board with baking spray, a bottle of vanilla, a cup of flour, 3 eggs, a bowl of lemonade, a lemon, and a cup of sugar on it.

The last thing to do is make the candied lemons.  This can actually be done ahead of time so they are ready to put on the cake as soon as you decorate it.  I did it the day I decorated and needed to wait a few hours before I could lay them on the cake.

You can also use sprinkles or other decorations if you’d like.  I used a light yellow sanding sugar and a white sanding sugar on top just to give the cake a bit of sparkle it was just about perfect.

More Lemon Recipes:

The cake was firm and easy to layer.  The frosting has a big burst of lemon in it but it’s soft and fluffy. The entire cake has a bright lemon flavor.

The candied lemon slices on top added the perfect sour but sweet topping.  The cake was a huge hit at the BBQ!

A slice of Lemonade Cake on a plate with two forks and the whole cake minus the piece on the plate.

If you’ve tried my Lemonade Cake or any other recipe on Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks please take a minute to rate the recipe and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. I love hearing from you! You can FOLLOW ME on:

 
A Top view of a Lemonade Cake with candied lemons on top.

Lemonade Cake

Yield: serves 12-14
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

A sweet and tart cake topped with lemon buttercream frosting and candied lemon slices for a taste of summer in a cake!

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 1 ⅓ c. sugar
  • 1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, softened
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 Tablespoon grated lemon peel
  • 3 Tablespoons thawed lemonade concentrate
  • 2 c. all purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 ¼ c. low fat milk

For the Frosting:

  • 1/2 c. (1 stick) butter
  • 2 Tablespoons thawed lemonade concentrate
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 c. powdered sugar

For the candied lemons:

  • 1 lemon, thinly sliced
  • ¼ c. sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven 350 degrees. Place a parchment circle on the bottom of two 9 inch cake pans. Spray the bottom and sides of the cake pan with La Tourangelle Extra Virgin Olive Oil Spray.
  2. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix well.
  3. Add the lemon peel, lemonade concentrate, and vanilla.  Mix until well blended.
  4. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  5. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until combined.  Slowly stir in the milk, mixing until it is incorporated into the batter.  Add the remaining flour and mix well.
  6. Divide the batter into the two prepared pans.  Bake for 25 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. 
  7. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.  Run a knife around the edges and remove from the pans.  Peel off the parchment paper and cool completely on wire racks.
  8. Increase the temperature of the oven to 400 degrees.  Take the
    lemon slices and totally coat them in the sugar.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely.
  9. To make the frosting combine the butter, lemonade
    concentrate, and vanilla.  Mix with a hand mixer at medium speed until the mixture is smooth.  Add the powdered sugar in half cup intervals until your frosting is the desired consistency.
  10. To assemble the cake place one layer on a cake board and spread ½ cup of frosting on top.  Top with the second cake layer and spread the remaining frosting over the sides and top of the cake.  Add a bottom border and top border if desired.
  11. Before serving top with the candied lemon slices.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light

A close up of a sslice of Lemonade cake with a lemon slice on top and two forks on the plate.

 

Wednesday #LemonWeek Recipes

18 Comments

  1. Oh my! Love this delicious cake and I guess it will be hard for me to stop with just one serving. Loving this cake!

  2. This lemonade cake is so fun and love all the fresh flavors. I know everyone will love this cake, especially for the summertime! Thanks for another delicious and fun recipe!

  3. I love lemonade flavor too in my cake and the lemon sounds wonderful in this!! The frosting looks so so good and I’m sure it was a hit 🙂

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