Easy Three Layer Easter Cake with Lemon Using Cake Mix

There is so much to love about this easy Easter layer cake dessert recipe with three layers. First, there is the subtle lemon flavor that comes from using real lemons. Then there are the pastel colored layers that are like a surprise gift when you cut into the cake. And, because you’re starting with a boxed cake mix, there is the ease of making it.

Three Layer Easter Cake with Lemon

None of your Easter guests will believe that this three-layer cake is homemade. They’re really going to think you ordered it from your local bakery and then are trying to pass it off as your own. Keep the boxes of the white cake mix that you bought at the store to prove them wrong. Plus, once they taste a bite, they’re not going to care who made the cake or how it was made. They’re just going to ask for seconds.

While you’re baking dessert for Easter dinner, think ahead to other meals you might have to make for your Easter guests. You can set up French Toast in the Crock Pot for Eastern morning breakfast or try this recipe for Easter bun, which is made with stout. It is awesome.

Ingredients

I took a picture of all of the ingredients in one batch, as you can see here. But there’s actually two sets of ingredients you should set aside for making this recipe. First there are the cake ingredients. Then, there are the ingredients for the frosting. This is not a cream cheese frosting but rather one made with buttercream. Here’s a breakdown of what you’ll need for each.

Cake

• 2 (15.25 ounce) boxes white cake mix
• 8 egg whites
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup butter
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Yellow, blue and pink food coloring

Buttercream Frosting

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 2 pounds powdered sugar
• 6 tablespoons milk
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Yellow food coloring

Suggested Equipment

You’re going to need a few pieces of equipment to make this cake, most importantly three round 8-inch cake pans in which you’ll bake the cake layers. A revolving cake stand or turntable will make decorating much easier, too. I recommend using parchment paper, too, so your cake comes out of the pan neatly.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Melt 1 cup of butter. You can do this in the microwave, in a heat-safe vessel, such as a Pyrex measuring cup, in 30 second bursts.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, melted butter, eight egg whites, milk and lemon juice. Note: freeze the leftover raw egg yolks for future use so they don’t go to waste.
4. Spray three 8 inch cake pans with non-stick spray. Alternately, you can use round cake pan parchment paper so your cake doesn’t stick to the pan.
5. Divide the cake batter between the three bowls. Add pink food coloring to one bowl, yellow to another and blue to the third. Mix well.
6. Pour each color batter into a different cake pan.
7. Bake the cakes for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
8. Let the cakes cool slightly and then remove from the pans onto a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Once the cakes are completely cooled, about 45 minutes, you can make your frosting.
10. In a large bowl combine your softened butter, powdered sugar, six tablespoons milk, yellow food coloring and two tablespoons of lemon juice.
11. Place one cake on your revolving cake plate to make the first layer and top with a good amount of the frosting. Top with the other cake and repeat. Continue until all three layers of the cake are set and individually frosted.
12. Frost the cake completely. This is where the spinning cake plate comes in handy.
13. Filling a piping bag or plastic zipper top bag with the corner snipped off with remaining frosting. Pipe around the edge.
14. Decorate the top of the cake with Easter candies, such as Cadbury mini eggs and or Easter sprinkles, if desired. Slice and serve!

Notes

This recipe calls for making homemade buttercream frosting that you use food coloring to dye yellow. To save time, you can buy store-bought white canned frosting and then use yellow food coloring to dye it yellow as shown here. Or, you can make it any color you’d like. I just thought the yellow was perfect since the cake is lemon flavored.

You can always adjust a recipe for cake and make cupcakes instead. For this Easter dessert, splurge on candy or pastel colored cupcake or muffin tin liners to make the cupcakes even more festive. Make sure to top each cupcake with small chocolate eggs or Cadbury mini eggs for Easter Bunny approved decorations.

If you want to decorate cupcakes to look more like a nest, use a teaspoon or two of toasted coconut on the top of each cake.

While I made this lemon layer cake for Easter, you can make this for any occasion where you want bright, festive colors. Think of a child’s birthday, a bridal shower or a baby shower.

I prefer to use freshly squeezed lemon juice in my recipes. However, I realize that buying bottled lemon juice can be more economical. Sometimes that’s all I have on hand and that’s what I’ll use in recipes like this one. So if that’s what you got in the fridge when you decide to make this cake, go for it.

Speaking of lemon, you can flavor the cake anyway you want. I just happen to love lemon, which is why I made Copycat Starbucks Lemon Cake to share with family and friends. Feel free to use other naturally occurring citrus flavors, such as orange or lime. Or you can add a few drops of store-bought flavorings like banana, almond or strawberry. Or you can use no flavoring at all and let the natural sweetness of cake batter come through.

If you’re a fan of vanilla, you can always just use vanilla extract or the many different ways you can get vanilla flavor into your baking.

If you do change up the flavors from lemon or banana, which both read yellow, I would suggest changing the color of the frosting, too. I think it would give people’s brains too much of a jolt, biting into a yellow-colored cake only to taste strawberry.