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Key Lime Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Moist key lime cake with sweet cream cheese frosting. A light and fluffy citrus lime cake with the perfect lime buttercream frosting!
I work long and hard to perfect my cake recipes. I take baking cakes pretty seriously and want to pass on these tried and true recipes to my children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren…so they better be perfect!
I have been baking since the time I could climb up on a stool and help my Mom in the kitchen. Baking cakes and cookies for my friends and family have always been my favorite thing to bake! I shared how my kids get to choose the flavor of their birthday cake every year and they get pretty creative! Since my daughter, Sadie, is obsessed with anything lime flavored, I knew this had to be her special birthday cake.
This is literally one of my husband’s favorite cakes I have ever made. It is seriously the best lime cake!
We just returned home from a Caribbean cruise with the family and had the best time! It was so nice to be away from cellphones and laptops and reconnects as a family. My kids felt like Kings and Queens with access to unlimited food and drinks! Our favorite virgin non-alcoholic drink was definitely the mojito — made with fresh lime juice and mint. This drink was definitely the inspiration for this fresh key lime cake!
This Key Lime Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting can be made as a layered cake with two 9-inch cake pans or three 8-inch cake pans or in a 9 x 13 pan.
How to make the Best Key Lime Cake (the best tips and tricks):
- Whip oil, eggs, whole milk, lime juice, and lemon zest for about 2-3 minutes. I would highly suggest using FRESH lime juice for this cake. It makes such a difference in the flavor. Also, zest the limes first before juicing since it is much easier to zest while the limes are hard and round.
- Fold in dry ingredients. Pour into greased cake pans. It is so important to grease the cake pans well so the cakes easily come out of the pans. You can choose to use two 9-inch cake pans or three 8-inch cake pans, depending on preference. If you use three 8-inch pans, the layers will be thinner and will need less baking time. This can also be made in a 9 x 13 pan.
- After cakes have baked, set aside to cool. Make frosting by whipping softened cream cheese and butter for 4 minutes until light and fluffy. This makes the frosting extra light. Add powdered sugar and whip for 1 minute. If you want a stiffer frosting, add more powdered sugar. Fold in lime juice and lime zest.
- Remove cakes from pan. Spread frosting on top of one cooled cake layer. Place the other cooled cake layer on top and spread frosting all over. I use this angled spatula to spread frosting all over the cake layers. Garnish with freshly sliced limes.
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Key Lime Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Key Lime Cake:
- 1 cup Canola or Olive Oil
- 3 large Eggs
- 1 1/3 cup Whole Milk
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Lime Zest
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lime Juice
- 2 cups Sugar
- 2 cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Lime Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1/2 cup Butter (softened)
- 8 ounce Cream Cheese (softened)
- 4 - 4 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lime Juice
- 1/2 teaspoon Fresh Lime Zest
- Fresh Limes (sliced for garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, add oil, eggs, whole milk, lime zest, and lime juice. Cream for 2 minutes.
- In a large bowl, add sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir into egg mixture and fold.
- Spray two 9-inch or three 8-inch cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Place batter into baking pans. If using three 8-inch pans, bake for 20-26 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. If using two 9-inch pans, bake for 30-36 minutes. Cool.
To make Lime Cream Cheese Frosting:
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping sides of bowl often. Add powdered sugar, lime juice, lime zest, and cream together. Chill.
- Remove cakes from pan. Spread frosting on top of one cooled cake layer. Place the other cooled cake layer on top and spread frosting all over. Garnish with fresh lime slices.
Video
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I wanna make a citrus explosion with orange lemon and lime cake all mixed together. Deciding on what to put in between. Thinking maybe orange and lwmon and line curd but mixed on opposite layers maybe or maybe frosting, not sure yet. Do you have any ideas?
Hi Melissa! I love that idea. You could do lemon curd and orange cream cheese frosting. So instead of lime zest and lime juice in the frosting, substitute orange zest and orange juice. Let me know how it turns out! — Melissa
Just wanted to let you know that I made this over the weekend and it was a huge hit at the BBQ we attended. The crew asked me to make and bring this again for our next party. Definitely adding this to my recipe box. Many thanks!
I made this cake for Mother’s Day and it was absolutely delicious. It was a huge hit at my Mother’s Day lunch. Everyone was raving about the flavor and how moist it was. This was such an easy recipe and will definitely be a staple in my family for years to come.
The cake came out amazingly! It’s the best recipe for key lime cake I’ve found. I made it yesterday for mother’s day. Everyone loved it. It’s was so moist and was more like a pound cake. It was perfect! I have a feeling I’ll be asked to make this again soon. Thank you!
Made the lime and the orange cake for my moms 82 birthday. Both cakes were very moist but the key lime cake didn’t have as much flavour (and I added additional lime) however orange cake was very nice and was the winner.
Add pkg of 3 to 6 oz lime jello.
You might also substitute 1/3 cup milk for 1/3 cup lime juice.
I’m about to make this cake too. Did you use “lime jello” or lime jello pudding mix”
I subbed the 1/3 milk for lime juice, but didn’t add jello- it’s still a subtle lime flavour.
There aren’t words to describe how amazing this cake tastes! I will definitely be making this again! The only thing I’ll do differently is add more cooking spray to the pan. The recipe calls for a lot, and while I thought I put enough, the middles still stuck. Even still, this is one of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted!
I’d love to try this recipe today. I’d like to be certain that the flour required is all purpose flour.
Next time use parchment as well as spray. I always spray a small amount, and then lay the parchment. Nancy Birtwhistle also has a really good lining paste recipe that works like a charm.
Anyone know if this calls for cake flour or all purpose? Thanks!
Works fine with all purpose.
For the key lime cake, what is the baking time for a 9×13 pan?
I like you have always loved to bake. When I was about eight years old my mother had Santa bring me one of the first easy bake ovens. I LOVED IT! I can’t tell you how many cakes I baked in my little oven. I wish I still had it.
I think I better go grocery shopping so I can get started on your beautiful cakes.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Hello Miss Cake Lady! Am looking forward to making the Key Lime Cake, however, your above recipe for the cake calls for Lemon zest and Lime juice. And your instructions say lime zest and lime juice. Would that be a typo? Another question, have you tried this recipe with butter instead of oil? Thank you so much for sharing!
Is it lemon zest or lime zest in the cake mix? The ingredient list says lemon zest and the instructions say lime zest.
Never noticed the Lemon zest in the ingredient list!. I baked this multiple times with lime (zest and juice) and it turns out great.