Homemade Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Buttercream Icing

Lemon Layer Cake

Lemon desserts are one of my favorite things. I love that sweet and sour combination! This homemade Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Buttercream icing is a great dessert to make for any type of celebration and it is sure to impress your guests. I like to add a little something extra to this cake with extra lemons for garnish and a generous layer of the lemon buttercream.

Lemon Layer Cake

Here are some tips for making this recipe:

  • Use fresh lemon juice. It really isn’t much more work to squeeze a couple lemons, and the taste of fresh lemon juice is so much better than that bottled stuff.
  • If you have exceptionally large or small lemons, you may need to alter the amount of lemon zest that you use in both the cakes and the icing. Also, if you want a very pronounced lemon flavor, you can use a little more than this recipe calls for.
  • My lemon buttercream recipe may make more icing than you will need for this cake. I like to have extra to make some decorative accents on the cake, but if you want to go light in the icing, you could just make a little less. You can also store the excess in the fridge to use later.
  • Because of the sour cream in this cake, it should stay moist and delicious at room temperature for up to a week. Just store it in an airtight container.

Products I recommend for my Homemade Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Buttercream Icing:

Mixer

Measuring Cups

Measuring Spoons

Cake Pans

Icing Spatula

Cake Container

I would love to hear what you think of this recipe. Please let me know in the comments below, and don’t forget to select a star rating. Thank you and enjoy!

Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Buttercream

This moist Lemon Layer Cake has lots of fresh lemon flavor and a fantastic lemon buttercream icing.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
cooling time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 50 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Buttercream, Cake, dessert, desserts, homemade, layer cake, lemon, lemon buttercream, lemon juice, lemon layer cake, lemon zest, sweets
Servings: 20 people
Calories: 605kcal

Ingredients

For the Cakes

  • 1 cup unsalted butter melted
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • zest of 2 lemons
  • ¼ cup lemon juice
  • ½ cup milk
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt

For the Icing

  • 2 cups unsalted butter softened
  • cup lemon juice
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 8 cups confectioners sugar

Instructions

For the Cakes

  • Preheat the oven to 325° and grease 2 8inch round cake pans.
  • Cream together the melted butter and sugar. Add in the eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, milk and sour cream and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined.
  • Pour equal amounts of the batter in each cake pan and bake in the preheated oven for approximately 40 minutes, or until a knife inserested in the center of a cake comes out clean. Allow to cool before icing.

For the Buttercream

  • Beat the softened butter until it is smooth. Add in the lemon juice and lemon zest and mix well. Beat in the confectioners sugar, ½ cup at a time until it is well combined.

Assembly

  • Place one of the cakes on a cake platter or other flat dish. Spread a thin layer of the buttercream on top of the cake. Place the other cake on top of the buttercream layer. Spread a generous layer of buttercream over the top and sides of the cakes. Decorate as desired.

Nutrition

Sodium: 204mg | Calcium: 29mg | Vitamin C: 3mg | Vitamin A: 944IU | Sugar: 68g | Fiber: 1g | Potassium: 64mg | Cholesterol: 110mg | Calories: 605kcal | Saturated Fat: 19g | Fat: 30g | Protein: 4g | Carbohydrates: 83g | Iron: 1mg

If you like this recipe, you may also like my Lemon “Brownies” with Lemon Glaze, Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes or my Blueberry Lemon Streusel Muffins.

Thank you so much for stopping by! Please stay a while and check out some of my other recipes, and visit again soon!

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