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An old-fashioned lemon cake recipe that has stood the test of time. You will want to print and save this cake recipe with your personal collection to make again and again.

Chances are excellent you already have all of the ingredients to make this lemon cake except for the lemons. I prefer to use cake flour when baking cakes from scratch. Yes, it does cost a tad more than regular flour but trusts me when I say, it is worth it.

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Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 4 eggs
• 3 Cups Cake flour, I use this brand (Amazon link)
• 1 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. Baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp. Shredded Lemon peel, about 2 Lemons
• 1/4 Cup fresh Lemon juice
• 1 Cup Buttermilk

Directions for making Lemon Cake

Step 1 Butter and Eggs Prep

Take your butter out of the refrigerator the night before to allow it to soften. Remove the eggs from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you begin to allow them to come to room temperature.

Step 2 Grease and flour the cake pans

Begin by preparing your cake pans. I always grease and flour cake pans. It isn’t worth the risk of having my cake stick to the pans because of using non-stick spray. For best results, always grease and flour cake pans.

Use 2 cake pans for a 3 layer cake

This is a three-layer cake baked in 8″ cake pans. If you only have two cake pans, no problem. Just sit the last of the batter in the refrigerator while the first two layers bake. After the layers are done, cooled, and turned onto a cooling rack, prepare one of the pans again with grease and flour and bake the last layer.

Step 3

Preheat your oven to 350° and make sure the oven rack is in the center position. It is best not to bake cakes on lower racks.

Step 4

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

Step 5

In a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed for about 30 seconds to one minute until it is whipped.

Step 6

Add the lemon peel, lemon juice, and sugar and beat until well combined.

The lemon peel is optional. Some folks may not care for it fearing you will have a gritty bite in the cake but it pretty much pulverizes in the process.

TIP Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl from time to time with your rubber spatula to incorporate all of the yummy goodness and leave nothing behind.

Step 7

Beating on low speed, alternately add the eggs, flour mixture, and the buttermilk. So you will add one egg, a small amount of flour, and a small amount of buttermilk, mixing between each addition, and then repeat the process until it is all added.

TIP Crack each egg into a small bowl and then pour it into the mixing bowl. While that egg is mixing, crack the next one into the same small bowl. This way you don’t risk getting eggshells in your cake batter.

This step is why having a stand mixer is so wonderful. It frees up your hands to keep adding the ingredients while the mixer is still running. Mine is a Kitchen Aid like this one, more than 25 years old and I still love using it. They are expensive but look how long they last!

Step 8

Now divide the batter evenly between three 8″ round prepared pans. Place the pans into the preheated oven making sure the sides don’t touch.

Set your timer for 28 minutes to check for doneness. Insert a wooden toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. If it doesn’t come out clean, continue to bake for a few more minutes and check again until the cake is done.

Step 9

Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes and then turn out of the pan to continue cooling. For best results never frost a cake while it is still warm as the frosting may melt.

Step 10

Make your frosting then frost and decorate your beautiful lemon cake.

The frosting for this Lemon Cake is made from scratch Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting, the recipe here. I made the frosting thick using less liquid to thin the powdered sugar to make a nice heavy look when the cake is cut.

Because this frosting is quite sweet, I made it a thin coating between layers and thicker on the top.

Decorate your frosted cake with lemon slices. It’s a fun way to create a nice presentation especially if you are serving this for a special occasion.

More dessert recipes to make at home

• How To Make Lemon Bars from scratch
• Festive Red White and Blue Cake Balls
• Christmas Magic Cookie Bars recipe
• Scrumptious Caramel Iced Apple Cinnamon Rolls, cheat recipe
• Chocolate Pound Cake Recipe, topped with homemade fudge
• Citrus Cake with Citrus Cream Cheese Frosting
• Homemade Crescent Apple Turnovers