Shelly's Recipe

Lemon Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

Category: Cakes

Makes 1 (8-inch) cake

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
Lemon Buttercream Frosting
(recipe follows)
Garnish: lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 2 (8-inch) round cake pans with nonstick baking spray with flour. Line bottoms with parchment paper rounds. Spray top of each parchment paper round with nonstick baking spray with flour.

In a large bowl, beat butter at medium speed with a mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until yellow disappears after each addition. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla, beating just until blended.

In a medium bowl, sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating at low speed just until blended after each addition.

Using a soup ladle, spoon batter evenly into prepared cake pans.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. Wrap cake layers in plastic wrap. Freeze layers until ready to frost.

To frost cake, unwrap cake layers. Spread Lemon Buttercream Frosting between layers and on sides and top of cake. Garnish with lemon zest, if desired. Store cake, covered, in refrigerator up to 3 days.

*For great basic vanilla cake layers, omit the lemon zest and lemon juice and increase the vanilla extract to 1 1/2 tablespoons.

Lemon Buttercream Frosting
Makes about 4 cups

1 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons milk
5 cups confectioners’ sugar
Yellow food coloring gel

In a medium bowl, beat butter at medium speed with a mixer until creamy. Beat in lemon zest, lemon juice, and milk. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in food coloring gel, just a small amount at a time, to reach desired color.