Best Lemon Buttermilk Cake
The Best Lemon Buttermilk Cake Recipe ever! This simple southern lemon layer cake is soft and moist with a tangy-sweet frosting.
The Best Lemon Cake Recipe
Ok guys, so here’s my disclaimer… When I share a classic recipe like this, I see no point in adding another recipe to the chasm of the online world, unless I can state with some authority that it is the best I’ve ever made and tasted.
Therefore I’m very excited to share this lemon layer cake with you today.
It’s moist, pillowy, and ultra tangy, just as a perfect lemon cake should be.
Southern Lemon Cake
When I first moved to the south, I did not realize there is a difference between a southern cake… And all other cakes.
In fact, I might go as far as to say I never truly had a mind-blowing cake until I moved to North Carolina.
For those of you living anywhere else in the country (or world) a southern cake has nothing to do with the style or flavor of the cake. Instead, it has everything to do with the overall texture, moistness, and sweetness.
Good Southern Cakes Are:
- Delicate in texture. The kind you have to be careful about flipping out of the pan, so they don’t fall apart.
- Ultra moist. There is nothing “bready” about a southern cake. If you press down on a piece with your fingers, you can almost squeeze out the butter or oil.
- Very sweet. Although I tend to like desserts to be not-too-sweet, I make an exception when it comes to cake. The best cakes I’ve ever eaten have been powerfully sweet.
So What Makes This The Best Lemon Layer Cake?
I have eaten more than my fair share of cakes in my lifetime, and this one checks off all the boxes, plus some!
- It is super soft and light with a fine delicate crumb.
- It is very moist and tender, due to the addition of buttermilk. Plus, the moisture in the frosting protects the cake layers from drying out.
- It is in fact sugary-sweet. However, the lemon flavor balances the sweetness, so it doesn’t come off too overpowering.
Speaking of the lemon flavor, it is derived from three places… Lemon zest, lemon juice, and lemon extract. Therefore it offers both a bright fresh lemon flavor and a deeper underlying lemon essence.
How To Make The Best Lemon Buttermilk Cake Recipe
Don’t be intimidated by the number of steps in this lemon cake recipe.
You can totally do this!
In fact, in the recipe below I actually added steps, just to make sure you didn’t misunderstand an instruction and make a mistake.
The Key Factors In Making This The Best Lemon Cake You’ve Ever Tasted Are:
- Prep your pans. Make sure to grease your pans and add a circle of parchment paper in the bottom of each pan. This will guarantee the cakes come out in one piece.
- Cream the butter and sugar long enough. This is a step rookie bakers often skip. When you beat softened butter and sugar together on high speed, it fluffs the butter for a light airy cake texture and breaks down the sugar crystals. To do this properly, it usually takes a full 3-5 minutes. If you skip this step, your cake will be dense, instead of pillowy.
- Measure properly. Think of cooking as art, and baking as science. If you are heavy-handed with your measuring, or don’t add enough of an ingredient, the chemical reaction in your oven will be different than mine. Be exact. And don’t forget to sift, or at least stir, your flour before measuring.
- Scrape the bowl. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the mixing bowl in between steps, so all the ingredients are incorporated evenly.
- Don’t overbeat the batter. It’s easy to turn on the mixer, then go about doing other things, forgetting about the batter. However, cake batter can be overmixed! This leads to a tough texture or even a cake that sinks in the middle. Mix the batter until smooth, and no longer. Once all the ingredients are incorporated… TURN THE MIXER OFF.
- Don’t disturb the baking cake. Leave it alone guys! Don’t open the oven door fifteen times while it’s baking. I would even suggest you walk lightly through your kitchen while the cake is baking. It needs consistent heat, and no movement to rise properly. Opening the oven door and banging around the kitchen can cause your cake to collapse in the center before it’s fully baked. If you can be patient you will be thrilled with the results.
- Cool completely. Don’t rush the cake frosting. Make sure to give your cake ample time to cool. Even a little warmth will make the frosting slump down the sides as you try to smooth it.
Get the Full (Printable) Best Lemon Buttermilk Cake Recipe Below!
I’ve also included pro frosting tips to make this the easiest and most beautiful cake you’ve ever baked!
Learn How To Make Buttermilk Here.
