Key Lime Cake – Sugar Spun Run

Constructed on all of the vintage, favourite flavors of key lime pie, my key lime cake is amusing, refreshing, and brilliantly flavored! It’s made with 3 wet, candy vanilla cake layers, a tart key lime frosting, and (not obligatory, however really helpful) sky-high dollops of whipped cream. Recipe features a how-to video educational!

Why You’ll Love This Key Lime Cake

• Cake layers: the cake layers are subtly infused with key lime taste, however they nonetheless have a candy vanilla cake style, so the cake isn’t overpowered through tartness.
• Frosting: to succeed in essentially the most key lime taste within the frosting, we’ll stir in a do-it-yourself lime curd. I first used this method in my lemon frosting (this can be a sport changer for infusing taste into frostings!).
• Ornament: a crown of stabilized whipped cream and miniskirt of graham cracker crumbs places issues excessive and offers the entirety an original key lime pie style and really feel.
• Methodology: from the opposite creaming approach used to make the mushy cake layers to the curd-infused frosting, each and every bit of labor you set into this cake can be smartly definitely worth the praise.

A Few Issues to Know

My present favourite cake, key lime cake isn’t simply spectacular to take a look at, it’s an absolute taste masterpiece (if I do say so myself)! With subtly key lime flavored cake layers, a clean and silky cream cheese key lime frosting, and beneficiant dollops of whipped cream frosting (not obligatory, however so really helpful), it’s concurrently decadent and completely refreshing for summer season. A slightly of graham cracker crumbs across the backside provides a pleasing contact of sweetness and texture too!

The result is the easiest steadiness of candy and tart.

I went thru many, many trials and diversifications creating this recipe and in spite of everything nailed the mushy, comfortable, however somewhat extra dense crumb I used to be searching for within the cake layers. For the frosting, one who began with a cream cheese frosting base was once the winner with my style testers (and myself) each and every time.

Elements

Let’s chat about a number of the key substances within the cake itself, after which I’ll do the similar for the frosting.

• Key lime juice. Key limes, let on my own just right, juicy ones, may also be tough to search out relying to your location and time of yr. You’ll be able to exchange “common” lime zest for the important thing lime zest, however for the juice I truly counsel the use of a key lime juice. If you’ll be able to’t to find exact key limes, maximum retail outlets raise the juice. Search for a logo referred to as “Nellie & Joe’s Key West Lime Juice”, as that one works rather well right here (I’ve made the cake the use of this juice a couple of instances).
• All-purpose flour. I discovered that common all-purpose flour (simple flour in the United Kingdom) labored absolute best right here (quite than cake flour).
• Butter & oil. Like such a lot of of my cake recipes, I’m the use of a mix of oil and butter to create a humid, flavorful crumb on this key lime cake. Oil could also be particularly useful for maintaining moisture in desserts that want refrigerated, like this one.
• Vanilla. Even supposing we’re flavoring the cake with lime juice and zest, a slightly of vanilla remains to be suitable right here. It’s delicate, however softens the tartness of the limes somewhat.

Frosting Elements

• Cream cheese. Similar to when making key lime cheesecake, you should use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese for this key lime frosting. The spreadable sort bought in tubs (or the low-fat selection!) can be some distance too comfortable and you are going to have a runny frosting.
• Eggs. We’ll want simply the yolks (so be at liberty to save lots of the whites for coconut macaroons or meringues). This may increasingly shape the bottom of our key lime curd, which we will be able to beat into our frosting.
• Key Lime Juice. See my observe above; I normally can’t to find key limes once I need them, so I used bottled key lime juice (and whilst recent will all the time be my desire, bottled works smartly right here!).
• Graham cracker crumbs. Those are not obligatory, however for a key lime pie vibe, you’ll be able to press some graham cracker crumbs up the perimeters after frosting. Those upload a pleasing texture too!

No vanilla right here, as this might hose down the recent lime taste.

SAM’S TIP: Not like many citrus end result that stretch their height all through the iciness, limes are in season all through the spring and summer season months. So you may need to believe saving recipes like orange cookies and lemon cake for the iciness, and make key lime cake when the elements is heat!

That is simply an summary of the substances I used and why. For the total recipe please scroll all the way down to the ground of the publish!

