High Altitude Lemon Sheet Cake

An exceptionally moist, high altitude lemon sheet cake, made with fresh lemon zest and lemon juice, frosted with fluffy lemon buttercream. This easy one layer lemon cake makes a delicious dessert for any occasion.

You might also like this no churn lemon poppy seed ice cream, iced lemon curd linzer cookies, and lemon poppy seed cake.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

One Layer, Smaller Size. Layer cakes are beautiful and impressive, but sometimes you just want cake with less effort. I love a smaller, one layer cake that’s all about the flavor. Although you can still make this lemon sheet look just as pretty as a layer cake with pretty piped buttercream.

Fresh Lemon Flavor. This cake is full of fresh lemon flavor, using both fresh lemon zest and lemon juice in the cake and buttercream.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Cake

• Lemons. You’ll be using the zest and juice in today’s cake. By rubbing fresh lemon zest into the sugar first, you’ll add even more lemon flavor.
• Granulated Sugar. Adds sweetness and moisture.
• Flour. I prefer cake flour, rather than all purpose flour, for lemon cake, as it makes a lighter, softer, fluffier cake with its lower protein content.
• Baking Powder. Leavening agent.
• Salt. Balances the sweetness and enhances flavor.
• Eggs. You’ll need a whole egg, plus an extra egg white, to give the cake moisture, structure and strength.
• Whole Milk + Sour Cream. The fat and acidity in these ingredients makes a moist, tender, flavorful cake.
• Vegetable Oil. Moisture.
• Vanilla Extract. Flavor.

Buttercream

• Butter. You can use either salted or unsalted butter. Just omit the extra salt if using salted butter.
• Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the buttercream.
• Meringue Powder. Adds stability and improves the texture.
• Salt. Balances the sweetness.
• Lemon Extract + Lemon Zest. Flavor. You don’t want to add lemon juice to buttercream, or you risk curdling it.

Instructions

Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick baking spray. If you’re planning on turning the cake out of the pan to frost it, rather than frosting and serving it in the pan, you should also line the pan with parchment paper to ensure easy release, since lemon cake is sticky.
• In a bowl, use your fingers to rub the lemon zest into the sugar until moist and fragrant.

• Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, then whisk until evenly distributed.
• Add the egg, egg white, milk, sour cream, oil, vanilla and lemon juice, and whisk until combined.

• Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake for about 30-32 minutes, until the top springs back when gently touched and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Set the pan on a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.

Buttercream

• In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder, salt, lemon extract and lemon zest, mixing until combined.
• Increase the speed to medium, and beat for about 4-5 minutes, until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl down several times.
• Frost the cake with the buttercream. If you like, fit a piping bag with Tip 1M, fill with leftover buttercream, and pipe a few rosettes and drop flowers on top of the cake.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to use cake flour?

I’ve only made this recipe using cake flour, and it produces a very light, fluffy cake.  All-purpose flour will not give you quite the same result, but should still be fine, although your cake may be slightly more dense.  Be sure to sift the flour to get out any lumps.

Can I use bottled lemon juice instead of fresh?

You sure can, but since you need fresh lemon zest anyway, you should use the zest and juice from your lemons.

Can I make this recipe into a lemon poppy seed cake?

Of course! Just add 1 tablespoon poppy seeds to the dry ingredients before mixing your cake batter.

What size pan should I use if I double the recipe?

You can double this cake recipe and bake it in a 9×13 inch pan.

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