There’s nothing quite like a fresh, zesty lemon cake slathered with creamy lemon frosty to make the perfect dessert for a summer wedding.
This lemon wedding cake is made with half butter which amps up the flavor and half oil which ensures it’s light and moist. The oil also helps keep its “just-baked” freshness for longer.
For lemon flavored frosting to pair with your cake, check out our Frosting & Fillings page.
There are two sets of lemon wedding cake recipes below. The first set makes two x 2″ deep cakes for each tier, while the second set is for two x 3″ deep cakes for each tier.
We would highly recommend using baking strips on your cake pans when going into the oven also. This prevents your cake from “doming” in the middle which has to be cut off before filling and frosting your cakes leading to a lot of wastage and your cake tiers being flatter as a result. They are well worth the investment but if you are in a pinch you can use old towels soaked in water and wrapped around your cake pans before putting them in the oven.
(Note: one stick of butter = half a cup)
Lemon Wedding Cake Recipe/Lemon Cake Recipes for Different Pan Sizes (2 pans x 2″ deep)
| Cups | 6" | 7" | 8" | 9" | 10" | 11" | 12" | 13" | 14" |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unsalted Butter | 1/3 | 1/2 | 5/8 | 3/4 | 1 | 1 1/8 | 1 3/8 | 1 1/2 | 1 7/8 |
| Oil | 1/3 | 1/2 | 5/8 | 3/4 | 1 | 1 1/8 | 1 3/8 | 1 1/2 | 1 7/8 |
| Sugar | 1 | 1 3/8 | 1 3/4 | 2 1/4 | 2 3/4 | 3 3/8 | 4 | 4 3/4 | 5 1/2 |
| Eggs | 1/2 | 3/4 | 1 | 1 1/4 | 1 1/2 | 1 3/4 | 2 1/8 | 2 1/2 | 3 |
| Juice and zest of lemons | 1 | 1 1/2 | 2 | 2 1/2 | 3 | 3 1/2 | 4 | 4 1/2 | 5 |
| All-Purpose Flour | 2 | 2 3/4 | 3 1/2 | 4 1/2 | 5 1/2 | 6 3/4 | 8 | 9 1/2 | 11 |
| Baking Powder (tbsp) | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 1 1/2 | 2 | 2 1/4 | 2 3/4 | 3 1/4 | 3 3/4 |
| Salt (tsp) | 1/3 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 3/4 | 1 | 1 1/2 | 1 1/2 | 1 1/2 | 2 |
| Buttermilk | 3/4 | 1 1/8 | 1 1/2 | 1 7/8 | 2 3/8 | 2 3/4 | 3 3/8 | 4 | 4 1/2 |
| Oven Temp | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F | 325F | 325F |
| Baking Time (mins.) | 25-30 | 25-30 | 30-35 | 30-35 | 35-40 | 35-40 | 45-50 | 45-50 | 50-55 |
Lemon Wedding Cake Recipe/Lemon Cake Recipes for Different Pan Sizes (2 pans x 3″ deep)
| Cups | 6" | 7" | 8" | 9" | 10" | 11" | 12" | 13" | 14" |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unsalted Butter | 1/2 | 5/8 | 7/8 | 1 1/8 | 1 3/8 | 1 5/8 | 2 | 2 3/8 | 2 3/4 |
| Oil | 1/2 | 5/8 | 7/8 | 1 1/8 | 1 3/8 | 1 5/8 | 2 | 2 3/8 | 2 3/4 |
| Sugar | 1 1/2 | 2 | 2 3/4 | 3 3/8 | 4 1/4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 1/4 |
| Eggs | 7/8 | 1 | 1 1/2 | 1 3/4 | 2 1/4 | 2 5/8 | 3 1/4 | 3 3/4 | 4 1/2 |
| Zest & Juice of Lemon | 1 | 1 1/2 | 2 | 2 1/2 | 3 | 3 1/2 | 4 | 4 1/2 | 5 |
| All Purpose Flour | 3 | 4 | 5 1/2 | 6 3/4 | 8 1/2 | 10 | 12 1/8 | 14 3/8 | 16 5/8 |
| Baking Powder | 1 | 1 1/3 | 1 3/4 | 2 1/4 | 2 3/4 | 3 1/3 | 4 | 4 3/4 | 5 1/2 |
| Salt | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 1 1/2 | 1 1/2 | 2 | 2 | 2 1/2 |
| Buttermilk | 1 1/4 | 1 3/4 | 2 1/4 | 2 3/4 | 3 1/2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Temp. | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F | 325F | 325F |
| Baking Time (mins) | 30-40 | 30-40 | 35-45 | 35-45 | 40-50 | 40-50 | 45-55 | 55-65 | 65-75 |
Lemon Cake: Method
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Preheat your oven to 350F.
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Grease and line your cake pans.
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Start by beating the butter, oil and sugar.
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Add the eggs and mix through.
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In a separate bowl, sift the flour and baking powder. Add the salt and mix the three ingredients until well combined.
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With your mixer on low speed, alternate adding small amounts of flour and buttermilk to your wet mixture (the butter, oil and sugar) until well combined. But do not overbeat (which would “toughen” your cake texture). Finally as the lemon zest and juice and mix through.
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Pour the cake batter into the two cake pans and bake at 350F for 30 minutes approximately. Because ovens vary so much you will need to check your cake for “done-ness” by inserting a cocktail stick/toothpick into the center of the cake. If there’s any “wet” cake batter still on the cocktail stick it needs to cook some more. The cocktail stick should just have a few cooked crumbs attached to it when you take it out.
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Leave the cakes to cool for 30 minutes before turning them out onto a cool rack to cool completely.