How you can Make Key Lime Cake

Make the Cake Layers

1. Whisk in combination the dry substances and sugar, then regularly stir within the butter one tablespoon at a time. Make sure to wait so as to add the following tablespoon of butter till the former tablespoon is absolutely blended.
2. Stir within the oil and lime zest till included. You’re going to be left with a sandy, crumbly aggregate.
3. Upload your lime juice to a big glass measuring cup, then pour in milk till you achieve a complete of one ½ cups of liquid. This may look like a odd measuring method, however for those who’ve ever made my buttermilk exchange, you’ll acknowledge it. Via doing this, we’re in truth creating a kind of buttermilk exchange. The scant cup of milk give us the right kind quantity of liquid and chemical response for without equal texture and taste.
4. Upload the remainder rainy substances to the milk aggregate, then slowly pour it into your batter till blended. Scrape the perimeters and backside of the bowl as wanted and blend till you’ve a clean, silky batter.

5. Divide your batter between your cake pans and bake. I really like to make use of the toothpick take a look at to test for doneness; you wish to have to look a couple of wet crumbs or a blank toothpick.
6. Let the desserts cool for 10-Quarter-hour, then take away them from the pans and funky utterly on a cooling rack.

Frosting

1. Make the important thing lime curd, then pour it thru a advantageous mesh strainer right into a heatproof bowl. Let this cool utterly ahead of including it for your frosting!
2. Beat the butter and cream cheese till clean, then regularly upload 4 cups of the powdered sugar till included.
3. Steadily stir within the cooled key lime curd, operating with one tablespoon at a time. Don’t do that too briefly or upload an excessive amount of, or it is advisable to destroy your frosting.
4. Scrape the perimeters and backside of the bowl, then style take a look at. Upload the extra sugar in case your frosting turns out too comfortable, tart, or about to wreck.

Sure, creating a do-it-yourself key lime curd is extra time eating than just including a dash of juice into the frosting, however it truly nailed the flavour I used to be searching for, while simply including lime juice merely does no longer do the trick. I promise, the additional paintings is definitely price it!

Meeting

1. Degree and frost your first cake layer, then repeat with the second one layer. Upload your ultimate layer on most sensible. If desired, do a crumb coat.
2. End frosting your cake with a good layer across the out of doors.
3. Press graham cracker crumbs up the perimeters of the cake, if desired.
4. Pipe whipped cream swirls across the most sensible of the cake and embellish as desired. I love to sprinkle lime zest and graham cracker crumbs at the tops of the swirls.

SAM’S TIP: Let the curd cool utterly and upload it regularly, or your frosting may destroy. This may also be exhausting to mend (I communicate somewhat about this in my raspberry frosting publish), so prevention is absolute best.

Often Requested Questions

This key lime cake is the easiest summer season birthday cake! I will be able to’t wait to listen to the way you find it irresistible.

Revel in! And When you’re playing those amusing and flavorful desserts, indisputably take a look at my chocolate raspberry cake and new cannoli cake subsequent!

Let’s bake in combination! Subscribe to my publication to be notified of all of the latest recipes, and to find my unfastened recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜

Key Lime Cake

Impressed through key lime pie, my key lime cake is so refreshing! It is made with 3 wet, candy vanilla cake layers, a tart key lime frosting, and dollops of whipped cream. Recipe features a how-to video!

Print Pin Price

Path: Cake, Dessert

Delicacies: American

Prep Time: 50 mins mins

Cook dinner Time: 40 mins mins

General Time: 1 hour hour 30 mins mins

Servings: 12 servings

Energy: 665kcal

Cook dinner ModeSave you your display screen from going darkish

Directions

Cake

• Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and punctiliously grease and flour the perimeters of 3 8” cake pans, tapping out any extra flour, and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

• In a big bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

  2 ⅔ cups (333 g) all-purpose flour, 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon desk salt

• With mixer on low pace, upload softened butter one Tablespoon at a time, permitting every Tablespoon to be absolutely included into the dry substances ahead of including the following. As soon as all butter is added, the combination may have a sandy, crumbly texture.

  ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter

• Upload oil and lime zest and stir till smartly blended. Put aside.

  ¼ cup (60 ml) avocado, 1 Tablespoon lime or key lime zest

• Upload the important thing lime juice to a big measuring cup (no less than 2-cup), then upload the milk till it reaches the 1 ½ cup line and whisk to mix.

  1 ½ Tablespoons key lime juice, 1 ½ (333 ml) scant cups entire milk

• Upload eggs and vanilla to the milk aggregate and whisk to mix.

  2 huge eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Flip mixer to low pace and slowly upload the milk aggregate into batter till absolutely blended, pausing to scrape the perimeters and backside of the bowl as wanted. Batter will have to be uniform, silky and clean.

