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:
Lemon Olive Oil Cake
Orange Cake
Love at First Sight Chocolate Cake
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Key Lime Cake
Ingredients
Key Lime Cake:
- 1 cup Canola or Olive Oil
- 3 large Eggs
- 1 ⅓ cup Whole Milk
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Lime Zest
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lime Juice
- 2 cups Sugar
- 2 cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Lime Cream Cheese Frosting:
- ½ cup Butter (softened)
- 8 ounce Cream Cheese (softened)
- 4 - 4 ½ cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lime Juice
- ½ 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.
Sandra Sykes
Seen your recipe on key lime cake sounds delicious, plus you had several positive post about how tasty it is .I was just going to use a box cake that calls for lime jello. But your cake recipe made my mouth water. Wish me luck,????
Sharon E
I made this key lime cake and it is absolutely delicious! My whole family loves it. Thks so much for your recipe. Sharon is happy in Alabama.
Ruby Hutchinson
Can I substitute the lime for lemon to make a lemon cake
Ruth
I want to try this recipe but I notice it is called key lime but you use limes and not key limes…is this a misprint?
Marilyn
Made this today for a birthday celebration. Substituted grapeseed oil for the olive oil. This cake was a hit! Every person loved it. I will definitely be making this cake again. Fabulously light cake.
Katie
I made this cake on the weekend and it was delicious! My husband said it was the best cake I have ever baked, and everyone who had a slice couldn't stop singing its praises! I will definitely be baking this again.
Bridget
Wow! I made this cake for Easter to impress my father in law, and he is not a cake guy, but he loves key lime pie. He also usually doesn't like frosting, and he polished his plate clean! The cake kept great in the fridge, and was sturdy enough for a 1 hour car ride over Massachusetts' finest potholes not to slide. I'll be making this one again!
Andrea S
I didn't use the frosting recipe , though the cake was ABSOLUTELY Delish! A heavy cake with a lot of moisture. Thank you!
Tina
WOW! Such a moist cake. Definitely had more then one slice!
Nicole
I made a gluten free, vegan version of this cake and I cut back on the sugar for the frosting. Also, I added some coconut to both cake and frosting. Let me tell you, I got such awesome reviews and demands to make it again for our next Sabbath gathering.
Jenny
Can I use this recipe for cupcakes?
JoAnne
Thank you, Modern Honey, for this recipe, it's delicious 😋 my husband loves it! I added just a drop of green food coloring to the batter and the frosting, beautiful!
Wraithy
This recipe is really good. I did add a bit of vanilla powder/paste and some lime green food gel to it. Lime cake needs to be green. 😉
I did change up the frosting for my key lime pie ‘cake filling’, which is a more liquidy ‘filling’ but not nearly as sweet as frosting.
Modern Honey
That's a great idea to add some green food coloring to give it that extra green color. Thank you so much for sharing that tip and for trying my lime cake recipe!
Belinda
I used 1 1/2 cups of plain gluten free flour and 1/4 cup of besan flour and it turned out amazing! So happy.....not a dry gluten free cake , like many are.
Modern Honey
Hi Belinda! I love that you make it into a gluten-free key lime cake and turned out amazing. I love to hear that and thank you so much for sharing and taking the time to comment.
Tyr
Really good! I only had 1 lime but that's all I needed. I'd probably use half a cup less sugar next time , just cuz this is so sticky and the edges got crispy from the sugar melting (which I like but can be a bit much.) I halved the frosting and just covered the middle and top, used some lime concentrate for that and didnt measure the sugar, just added it till the consistency+taste was right, Delicious! Will try again in the future
Modern Honey
Thank you so much for trying out my key lime cake recipe! I am glad you will make it again in the future. I appreciate it!
Becky
Fabulous moist cake, super easy to make, and needs no substitutions, deletions, or additions
Modern Honey
Thank you so much, Becky, for taking the time to comment and for trying out my lime cake recipe. So happy you loved it!