Bready or Not: Lemon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
This cake is rustic and simple--a 9x13 cake, cut in half and stacked--with cream cheese frosting through the middle and all around the sides. There's lemon juice and zest flavoring it throughout, making this an ideal treat for lemon-lovers. Modified from Food & Wine Magazine January 2021.
Course: Dessert
Keyword: cake, cream cheese, lemon
Author: Beth Cato
Equipment
9x13 pan
uneven spatula
cooling rack
chopstick or skewer
hand mixer
parchment paper
Ingredients
Lemon Cake
1 3/4cupswhite sugar
2large lemons zested and juiced, to use for cake and frosting
3/4cupextra virgin olive oil
4large eggs room temperature
1cupmilk
1teaspoonvanilla extract
3/4teaspoonfine sea salt
3cupsall-purpose flour
1 1/2teaspoonsbaking powder
3Tablespoonshoney
Cream Cheese Frosting
8ouncescream cheese (1 box) softened
pinchfine sea salt
1/2cupunsalted butter (half stick) softened
3cupsconfectioners' sugar
Instructions
Make the lemon cake
Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 9x13 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray.
Mix together the white sugar and 1 Tablespoon of the lemon zest; reserve remaining zest for the frosting. Using fingertips, for about a minute rub zest into sugar to deploy the inherent oils. Whisk in the olive oil followed by the eggs. Add the milk, vanilla, and salt. Keep beating until the sugar is dissolved.
Beat in the flour and baking powder until just combined, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl. Pour batter into the cake pan.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the middle passes the toothpick test. Let cake cool in pan about 10 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk together the honey and 3 Tablespoons of the lemon juice until smooth.
Invert the cake onto a large cooling rack. Stab cake all over with chopstick or skewer. Set a cookie sheet beneath the rack. Drizzle or brush the honey-lemon mix all over the cake. Let cool for about an hour.
Frosting
Combine cream cheese, salt, the rest of the lemon zest, and a Tablespoon of lemon juice; use rest of juice otherwise. With a hand mixer, beat on medium-high until smooth, about 30 seconds. Add the butter and beat until pale and fluffy, about a minute.
Reduce the speed and gradually add the confectioners' sugar. Once it's all in, increase the speed to high and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Transfer the cake to a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Use an uneven spatula to spread 1 1/2 cups frosting all over the top of the cake. Place cake in fridge to chill for 15-30 minutes. Once frosting has hardened. Slice in half crosswise and stack the halves. Spread the remaining frosting on the top and sides of cake, getting all of the odd angles, nooks, and crannies.
Refrigerate cake, uncovered, at least 30 minutes before serving. For longer than that, cover with plastic wrap; it'll keep well in the fridge for up to 3 days, and can also be frozen in individual slices. Serve cake right from fridge.