• Frivolously divide batter into ready pans (if weighing batter, every pan will have to have roughly 460 grams of batter) and bake within the heart rack of preheated 350F (175C) oven for 26-28 mins, or till a toothpick inserted within the heart of every cake comes out blank or with a couple of wet crumbs.

• Permit desserts to chill of their pans for 10-Quarter-hour, then run a knife alongside the threshold of the pan to loosen from the perimeters and sparsely invert onto a cooling rack to chill utterly. Whilst desserts are cooling, get ready your frosting.

Curd

• In a small, non-reactive saucepan (see observe) whisk in combination egg yolks, key lime juice, sugar, and salt.

  2 huge egg yolks, ⅓ cup (80 ml) key lime juice, 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon desk salt

• Upload butter and prepare dinner over medium/low warmth, whisking continuously till aggregate is thickened. This may increasingly take a number of mins; as soon as it’s thickened the whisk will have to begin to depart trails during the curd, and it will have to coat the again of a spoon.

  2 Tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter

• Pour curd thru a advantageous mesh strainer right into a heatproof bowl. Permit to chill utterly ahead of continuing (this can be positioned within the fridge to chill sooner).

Frosting

• In a big blending bowl, use an electrical mixer to overcome softened butter and cream cheese till clean and creamy.

  ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter, 6 oz. (170 g) cream cheese

• Steadily upload 4 cups (500g) of powdered sugar till utterly included.

  4-5 cups (500-625 g) powdered sugar

• Upload the cooled curd, one Tablespoon at a time, till you’ve added 5-6 Tablespoons. Make sure you scrape the perimeters and backside of the bowl to make sure all substances are completely blended. If the frosting turns out too comfortable, too tart, or at the verge of breaking upload the remainder sugar as wanted.

Meeting

• As soon as desserts are cooled, stage the tops if important.

• Frost every layer calmly with the ready frosting. Frivolously frost the out of doors of the cake with the remainder frosting.

• Gently press graham cracker crumbs across the backside of cake, a few quarter of the best way up.

  ¼ cup (28 g) graham cracker crumbs

• Pipe, swirl, or dollop stabilized whipped cream frosting excessive of the cake, if the use of. Embellish with further graham cracker crumbs or lime zest, if desired.

  ½ batch Stabilized whipped cream frosting

• Permit to cool within the fridge for a minimum of half-hour ahead of chopping and serving. Revel in!

Notes

Key limes

Key limes may also be tough to search out throughout america relying on location and time of yr. You’ll be able to exchange “common” lime zest for the important thing lime zest, however for the juice I truly counsel the use of a key lime juice. If you’ll be able to’t to find exact key limes, maximum retail outlets raise the juice. Search for a logo referred to as “Nellie & Joe’s Key West Lime Juice”, that one works rather well right here (I’ve made the cake the use of this juice myself a couple of instances).

Saucepan for curd

Select a small one fabricated from a non-reactive steel like stainless-steel or an enameled ceramic pot. Keep away from reactive metals (like forged iron or aluminum) that would react with the acidity of the lime juice and make your frosting style steel.

Lime Curd

Curd could also be ready as much as 3 days upfront of constructing the frosting. This recipe will have to yield roughly 6 Tablespoons of an overly tart key lime curd. Whilst you’ll be able to exchange an equivalent quantity of store-bought curd, it will modify the specified style somewhat and do-it-yourself/as-written is absolute best.

Adorning: Whipped Cream Topping

To provide this cake an actual key lime pie really feel, a whipped cream topping truly provides a pleasing however not obligatory contact. You’ll be able to skip this solely or for those who want, however I like to recommend creating a half-batch of my stabilized whipped cream frosting and piping this excessive of the cake (this may also be carried out upfront and can hang its form for days, in contrast to vintage do-it-yourself whipped cream). I used my Ateco 848 piping tip to embellish the cake as observed in footage and the video.

Storing

Retailer in hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 4 days. Cake will also be tightly wrapped and frozen for as much as 3 months. I like to recommend thawing in a single day within the fridge ahead of serving.

Diet

Serving: 1serving | Energy: 665kcal | Carbohydrates: 100g | Protein: 6g | Fats: 28g | Saturated Fats: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 1g | Monounsaturated Fats: 8g | Trans Fats: 1g | Ldl cholesterol: 130mg | Sodium: 387mg | Potassium: 99mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 76g | Nutrition A: 932IU | Nutrition C: 3mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 2mg

Dietary data is in response to third-party calculations and will have to be thought to be an estimate handiest. Exact dietary content material will range based totally upon manufacturers used, measuring strategies, cooking approach, portion sizes, and extra.

Comparable Recipes