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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.
If you love cakes, here are some of the most popular cake recipes:
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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.
Oh boy this was good! I was pleasantly surprised. It was super moist and flavorful.
I made a few adjustments. Replaced â…“c of milk with orange juice. Added a small package of lime gelatin. Added a teaspoon of lemon extract to the icing. I only used 3c powdered sugar in the icing, I don’t like mine too sweet.
I had to use 3 pans, this makes a lot of batter. And lots of spray and parchment paper is needed. Line the bottom and the sides. This cake sticks like crazy.
This was a fabulous cake! It was easy to make, moist and delicious. Only thing I changed was to double the lime juice in the cake. I will DEFINITELY make this again.
Love this recipe! This is my bf’s favorite cake that I’ve ever made. I make it with some fancy pants olive oil and key limes and pair it with a key lime curd filling and it’s ridiculously moist and delicious. I was worried initially that it wouldn’t turn out right because the batter is pretty thin, but it’s been perfect both times I’ve made it.
Amazing!
This was the first time I made, or even heard of, a key lime cake. I made 18 cupcakes, baked 25 minutes, and followed the recipe exactly. I didn’t have any cream cheese so it was buttercream icing and I followed that recipe exactly.
My family was impressed. So light and fresh. I will be making this again.
Definitely add more lime juice. I didn’t add enough zest, so that could have been it too. Very moist and great texture. Buttercream is sweet and rich as expected. I added extra lime juice over the cakes before frosting to ensure the lime taste. Recipe made 4 mini bundt cakes and 12 cupcakes with a little left over. Family approved, recipe saved.
Love the recipe I like how it was not has tart and sweet as the recipe I used to use and had a settle taste and balanced ingredients.
Hands down the best key lime cake recipe. I made graham cracker crust for it as well which I added in one of the 9 inches pan and baked for ten minutes and then add the batter and bake the rest of it. I baked this cake, freeze it and then took it to my international travel to my family. I defrosted it and my whole family devoured it and can’t say enough great words about this cake and how moist it was. Thanks so much for the great recipe 🙂
this cake was soooo delicious. seriously was the best cake I have ever had and not hard to make. thank you for sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it.
I’m going to try and make this cake; this recipe calls for flour, is it ALL PURPOSE FLOUR, OR SELF-RISING FLOUR?
Hi there! It is all-purpose flour. 🙂
Any recommendations for making this cake and frosting a couple days in advance of eating? can it be done while keeping its moistness?