Lemon Layer Cake Using Box Cake Mix
There are so many occasions that you can make this layer cake for. We used a version of it for Easter this past year and plan on making it again for Mother's Day. It is also our go-to for a birthday party, bridal shower or even a baby shower. One of the reasons we keep going back to this recipe is because it starts with a box cake mix. That means it is super easy to make and it takes like you made it from scratch, even though you didn't.
Ingredients
Cakes
- 2 boxes white cake mix 15.25 ounces each
- 8 egg whites
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- 1 cup butter
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- food coloring yellow, pink, blue
Homemade Frosting
- 2 sticks unsalted butter softened
- 2 pounds powdered sugar
- 6 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- yellow food coloring
Instructions
Making the Cakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- 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.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, melted butter, 8 egg whites, milk and lemon juice. Note: freeze the leftover raw egg yolks for future use so they don't go to waste.
- 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.
- 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.
- Pour each color batter into a different cake pan.
- Bake the cakes for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool slightly and then remove from the pans onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Let cool about 45 minutes.
Making the Frosting
- In a large bowl combine your softened butter, powdered sugar, six tablespoons milk, yellow food coloring and two tablespoons of lemon juice.
Decorating the Cake
- Place one cake on your revolving cake plate 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.
- Frost the cake completely. This is where the spinning cake plate comes in handy.
- Filling a piping bag or plastic zipper top bag with the corner snipped off with remaining frosting. Pipe around the edge.
- Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Slice and serve!
Notes
Don't want to make homemade buttercream frosting? Try this time-saving hack: buy store-bought white canned frosting and add yellow food coloring to achieve the same color as shown here. Obviously, you can choose any color you'd like when dyeing the frosting.
I prefer to use freshly squeezed lemon juice in my recipes. However, I understand that buying bottled lemon juice can save money. Sometimes I only have bottled juice on hand, so I use it in recipes like this one. If that's what you have in the fridge when you decide to make this cake, go ahead and use it.
Speaking of lemon, 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.
You can always adjust a recipe for cake and make cupcakes instead. In keeping with the pastel colors of this layer cake, why not splurge on candy or pastel colored cupcake or muffin tin liners.
Nutrition
Calories: 932kcalCarbohydrates: 149gProtein: 8gFat: 36gSaturated Fat: 22gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 2gCholesterol: 88mgSodium: 778mgPotassium: 188mgFiber: 1gSugar: 113gVitamin A: 1038IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 272mgIron: 2mg
Disclaimer
Please note that nutrient values, if included with the recipe, are estimates only. Variations can occur due to product availability/substitution and manner of food preparation. Nutrition may vary based on methods of origin, preparation, freshness of ingredients, and other factors.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!