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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:
Lemon Olive Oil Cake
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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 was leery about making this cake because I am so not a fan of key lime pie. Its just to tart for me. It was my son-n-laws birthday, so I thought, I have grin and bear it. Oh my goodness this was so good. It has just the right amount of lime flavor. It so rich without being overbearing. It is light and fluffy. I am a fan. My key lime pie snobbish son-n-law is too. He took the remainder of the cake home.
This cake was fantastic! Incredibly easy and received rave reviews! Only modification I made was to use Nellie & Joe’s Key Lime Juice instead of squeezing the limes. (I added a bit extra, too….so good!) Recipe called for the perfect amount of rind to give it a nice “punch”. The cake was perfection….dense & super moist! The icing was divine! This will definitely be made on repeat!
I am so happy that you loved the key lime cake recipe! I agree…the frosting definitely makes the cake. Thank you for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it!
Does this call for salted or unsalted butter?
Loved
About how many cupcakes does this recipe make?
Love this!!! I use half Stevia in cake and swerve confectioner sugar for frosting. When I ask my husband what kind of cake he wants it is always this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing
Love the texture and moisten of the cake . And the icing is off the chain! Thanks!
This was really yummy! I wanted a really intense flavor and had plenty of limes from my trees, so I doubled the lime juice in both the cake and frosting recipes. It was just what I wanted! I should note that I was only feeding six, so I cut the recipe down a bit, using two thirds of what was called for (except the lime juice!). We only ate half the cake, but that way there was a bit to send home with the other two couples as well as some for us to take home.
I made this cake for my best friend’s 44th birthday. She said it was the best cake she had had in her life. She said it was the best base for a cake and with this base, “the cake world is yours”. She said I could easily open a bakery now (lol, not happening).
I did make a couple of modifications. I sifted the flour and used egg whites instead of full egg and replaced each yolk with on tablespoon of butter. I also garnished the top of cake with lime zest as well as the fresh limes!
Thank you for this amazing recipe.