Lime Cake
This lime cake recipe is a layered moist lime cake filled with homemade lime curd. It is topped with the most delicious honey lime cream cheese frosting.
Servings: 20 slices
Calories: 686kcal
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3¾ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1¾ cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup oil canola or vegetable
- 2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons fresh key lime zest or zest from regular limes
- 1¼ cups whole milk room temperature
- ¾ cup full fat sour cream room temperature
Lime Curd
- 2 tablespoons key lime zest or zest from regular limes
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 4 large egg yolks
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter cold
- 1 cup key lime juice or juice from regular limes
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Honey Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 8 ounces full fat cream cheese room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 teaspoons key lime zest or zest from regular limes
- 2 teaspoons key lime juice or juice from regular limes
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 7 cups powdered sugar sifted
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Lime Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 3 8″ cake pans with butter. Line with parchment paper. Grease parchment paper with butter.
- In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl using a hand held mixer cream the butter, lime zest, and sugar for 2 minutes
- Add the oil and beat for another minute.
- With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time til incorporated.
- Add the vanilla extract followed by the sour cream. Beat til just incorporated.
- Add in half the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed til just incorporated. Beat in the milk followed by the other half of the dry ingredients.
- Pour cake batter evenly among the three pans. Bake for 24-29 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake. Place cake pans on a wire rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Lime Curd
- Separate the yolks from the whites. Zest and juice the limes.
- In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and yolks.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, zest, juice and salt. Whisk til combined. Place pan over medium-low heat. Whisk in the eggs and yolks mixture.
- Stir constantly with a wire whisk (or use a rubber spatula) until mixture thickens (it should be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon), about 5-7 minutes.
- Turn heat to low, then add the cold, cubed butter. Stir until the butter has melted.
- Pour curd into a sealable, heat safe container such as a jar with a lid or a bowl. If you’ve poured it into a bowl, place some plastic wrap directly on top to prevent a skin from forming. Allow to cool completely before using.
Honey Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld electric mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium for one minute.
- Add the butter and honey. Beat for 2-3 minutes until combined and fluffy.
- Turn the mixer to low and add the sifted powdered sugar one cup at a time. Add the lime zest, lime juice, vanilla extract and salt. Turn mixer to medium high and beat for an additional 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Assembling the Cake
- Use a serrated knife trim the domes of the cake layers. Cover the layers with plastic wrap and freeze them for 30 minutes before decorating. Place the first layer on your cake stand or turntable, spread ¾ cup of frosting.
- Pipe a border of frosting around the edge of the cake. This will keep the curd filling secure. Pipe another circle of frosting in the middle of the cake. Fill the middle of the two circles of frosting with lime curd.
- Spread about ¾ cup of frosting on top of the lime curd layer. Repeat with the second layer. Place the third layer upside down so that the bottom of the layer is on top of the cake. This gives will make sure the top is even and flat.
- Spread a light layer of frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Freeze the cake for 15 minutes. Freezing the cake will ensure crumbs don't get into your second coat of frosting. Frost the rest of the cake. If making a naked cake, use a cake scraper to scrape off any excess frosting.
- Pour some of the lime curd into a squeeze bottle or use a teaspoon to drizzle lime curd along the edge of the cake. Add a little extra lime juice to the curd if you need to thin it out.
- Decorate the top of the cake with more frosting and lime slices. I used a Wilton 1M piping tip to pipe the frosting on top. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
Lime zest: On average, one lime should give you about 2 teaspoons of zest. Avoid the white part of the rind when zesting the limes. You want only the outer green zest. The white rind can be bitter.
Storage: Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Unfrosted cake layers can be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw before decorating.
Nutrition
Serving: 1piece | Calories: 686kcal | Carbohydrates: 91g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 204mg | Sodium: 323mg | Potassium: 115mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 76g | Vitamin A: 1064IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 101mg | Iron: 2mg