April's choice for the Cake Slice Bakers is deceptively simple, incredibly delicious Lime Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.
Both the cake and the frosting are from Little Everyday Cakes by Candace Floyd.
Don't let the name of this cake book fool you. They may be "everyday" cakes and smaller than usual, but the flavors and combinations are terrific.
Lime Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting caught my eye because I love all things lime and it has that smooth, creamy cream cheese/butter frosting.
The sponge part of this cake is a great texture and is so very tasty. You can definitely tell the lime zest and juice are there, but they're not overwhelming.
The frosting isn't just cream cheese and powdered sugar. A bit of butter is added and that makes it creamier.
The photo in the book shows the lime frosting just covering the top of the one-layer cake. I found the recipe makes enough to generously cover the top and sides with a touch left over for my husband to taste test. Lucky him.
So, what's the difference between frosting and icing?
- Although the terms are used interchangeably, there is a difference.
- Frosting is considered fluffier and softer. It usually, but not always, uses milk or cream.
- Frosting is used to frost an entire cake and usually between layers.
- Icing is usually thinner and firms up more than frosting. (example: to me, Texas Sheet Cake uses icing - it firms up and cracks a bit).
- Final verdict - call it what you want and eat more cake.
Lime Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting will be a good cake to make at the last minute should company come by or to take to a bake sale or pot luck. When people taste it, they'll be surprised at how good it is, even though it looks unassuming.
Update: I stored this in the refrigerator and it's even better cold the next day!
Lime Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Delicious cake dotted with lime zest and covered in luscious lime frosting
Ingredients
- 1 ½ C (180 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ C (56 g) butter, softened
- 1 C (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 egg yolk, room temperature
- 10 tablespoon milk (150 g), room temperature
- Finely grated peel of 2 limes, divided
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- For the frosting:
- 4 oz (112 g) cream cheese, softened
- 3 tablespoon (43 g) butter, softened
- 2 C (260 g), powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease an 8" square pan and dust with flour.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
- Put the butter into a stand mixing bowl and beat until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until completely combined and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl when needed.
- Add the egg and egg yolk one at a time, beating well after each addition, again scraping down the sides of the bowl.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture and the milk a little at a time, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Add the lime juice and half of the lime peel and mix for about 30 seconds, until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake the cake 25 to 30 minutes, turning the pan once halfway through baking. Place the pan on a wire rack and let it cool for 15 minutes. Turn the cake out onto the rack, top up and let cool completely.
- For the frosting: In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese and butter - beat with a hand mixer until well blended. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time on low until blended.
- Add the lime juice, vanilla and salt and blend until smooth. Thin out with a little milk if you'd like thinner frosting.
- Frost the cooled cake and sprinkle with remaining lime grated lime peel.
- Store leftover cake in the refrigerator.
Notes
My butter and sugar combination never got really fluffy, but the fluffier you can get it, the better.
If you want a couple of pretty slices of lime to decorate with, slice them off before grating the lime.
Room temperature ingredients are important in this recipe.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 9 pieces Serving Size: 1 pieceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 259Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 55mgSodium: 325mgCarbohydrates: 46gFiber: 1gSugar: 26gProtein: 7g
Nutrition Values are Approximate
Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is Little Everyday Cakes by Candace Floyd. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!
Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.
The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.
Mexican Chocolate Cake
Tiny Tres Leches Cake
Lime Cake
Can you triple the recipe and make a 3 layer cake
Deborah, you can triple it successfully, but the cake is kind of soft so the weight of the layers might moosh down the lowest layer. A double layer cake might work better. Let me know if you try it - I'd love to make a 3-layer version of this awesome cake!
The lime cake recipe in the book calls for 1 1/2 cups or 150g flour which I believe should be 180g flour. Did you actually use 200g as listed in your recipe? I am new to baking so am not sure how much to use. Thank you.
Hi Lily - I used the U.S. cup measurements to make this. I noticed she had 150 g. in the original also, but when I did the original translation it came out near 200 gm. Another one from grams to cups came out to 180 g. I would use 180 g. (measurements from King Arthur's baking) and am going to change the recipe. Thanks for catching that- this cake is terrific and I want the measurements to be correct!
This looks so festive and it sounds very tasty!
This would be a great Mother's Day cake, Sandra. I could see you decorating the table beautifully around this cake!
SO pretty, Susan! Your pictures are gorgeous, and the cake sounds fantastic!
Thanks so much Amanda!
Now I'm wishing I had chosen this cake. Mine was very delicious but I do love citrus......
The lime in this is great. Something about that frosting is killer! 🙂
Now I'm wishing I'd make this one!! Love the flecks of zest in the frosting too. Sounds PERFECT for spring!
Put this on your list, Rebekah - it's quick and easy and so good!
Wasn't this delicious? I love the twist of lime on the top of your cake!
Absolutely - and it seemed to get better every day!