A high altitude lemon cake recipe, that’s bursting with fresh lemon flavor in the cake and buttercream. This light and fluffy cake is decorated with dried lemon slices for an easy, pretty garnish.
You might also love these recipes for lemon olive oil cake, lemon pistachio cupcakes, and lemon pudding poke cake.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy to Make. Just whisk together the wet and dry ingredients to quickly make the cake batter.
Perfect Texture. This lemon cake is light and fluffy, with a soft, delicate crumb. It’s moist, soft, and beautifully lemony, with a perfect balance of sweet and tart flavors. And the pretty, pale yellow color looks like sunshine!
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
- Lemons. You’ll need fresh lemons, since you’ll be using both the zest and the juice. When you rub fresh lemon zest into sugar, it adds so much lemon flavor to your cake. And the acidity from the lemon juice gives the cake a soft, tender texture. Always, zest the lemons first, before you juice them.
- Cake Flour. Since cake flour has a lower percentage of protein than all purpose flour, it makes a very light and fluffy cake, and I highly recommend using it in this recipe. I usually use Swan’s Down Cake Flour, and it works wonderfully.
- Lemon Extract. For the buttercream, you’ll want to use lemon extract, not lemon juice, since the juice can curdle the butter and ruin your frosting.
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line three 8-inch cake pans with circles of parchment paper in the bottoms of the pans, and spray the paper with non-stick spray. The baked cakes are sticky, and you should not skip this step of lining your pans with parchment paper.
- In a measuring cup, stir together the lemon juice and milk; set aside for about 15 minutes to let the milk curdle.
- Measure the sugar into a large bowl, and zest the lemons over the sugar. Use your fingers to rub the lemon zest into the sugar to really infuse the lemon flavor.
- Set a fine mesh strainer over the sugar, and sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, then whisk together the dry ingredients with the lemon sugar.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the lemon juice/milk mixture, eggs, egg whites, sour cream, oil and vanilla until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk by hand until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Divide the batter between the pans. Bake for 28-32 minutes, until a cake tester in the center of the cakes comes out clean and the tops spring back when lightly touched. Set the pans on a wire rack, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for one minute until smooth. Scrape the bowl down. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing to combine. Add the lemon extract, vanilla extract and lemon zest.
- Beat on medium high for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl down occasionally, until very light and fluffy. Add the milk, only if needed for desired consistency.
- Remove the cooled cakes from the pans. Fill and frost the cooled cakes with the buttercream.
- Before the frosting crusts over, decorate with dried lemon slices.
- Fit a piping bag with tip 1M, fill with leftover buttercream, and pipe drop flowers onto the top and sides of the cake.
How to Make the Dried Lemon Slices
Making dried lemons to decorate a cake is incredibly easy, and while they do have to dry in the oven for a few hours, there’s very little active prep time. They retain a beautiful color when dried on low heat, and can be made ahead of time and stored for later, as well.
You can follow this exact process for dried lemons, oranges or grapefruit. Obviously, these are not the same as candied lemon slices, and are intended only as garnish. These are not intended to be eaten, since they will taste bitter and not sweet.
- Preheat the oven to 175 F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Thinly slice the lemons; I find that about 1/8 of an inch is the right thickness.
- Lay the lemon slices in a single layer on the baking sheet.
- Bake on the center oven rack for 2-3 hours, turning every 30 minutes and rotating the pan if you have hot spots in your oven, until mostly dry and still vivid in color; don’t let them get overly brown.
- Turn off the oven, and let them finish drying in the oven for several more hours, or overnight.
- Place on the cake, using a bit of buttercream as “glue”.
- Any leftover lemons can be stored in an airtight container for as long as they still retain their color.
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
With a lower percentage of protein than all purpose flour, cake flour will produce a lighter, softer, fluffier cake.
You can use bottled lemon juice in your cake, but since you need fresh lemon zest anyway, you should use the zest and juice from your lemons.
Honestly, this varies so much, depending on their size, and how much juice they contain. You might need 4-5 small lemons to get 1/2 cup of juice for the cake batter.
These cakes are extremely light and fluffy, and will stick to your cake pans if you don’t line them with parchment paper. Line the pans with a circle of parchment paper, and spray with non-stick spray to ensure easy release.
Of course! Just add 2 tablespoons poppy seeds to the dry ingredients before mixing your cake batter.
It will stay moist and soft for 3-5 days, if stored in an airtight container or cake carrier.
