Key Lime Cake with Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
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Rich, bright, and fluffy, my Easy Key Lime Cake with Key Lime
This cake is the perfect balance of sweet and tart. The cake layers or tender and moist and absolutely a must-make recipe for your next celebration… or no special occasion at all. This is a refreshing cake that’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser and guilty pleasure.
If you can find key limes use them if not use regular limes.
Key Lime Cake with Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
Citrus makes me think of Spring. This cake makes a great springtime dessert. St Patrick’s Day, Easter, and Mother’s Day would be the ideal time to enjoy this cake.
One of my favorite things to do is take an extensive recipe and make it easier to prepare. (You know how impatient I am!) I would love to spend hours in the kitchen baking and decorating cakes, prepping and preparing beautiful meals. But, the truth is, I just don’t have that kind of time. My boys have activities and need help with homework and such. I did implement a chore system for them to follow this summer, but they still need supervision. Therefore, for now, it’s simple, easy, and quick dishes!! (Mostly)
Tips and Method
This recipe was inspired by Trisha Yearwood’s Key Lime Cake, but I made it easier! I started with a cake mix with additions that make it taste homemade. The Key Lime
Cake mix and gelatin.
Pour the oil into the mixing bowl.
Then add the eggs and mix on high speed to combine.
I got excited and didn’t take pix of adding the orange juice, lime juice, and vanilla extract.
Pour the batter into the pan, then bake until the cake sets. You’ll know it’s baked when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs.
I was planning to give the key lime cake away, so I baked it in a disposable aluminum pan.
When I originally made this lime cake for my site, I made at in a 9×13-inch aluminum pan. I made it again for a celebration and made three 8-inch round layers. For both cakes, I topped them with a Key Lime
How to frost a layer cake
Tip #1: Begin by ensuring your cakes are level; if they’ve domed during baking, trim the tops with a serrated knife or a cake leveler. If they’ve caved, no need to level them; simply fill the cavity with frosting.
Place the first cake on a cake board or plate using a cake lifter, then place the plate on a cake turntable. Add approximately 1/2 cup of frosting. Use an angled spatula to spread it evenly.
Tip #2: Evenly measure the frosting for each layer. Spread the frosting evenly over each layer, pushing any excess towards the edges.
Continue stacking the layers, ensuring equal portions of frosting between them. If it’s the final layer, place it with the flat side up and add about 1/2 cup of frosting on top. Smooth it evenly, and then apply a thin crumb coat of frosting to the sides.
Chill the cake for at least 30 minutes to set the crumb coat. Afterward, spread another 1/2 cup of frosting on top and frost the sides with a thick coat. Use a cake knife to smooth the sides, and then apply the same technique to smooth the top.
Tip #3: For easier smoothing, frost the cake with a thick layer of frosting. Following these steps will give you a clean canvas for your cake decorating endeavors.
If you like this Key Lime Cake you’ll like my Key Lime Coconut Marbled Pound Cake (pin it) and my Key Lime Pound Cake (pin it).
Easy Key Lime Cake with Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1 package white cake mix
- 3 ounces lime flavored gelatin
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cup orange juice
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons Nellie & Joe’s Key West Lime Juice freshly squeezed, or lime juice
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the Frosting
- ½ cup butter at room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 3 and ½ cups powdered sugar (aka confectioners) sifted before measuring
- 2 tablespoons Nellie & Joe’s Key West Lime Juice freshly squeezed, or lime juice
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
For the cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 – 8 inch round cakes pans or 1 – 9×13 cake pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, add cake mix and gelatin. Add 1 cup oil and ¾ cup orange juice and beat on low.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add lime juice and vanilla. Beat 2 minutes on med hi, scraping sides.
- Pour into cake pans. Bake 8 inch layers 22-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Bake 9×13 inch cake 27- 30 minutes. Cool completely before icing with Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting.
- *For the stacked layered cake, I used three 8 inch pans and cooked them for 27 minutes at 350 degrees.
