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Lemon Silk Cake
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I call this a lemon silk cake because, well, this cake is the softest, most pillowy-est cake I’ve eaten in a long time. It’s light and moist, velvety and smooth. I modeled it off of the Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake recipe, because that’s my FAVORITE cake recipe of all time. So I swapped out a little chocolate and threw in a little lemon, and voila. Just as perfectly perfect as the original.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45mins
- Yield: 2 8 inch layer cake
- Category: dessert
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: american
lemon silk cake with lemon cream cheese frosting and candied lemon
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45mins
- Yield: 2 8 inch layer cake
- Category: dessert
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: american
Ingredients
for the cake
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup boiling water
- 2 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
- zest & juice of 1 lemon
for the frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
for the filling
- 1/2 cup baker’s choice of jam (I used a homemade blueberry rhubarb)
for the candied lemon topping
- 1 lemon, cut in 1/4 inch slices
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, stir the sugar and water together until the mixture becomes clear. Drop in your slices of lemon and allow to cook in the syrup for 1 minute before taking the mixture off of the heat. Refrigerate until you are ready to frost your cake (I refrigerated these babies overnight, then topped my cake with them in the morning).
- Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
- In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add eggs, milk, oil, vanilla, lemon extract, and lemon zest and juice. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour into 2 prepared cake tins. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean in the center.
- While the cake is cooling, make the frosting. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, lemon extract, and salt with a hand mixer on medium high speed. Add in the powdered sugar in 3 additions, beating in between each time.
- To assemble the cake, place a dollop of frosting on a cake stand (this will hold the cake and prevent it from sliding). Place a layer of cake on the stand, frost the top with the lemon cream cheese frosting, then a thick layer of jam (use it alllll). Place the second layer of cake on top. Frost the sides before frosting the top. Add on your candied lemon babies.
Recipe adapted from Hershey’s.
I had begun to despair that I’d never find the perfect lemon cake recipe (and I’ve been looking and trying disappointing recipes for longer than I’d care to admit). But when I read that you modelled this cake after the Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake (AKA best cake everrrrrrr….) I suddenly realized that the lemon cake I had been looking for all my life was – in fact – that chocolate cake, just …. with lemon 🙂 .So, obviously I made it immediately. And, it’s WONDERFUL!!! My search has ended. This one is going in the written recipe book. Perfectly tender, soft and fluffy, with lovely lemon-forward flavor. The cream cheese frosting complements it perfectly without being overbearingly sweet. I’ve eaten a big hunk for breakfast and lunch today, and I think I know what’s on the dinner menu as well. Possibly of note for anyone wondering, this baked perfectly in a 9×13 pan, I just kept an eye on the cake for doneness (and omitted the jam filling). THANK YOU Sarah, for this life-affirming lemon cake!!
Hi Sarah! I’m getting ready to make this lemon cake, and just wanted to ask…are the metric weights and volumes tested by you when formulating the recipe, or is it an automatic calculator? Wondering specifically about the cake flour as the weight in grams looks high for 2.5 US Cups, but if that’s a gram weight you’ve used when baking this cake, I’ll stick with it. Thanks in advance! 🙂
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