You Might Also Like
Please check out my Amazon Shop for a curated collection of some of my favorite cake pans from trusted brands, baking tools, ingredients, pretty things and fashion finds. I recommend products that I buy and use every day!
Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!
High Altitude Lemon Cake
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
- 8 inch round cake pans (x3)
Ingredients
Cake
- ½ cup lemon juice, fresh or bottled
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- zest of 2 small lemons
- 2 ¾ cups cake flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 3 large eggs
- 2 large egg whites (save the extra yolks for another use)
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Buttercream
- 2 cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp meringue powder (optional)
- ⅛ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 tsp lemon extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- zest of 1 small lemon
- 2-4 tbsp milk or cream, only if needed
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line three 8-inch cake pans with circles of parchment paper in the bottoms of the pans, and spray the paper with non-stick spray. The baked cakes are sticky, and you should not skip this step of lining your pans with parchment paper.
- In a measuring cup, stir together the lemon juice and milk; set aside for about 15 minutes to let the milk curdle.
- Measure the sugar into a large bowl, and zest the lemons over the sugar. Use your fingers to rub the lemon zest into the sugar to really infuse the lemon flavor.
- Set a fine mesh strainer over the sugar, and sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, then whisk together the dry ingredients with the lemon sugar.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the lemon juice/milk mixture, eggs, egg whites, sour cream, oil and vanilla until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk by hand until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Divide the batter between the pans. Bake for 28-32 minutes, until a cake tester in the center of the cakes comes out clean and the tops spring back when lightly touched. Set the pans on a wire rack, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for one minute until smooth. Scrape the bowl down. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing to combine. Add the lemon extract, vanilla extract and lemon zest.
- Beat on medium high for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl down occasionally, until very light and fluffy. Add the milk, only if needed for desired consistency.
- Remove the cooled cakes from the pans. Fill and frost the cooled cakes with the buttercream.
- Before the frosting crusts over, decorate with dried lemon slices.
- Fit a piping bag with tip 1M, fill with leftover buttercream, and pipe drop flowers onto the top and sides of the cake.
Notes
- 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. Be sure to sift the flour to get out any lumps.
- It’s a good idea to set out your dairy products (eggs, milk, sour cream) an hour or two before you mix your batter, to let them come to room temperature. Large eggs can vary in size, but they should average about 1/4 cup each in volume; three large eggs plus two whites should fill one cup. If your eggs are on the small side, add another to get a full cup.
- Lemons also can vary in size, as well as how much juice they contain. You might need 4 small lemons to get 1/2 cup of juice for the cake batter.
- Do not add lemon juice to the buttercream, as this runs the risk of curdling the butter. Only use lemon zest and lemon extract in the buttercream.
- These cakes are extremely light and fluffy, and will stick to your cake pans if you don’t line them with parchment paper. Take this extra step to ensure easy release.
- For a Lemon Poppyseed Cake, add two tablespoons poppy seeds to the dry ingredients.
- To add even more tart lemony goodness, you can spread a bit of lemon curd between each cake layer.
- Be sure to review my Baking FAQs for my other tips on cake baking.
- This cake will stay moist for days if stored in an airtight container or cake carrier.
Best Lemon Cake I’ve ever tasted. Incredibly light and fluffy with the emphasis on lemon and not just sugar. Also very striking with the dried lemon garnish!
Mine did not come as fluffy, followed the recepe as instructed, came out heavy, like a pound cake
Hi Joseph, may I ask what altitude you’re at? I test my cake at Denver’s altitude of 5,000 feet, so if you’re at a lower altitude, that will certainly affect the outcome, and you’d need to make some minor adjustments for your altitude. Also, when you measure your flour, if you use the measuring cup to scoop it out of the bag, that will pack too much flour into the cups, and you’ll end up with a dense cake. Be sure to first aerate your flour in your canister by just stirring it up a bit, then spooning it lightly into your measuring cup and sweeping the excess off the top with the back of a knife. Over-mixing the batter can also result in a dense cake.
What adjustments should I make for baking at 1000 ft?
You should probably reduce the flour by a couple of tablespoons, and increase the leavening a bit. I’m sorry, I can’t give exact adjustments since I haven’t tested my recipes at any altitude but my own. I recommend giving this article a read! https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking
I made a few changes according to the article. The cake was awesome – light and fluffy and tons of compliments!”
