Predictably, lemon and I are having a moment.
I’ve been lemon-ing all the things. Like chicken and now sheet cake and even chia pudding that I’ll tell you about soon. I get in lemon mode and I can’t get out.
This is not the first lemon cake I’ve made either. EMBARRASSING.
MY OTHER RECIPESI’ve made a lemon cake with marshmallow frosting, a lemon loaf cake, a lemon pudding cake, a lemon pistachio bundt cake and lemon cupcakes with coconut whipped cream. Apparently I can’t get enough.
And I’ll always stand by the fact that I need a bite of chocolate dessert and a bite of lemon dessert. They are two totally different taste buds! And dreamy ones at that.
I based this lemon cake off of this stunning strawberry rhubarb cake by my friend Adrianna. She makes the BEST sheet cakes that are gorgeous and perfectly frosted and I attempted to make one as pretty as hers and attempt her style but it isn’t even possible. Hers are just so stylish and stunning!
And the cake base is perfection. I swear.
I’m a big believe in cream cheese frosting. I think it makes all cakes taste better. Has that little extra bite and sort of tastes like cheesecake and just has more flavor overall. But really? This is probably because I am not a frosting person. Nope. Not at all! I’ve never liked frosting by itself and always ask for the cake with the least amount of frosting.
There has to be a perfect cake-to-frosting ration for me to be impressed. Which basically means lots of cake and very little frosting.
However, I do make a few exceptions when it comes to cream cheese frosting. It’s just SO darn good. And it’s really fantastic with lemon! And coconut. Chocolate too.
Basically, don’t even give me cake with other frosting, okay?
On top of the cream cheese icing, I added the little candied lemon rounds from Trader Joes! Do they still have these or are they seasonal?
I bought them in December and even did a Trader Joes haul on Instagram stories – figuring I’d use them for cocktails over the holidays. But then I had the flu of death on Christmas and felt generally awful until New Years, so that didn’t happen. Leaving me with a bunch of candied citrus!
Not that I’m complaining.
Okay, maybe I am a little.
Oh oh and! The sprinkles come from Sweetapolita and she makes the most amazing sprinkle mixes in the universe. I seriously love love love them all. So fun!
Now I have my favorite dessert for the next two months! Until my next favorite dessert comes along… of course.
Lemon Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
lemon cake
- 2 3/4 cup cake flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest
- sprinkles for the frosting
- candied lemon slices if you want!
cream cheese frosting
- 2 (8-ounce) blocks cream cheese
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 inch pan with nonstick or baking spray and line it with parchment paper. Spray it one more time,
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of your electric mixer and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time until they are combined. Beat in the extracts. Add half of the dry ingredients, then add the milk and beat until combined. Beat in the rest of the dry ingredients. Beat in the lemon zest.
Pour the mixture into the greased pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cake is set in the center. Let cool completely before frosting. Once cool, lift the parchment paper on the edges to lift the cake out and frost.
cream cheese frosting
Beat the cream cheese and butter together until creamy. Beat in the sugar until combined. Beat in the vanilla extract. Frost the cooled cake, then top with the sprinkles!
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My kind of spread right there.