If you are new to baking, check out our 100 Best Baking Tips Tutorial.
Frequently Asked Questions
How well does this cake keep?
You can let it sit out 3 days at room temperature, or it will last 7-10 days in the refrigerator. Make sure to wrap it well.
Can I freeze this cake?
Wrap the cake well with a layer of plastic wrap, then foil. Freeze for up to 6 months. Then thaw at room temperature.
To preserve the best possible appearance on the outside, you can “flash freeze” the cake, unwrapped, for about an hour so the frosting hardens. Then wrap well and freeze.
What if I want to make these into cupcakes
For cupcakes, I would increase the heat to 375 (for a higher dome) and bake for about 15-18 minutes. This recipe would make about 18-24 cupcakes.
Can I make this in a 9×13 pan?
Yes, you can! Bake it at 350 for 30-35 minutes.
Can I add in poppy seeds?
You sure could! I would start by adding 1 tablespoon of poppyseed to the batter and then add more as needed.
My cake came out spongy and rubbery? Any idea what I may have done wrong?
It sounds like you might have overmixed the cake batter. It’s important to stop mixing the batter once the ingredients are fully combined.
More Classic Southern Desserts:
- Strawberry Yogurt Bundt Cake
- Perfect Carrot Cake
- Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting
- Hummingbird Cupcakes
- Chocolate Mint Texas Sheet Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding Recipe
- Fluffy Divinity Candy Recipe
- Scottish Shortbread (Easy Shortbread Cookie Recipe)
- The Easiest Candied Orange Peel Recipe
- Linzer Cookies (Cut Out Cookies Recipe)
Best Lemon Buttermilk Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the Cake –
- 2 ¾ cups cake flour, sifted (or 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour + ¼ cup cornstarch)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- Zest of 1 lemon (save juice for frosting)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 3-5 drops yellow food coloring *optional
- 1 ¼ cup whole-fat buttermilk
For the Frosting –
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, softened (3 sticks)
- 3 tablespoons buttermilk
- 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
- 5-7 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray or grease two 9-inch round cake pans. Cut out 9-inch parchment paper circles, and press down in the bottom of each pan. (Trace the pan for perfect circles.)
- For the Cake: In the bowl on an electric stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. (Cream: Beat on high approximately 3-5 minutes to break down the sugar crystals.)
- In a separate bowl, mix the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Once the butter and sugar are well creamed. Scrape the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula. Then turn the mixer on low and beat in the eggs, oil, lemon zest, vanilla extract, lemon extract, and yellow food coloring.
- Scrape the bowl again. Turn the mixer back on low and alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk until both are well combined. Once the batter is smooth, turn the mixer off immediately.
- Pour the batter evenly into the two prepared pans. Bake on the middle rack, undisturbed for 30 minutes.
- If the center of the cakes are puffed up, check the cake by inserting a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean, take them out of the oven. If the toothpick has batter on it, bake another 5-10 minutes and recheck.
- Allow the cakes to cool 10 minutes in the pans. Then carefully flip them out on a cooling rack. Remove the parchment paper and cool completely.
- For the Frosting: Once the cakes are room temperature, place the butter in a clean stand mixer bowl. Beat until fluffy. Then scrape the bowl and turn on low. Mix in the buttermilk and lemon juice. Then add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating to incorporate.
- After adding 5 cups of powdered sugar, turn the mixer up to beat out any clumps. Check the consistency of the frosting. If it is too loose, add another 1-2 cups of powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
- To Assemble:Move one cake to a cake stand or platter. Scoop about 2 cups frosting onto the cake. Use a large flat spatula to spread the frosting out evenly.
- Set the second cake on top of the frosting, being careful to center the cake. Gently press the cake a little to level the top. Then scoop all remaining frosting on top of the cake. Use the spatula to work the frosting over the top and down the sides.
- Turn the cake stand to smooth out the sides with the flat edge of the spatula. Once you are satisfied with the sides, use the spatula to make swooping marks on the top of the cake. Use a wet paper towel to clean up the cake stand.
- Cover and keep at room temperature for up to 4 days, or refrigerate for up to a week. When ready to serve, make sure the cake is at room temperature… All classic layer cakes taste best at room temperature!