Thx
Hi! Can you tell me what kind of cake is pictured above with the little pink rosettes? Is there a post on the cake with a recipe?
Can you tell me what the cake is that is pictured above with the little pink flowers on it? Is there a post about this cake with instructions ? 🙂 I LOVE it!!
I had tested several variations of my lemon cake recipe before perfecting it, and that was just one of the test cakes that I decorated with piped rosettes. I’m sorry, I don’t have a tutorial for it, though! I can tell you that I used a small star tip for piping the roses, like tip #18 or 73, and a small leaf tip like #65 or 66.
Thank you! 😍
I am so happy I discovered your recipe! I have lived in Colorado all my life, so I know how important it is to have good high-altitude recipes. I recently became vegan so I’ve been experimenting with my own baked goods as well as trying new ones. I was craving a lemon cake and thought yours looked amazing. I made the cake completely vegan (-I used the same measurements but no animal products-) and it was fantastic! I gave pieces to several different people and all of them loved it. One of my friends even asked for another piece AND the recipe! Thank you for sharing this delicious dessert. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes. 🙂
That’s great to hear, thank you! 🙂
I haven’t tasted the cake yet (in process of making frosting right now), but I noticed you left out a mention of where the lemon zest is used that is called for in the recipe ingredients. I’m going to assume it’s just blended into the frosting with the extract and not used as a garnish, so we’ll see how that works out! Thanks for the beautiful and delicious-sounding recipe.
Yes, I just mix it right in. I’ll update the recipe, thank you!
Loved this recipe!! I’m at 9000ft elevation and gluten free so I adjusted it a bit but seriously the best lemon cakes ive ever had! Thank you so much for the recipe 🙂
Here’s my adjustments for higher elevation and gluten free:
Bake at 375
1.5C sugar
Rice flour sub for cake flour
3/4tsp xanthan gum
3/4C sour cream
Thanks so much for including the adjustments you made!
I just made this cake and live at an elevation of 410′ and it turned out perfectly, it’s the best lemon cake I’ve ever made and I make a lot of lemon cakes! Thank you for your delicious recipe.
I made this cake (also at 5280′!) for my daughter’s birthday last summer, filled with homemade strawberry ice cream and topped with a whipped lemon curd and a sliced strawberry rosette. I used cake strips, which significantly elongated the baking time, but the cake was soft and moist and balanced perfectly with the sweet strawberry ice cream – no buttercream needed! The family raved about it and I’m sure my daughter will request it again.
I’m sorry, this cake was atrocious on all levels. Firstly, you don’t bake cakes using flour with a low protein structure like cake flour at high altitudes. The cake can’t hold its own weight as at bakes and will collapse. All purpose flour has, on average, 11-12%, cake flour has 3. Secondly, it tasted terrible: nothing like lemon and with a horrible aftertaste. The combination of lemon, buttermilk, and sour cream was too much acid.
As someone who’s been baking at high altitude for many years, I can assure you that cake flour works very well in cake recipes. And the many 5-star reviews on this recipe will also attest to its success. It sounds like something went wrong on your end for it to turn out the way it did. Better luck with your next bake!
This is the absolute best lemon cake I’ve ever had. I’ve made it twice now for family gatherings, and everyone loves it. I took the recipe suggestion and made lemon curd from this site also and put some of that in between the layers along with some of the buttercream. It takes it to another level.
I made this as a key lime pie cake and it came out amazing. I replaced the lemon juice and zest with lime juice and zest in the cake. And then put your homemade lime curd in the middle as a filling. I also made your vanilla buttercream with toasted graham cracker crumbs mixed in. I’m also at high altitude and I love trying out your recipes, haven’t been disappointed yet!
I made this cake for a birthday, and it was a hit! Your recipes never miss!
This sounds delicious and I like all the 5 star reviews. I’m going to make it this week. How would you adjust for 7000 feet altitude? I never seem to get it right.
I have some guidance in my FAQs for adjusting for various altitudes: https://curlygirlkitchen.com/baking-faqs/
Hello! We live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and I am excited to make this cake for my son’s 18th bday. He’s asked for a lemon cake specifically! I have a question about the parchment paper–is it only the bottom, NOT THE SIDES, of the pan that requires covering?
Yes, only the bottom of the pans.
Hi! Could I use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream for this recipe ?
Hello,
This sounds delicious. Can this be made in a 13×9?
Yes, it can.