Lime Cake with Luscious Lime Curd Filling is perfect for a springtime treat. When I was a kid, my favorite cake was lime. There used to be an excellent lime cake mix by Betty Crocker that my mom would make and a lime frosting mix that made an incredibly sweet but delicious cake. Sadly, there is no more Betty Crocker lime cake mix. And to be honest, I don’t like an overly sweet cake anyway. But I wanted to reminisce and make a more adult, delicious version with hints of lime throughout that doesn’t hurt your teeth with sugar.
I came up with this version with a tangy lime curd filling and a lime cream cheese frosting that is divine. I ran across a different version of how to add butter to a cake batter, called reverse creaming, where you add the butter to the flour and blend it. It is kind of like making a pie crust, and then the liquids are added in batches to make a light, fluffy, moist cake. This method turned out fantastic. I was concerned the butter wouldn’t blend, and I’d have lumps of butter in the batter. But the butter blended in perfectly. Make sure your butter is at room temperature. This recipe calls for three 8-inch cake pans. You can bake the batter in two pans and slice the cakes in half, giving you four layers. But the lime curd layers will be thinner. And you will need many limes to get the six tablespoons of lime zest. Depending on the size of the limes, you will need as little as five or as many as ten! But don’t use powdered zest or bottled lime juice. You want the fresh lime flavor for this cake.
OK, that is all for this week. This Lime Cake with Luscious Lime Curd Filling is a bright citrusy cake that is fabulous. make one for someone and they will adore you forever. I hope you are all staying safe and healthy out there in this crazy world. Please think of others in your choices. What you do matters to others. Until next time!
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- ½ cup water
- 2 egg yolks slightly beaten
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 Tablespoon grated lime zest
- ¾ cups fresh lime juice
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 2 tsp for high altitude.
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter softened slightly, cut into pats or slices
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup milk
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons grated lime zest
- ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter softened
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 3 tablespoons lime zest
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 ½ cups powdered sugar
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To Make the curd
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Combine sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Pour in water and the lime juice.
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Over medium heat, stir the mixture constantly until it thickens and comes to a boil.
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Boil for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat.
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Spoon about 1/2 cup of the hot mixture into a small bowl containing the egg yolks and stir quickly until combined.
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Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan. Return pan to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, for approximately 1 min. The mixture will thicken slightly.
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Remove from heat and stir in the lime zest and the butter until combined.
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Cool completely before using.
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1 8-inch cake
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To make the cake batter
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Preheat the oven to 350°
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Grease and flour three 8 x 2-inch round pans. You can ensure the cake comes out easily by lining the bottom of each pan with a circle of parchment paper before greasing. But that is optional. You can use two pans and slice the cake into four layers. But there will be thinner layers of lime curd.
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In the bowl of a mixer or using a hand mixer, combine the cake flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and lime zest.
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In a separate bowl, combine eggs, milk, vegetable oil, and lime juice. Blend with a fork.
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Start your mixer on low speed and add a few pats of butter, gradually increasing to medium speed as you add more slices of butter. Beat until the dry ingredients are crumbly and moistened by the butter. The look & texture will be similar to coarse sand. There can be small pieces of butter, and they will blend in the next step.
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Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to make sure there is no dry flour.
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Slowly add approximately 1/2 of the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. The batter will become thick and fluffy.
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Scrape the bowl and add the remaining egg mixture in 2 additions. Beat for 20 seconds and scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
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Spread into the prepared pans. Give each pan a tap to release any large air pockets.
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Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes (30 to 35 minutes if you bake in two pans) until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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Let cakes cool for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack.
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To make the frosting
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Combine butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer (or you may use a hand mixer) and beat until creamy, well-combined, and lump-free.
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Add the lime juice, zest, and salt and stir well to combine.
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With the mixer on low, gradually add powdered sugar until thoroughly combined.
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To assemble the cake:
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Using a piping bag, pipe a ring of frosting around the edge of the top of the bottom layer of the cake.
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Spread ½ the lime curd onto the top inside the piped ring.
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Place the next layer and repeat with the remaining ½ of the lime curd.
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Place the final layer on top of the filled layers. Frost and decorate as you want.
If you want to be perfect, make a crumb layer. (a thin layer of frosting to catch the crumbs) Chill until firm to make the final layer of frosting perfectly smooth. I like to decorate with a few lime slices just before serving.
The cake batter and frosting work well for cupcakes too!