Video
Notes
- Spread a thin “crumb coat” layer of frosting over the cake to catch and seal in the crumbs. Then spread on the final “pretty” layer of frosting on top.
- Or you can wrap the cakes in separate pieces of plastic and freeze them. Then a few hours later, you can unwrap, level, and frost the cake with a lot of added stability. Just be sure to do this at least 6 hours before serving so the cake layers have time to thaw.
This is Super delicious recipe. I have tried in my cooking channel stevi’s Kitchen but I made a plain lemon cake and I didn’t add buttermilk because it will get much sour taste. I have made little changes to the recipe because of the unavailability. It came out really Delicious.
Absolutely delicious! I made slight change added somethings differently Absolutely amazing
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Can sour milk be substituted for the buttermilk called for in this lemon buttermilk cake?
Hi Judy,
Yes, absolutley! Happy baking. :)
Made this cake with your directions. Turned out beautifully. Just enough lemon taste for me. Really good. Made for Mother’s Day for my garden man’s wife. Thank you so much. This is my very first lemon cake.
This cake looks so fabulous I am going to attempt to make it grain free! Wish me luck😆
Everyone at my house really loved this cake!! Thanks for the recipe!
This really is the best cake with the most perfect texture! My family love lemon!
I love a good cake, and I could eat cake with or without icing, and this cake is amazing, even without the icing! The fluffy texture inside is to die for, and it tastes great at room temperature. I must have not made the icing properly, but the flavoring of the icing was great!!
3 people have asked me for this recipe, which is a easy way to know that it is yummy. This will be the last time I have to try a new lemon cake recipe!
Hi there – can you use a Bundt pan for this? I don’t have two small pans. If so, how might you suggest cooking temp/time?
Hi Ainsley,
This is a pretty delicate cake, I’m not sure it could handle the extra weight in a bundt pan. Here are a couple of other recipes that would work in a bundt pan: https://www.aspicyperspective.com/blueberry-lemon-pound-cake/ https://www.aspicyperspective.com/farmstand-fresh/
This recipe is peeerrrfectt! Made it 4 times so far. I love the flavor and texture. Furthermore, the frosting pairs lovely with the cake. I do add an extra teaspoon of lemon extract (because that’s my business and I’m addicted to lemon flavor). If anyone is having troubles I suggested you just re attempt it.
This cake turned out horrible! it was hard, and it has no flavour! maybe you recipes will be better in the future (i hope).
Obviously user error.
So delicious!
I’ve been baking a long time and know my way around scratch cakes so I was excited to try this. As I know the science of baking, I followed the recipe to the T. I was actually shocked at my cake results. I noticed when removing the pans from the oven how heavy they were, and indeed the cake was very heavy, very dense, and dry. I thought this was strange since my batter looked a little too thin but I was trusting the process. I went ahead with the frosting, which was very good! I keep going over the steps in my head and of course can’t definitively say I didn’t make a mistake somewhere but I can’t figure out where that would’ve been. Anyway I’m torn between trying again or never using this recipe again lol. I’m happy to see many positive reviews though so I won’t toss it quite yet as I have some fresh lemons and lots of time this weekend :)
Hello! Made this cake for my husband’s birthday this weekend and it was very good. My daughter in law who is not a lover of lemons thought it was delicious, the perfect balance of lemon and sweetness. I did reduce the sugar to 1 and 1/2 cups and added the oil to the mixing bowl when creaming the sugar and butter before adding the eggs. Most recipes I’ve worked with usually mix the fats first together and then the sugar is added. I have found that this helps to emulsify the mixture and produces a smoother consistency. I actually didn’t have two 9 inch round pans so I used two 9 inch square pans and baked for 25 to 30 minutes. Turned out beautifully! Thank you!
Tried this and love it! Question, can I add poppy seed to it? If yes, how much would you recommend?
Thank you.
Hi Elaine,
You sure could! I would start by adding 1 tablespoon of poppyseed to the batter and see if you feel it is enough. Happy Baking!
hi…i was wondering if i could make 3 layers of this with 8×3 inch pans…would it be enough to make layers as thick as in the photos? please help me out…
Hi Eve,
Yes, you can! Just check the cake after baking 22 minutes, then bake for another 5 minutes if needed.