For the Frosting
- Beat 1/2 cup butter and 8 ounces cream cheese until smooth, add confectioners sugar with a mixer on low. Add lime juice and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Frost cake.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are important to you, I recommend calculating them yourself.
Can make cupcakes instead of the cake
Yes
I want to bake this key lime cake in a half sheet sheet pan for my son’s birthday. I’m going to double the recepie. How long do I bake it?
I was wondering if I should adjust the liquid amounts since cake mixes aren’t 18.25 ounces anymore, they are around 15. I’ve made it before with great results, but it seems to sink now. Thoughts?
My local Walmart has had the larger size cake mixes again, but def lower liquid amounts if the box is 15.25 oz.
You can add 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of sugar to the mix and that with make it hold the liquids called for.
I put 1 and 1/3 cup of oil. I use Lemon cake mix and I don’t put the lime juice in the cake because you use the lime jello. I also put pecans in my icing.
Just wondering the orange juice in the recipe, is it talking bout freshly squeezed orange juice or bottled orange juice? thanks
I used bottled orange juice, like Simply Orange brand.
Hi Paula. Just wondering why orange juice rather than lime, or even lemon? Do you taste the orange flavour? Can’t wait to try this as I love all things lime! Thank you fir sharing your recipe. It looks amazing!
You can’t taste the orange juice it just brightens it. Lemon and lime were too tart, I tested with all 3 diff flavors.
Love this cake! I had watched a cooking program on the Food Channel that had 2 guys on it, that were, of all things….Pizza makers with several Pizza restaurants that they own in New York and California! They were in Florida just for a Key Lime Cake recipe! Well, I’m horrible at “scratch” cakes, so when I saw the recipe these guys had on their show…it was way to complicated for me, but it just looked so delicious to say the least!!!
I thought there has to be a simpler way to make this cake and I searched the good ‘old Internet and found this one! OMG!!! I made this heavenly cake and wonder of wonders, my husband “actually” loved it! In fact, he said it was not only the best cake I had ever made, he loved the taste and here’s the biggie….he’s asked me to make it again and again! You could have knocked me over with a feather! He’s never commented me on my cakes let alone asked for a repeat performance!!!! Especially since he really doesn’t care for Lime flavor!!!
I’ve made this 4 times since I found this recipe since 2016. But out if necessity I had to change it a tiny little bit…. I ran out of Orange Juice and used 1/2 cup of the OJ with 1/4 cup of Key Lime Juice! It was great! I found this great Key Lime Juice….right next to the Real Lime & Lemon Juice in the grocery! It’s called, ” Nellie and Joes Famous Key Lime Juice”! It’s a little pricey but so well worth it! I also use thus Juice in any recipe that calls for Lime or Lemon Juice! It’s not to tart and not to sweet! (It’s also great in a Corona beer too) So! To make me long story short….this is my families most favorite cake recipe and my friends love it too, any ime of the year!!!!
Vicki, you have just made my day!! Thank you so much for telling me your story. I am so happy you like the cake. I enjoy baking but sometimes I just want an simple recipe too.
I accidentally picked up yellow cake mix instead of white cake mix. Does it matter?
It will taste the same, the color may be a little different but it’ll still be good
I made this cake ,it was so good,I couldn’t stop eating and the frosting is so good,it makes me think I can really bake,it,s addictive.Thanks for that great “made easy” recipe.I,ll try the strawberry cake next ,but for now I’m hooked on keylime.
Just made this for a St. Patrick’s Day get together. It was a huge hit! It is a delicious cake. I used fresh lime juice in the icing it’s amazing. Thanks!
I made this for my sisters birthday and it turned out so goooood! But I made it all from scratch since I didn’t have a cake mix on hand. I combined a white cake with this one and luckily it turned out so yummy and moist 🙂 Thank you for the recipe!
My husband and I love key Lime pie. When I saw this for cake. I told him. We both agreed to make and try for Thanksgiving. Very very yummie! Can’t wait to make it for family when we return home.