Lemon Lime Cake

A perfect cake for spring with bright, fresh flavors!

1 hour, plus cooling time

Serves: 8-12

Easy

This Lemon Lime Cake is a taste of spring with it's fresh flavors and bright appearance. And with a box cake mix as the base, it couldn't be easier to make!

This vintage Lemon Lime Cake is a springtime treat! If you love lime Jello or just that lime flavoring – you will absolutely go nuts for it. It’s basically a twist on a traditional poke cake with two layers of “frosting.” Since the base of the recipe is a simple cake mix, it’s also simple to make!

When making the cake, just make sure you don’t over mix. You don’t want the gluten in the flour to start to strengthen. That’s what can make a cake tough. Just put all of your elements in a big bowl and whisk by hand until there are no lumps and you should be good. Also, make sure your eggs are room temperature. Everything else in the recipe comes together pretty easily. Although it is quite a few steps to make all of the elements, they each only take a few minutes.

I would of course recommend making your own whipped cream for the final layer, but Cool Whip would be a much quicker and easier option and still taste great. The good thing about whipping your own whipped cream is you can sweeten it and flavor it to your liking. I flavored ours with some limoncello we had in the freezer and it was a perfect compliment to the lime and lemon of the cake. Plus it had a little kick. 😉

If you’ve got a fan of lime flavoring in your life or just want to celebrate spring – this is a great cake to make. I hope you give it a try, and if you do – let me know what you think in the comments or share a picture with me on Instagram (@bdhbakes).

Steps:

Preheat Oven to 350º
Prep 13" x 9" Baking Pan with Cooking Spray
Make Cake Batter
Add the cake mix, oil, 1 cup of water and 3 eggs to a large bowl. Whisk together by hand until there are no lumps and the batter is entirely smooth. Do not over mix.
Pour Into Pan and Bake
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth out the top with the back of a rubber spatula. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 - 35 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Cool Cake and Make Lime Jello
Allow cake to cool on the counter while you make the Jello. Combine 3/4 Cup COLD water with 3/4 Cup BOILING water and the powdered Jello mix into a glass measuring cup. Mix well until all the powder is dissolved.
Poke Cake and Pour Jello
Now, take a fork and poke holes all over the cake. You don't want to many that the cake is falling apart, but you want to cover it with holes pretty well. Then, pour the Jello mixture all over the top of the cake. Allow to continue to cool, covered, on the counter for about an hour.
Make Pudding & Spread Over Cake
After an hour or so the cake should be pretty well cooled. Make the pudding but mixing the pudding mix and 2 Cups of milk in a medium sized bowl. Allow to sit at room temperature for about five minutes to thicken. Once the pudding is thickened, spread it evenly over the entire cake.
Top with Whipped Cream
Top the cake with a layer of Cool Whip OR make your own whipped cream. I used about 1 1/2 Cups of COLD heavy cream and put that in a metal bowl of a stand mixer that had been chilling in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Whisk that with the whisk attachment (or a handheld mixer) until it starts to thicken. I added about a tablespoon and a half of white sugar and a tablespoon of limoncello to flavor it. You could also use vanilla extract instead of limoncello. Next, spread the whipped cream evenly over the entire cake. You can also decorate the cake with sprinkle, lime zest and/or lime slices.