Key Lime Cake – Sugar Spun Run

Constructed on all of the basic, favourite flavors of key lime pie, my key lime cake is enjoyable, refreshing, and brilliantly flavored! It’s made with three moist, candy vanilla cake layers, a tart key lime frosting, and (elective, however beneficial) sky-high dollops of whipped cream. Recipe features a how-to video tutorial!

Why You’ll Love This Key Lime Cake

• Cake layers: the cake layers are subtly infused with key lime taste, however they nonetheless have a candy vanilla cake style, so the cake isn’t overpowered by tartness.
• Frosting: to attain probably the most key lime taste within the frosting, we’ll stir in a home made lime curd. I first used this method in my lemon frosting (it is a sport changer for infusing taste into frostings!).
• Ornament: a crown of stabilized whipped cream and miniskirt of graham cracker crumbs places issues excessive and offers every thing an genuine key lime pie style and really feel.
• Method: from the reverse creaming methodology used to make the tender cake layers to the curd-infused frosting, each bit of labor you set into this cake can be properly definitely worth the reward.

A Few Issues to Know

My present favourite cake, key lime cake isn’t simply spectacular to take a look at, it’s an absolute taste masterpiece (if I do say so myself)! With subtly key lime flavored cake layers, a easy and silky cream cheese key lime frosting, and beneficiant dollops of whipped cream frosting (elective, however so beneficial), it’s concurrently decadent and completely refreshing for summer season. A contact of graham cracker crumbs across the backside provides a pleasant contact of sweetness and texture too!

The tip result’s the proper steadiness of candy and tart.

I went by many, many trials and variations growing this recipe and at last nailed the tender, smooth, however barely extra dense crumb I used to be on the lookout for within the cake layers. For the frosting, one which began with a cream cheese frosting base was the winner with my style testers (and myself) each time.

Components

Let’s chat about a couple of of the important thing elements within the cake itself, after which I’ll do the identical for the frosting.

• Key lime juice. Key limes, not to mention good, juicy ones, will be troublesome to search out relying in your location and time of yr. You possibly can substitute “common” lime zest for the important thing lime zest, however for the juice I actually advocate utilizing a key lime juice. Should you can’t discover precise key limes, most shops carry the juice. Search for a model referred to as “Nellie & Joe’s Key West Lime Juice”, as that one works very properly right here (I’ve made the cake utilizing this juice a number of instances).
• All-purpose flour. I discovered that common all-purpose flour (plain flour within the UK) labored greatest right here (quite than cake flour).
• Butter & oil. Like so lots of my cake recipes, I’m utilizing a mix of oil and butter to create a moist, flavorful crumb on this key lime cake. Oil can be particularly useful for preserving moisture in desserts that want refrigerated, like this one.
• Vanilla. Regardless that we’re flavoring the cake with lime juice and zest, a contact of vanilla continues to be acceptable right here. It’s refined, however softens the tartness of the limes a bit.

Frosting Components

• Cream cheese. Similar to when making key lime cheesecake, you should use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese for this key lime frosting. The spreadable type offered in tubs (or the low-fat selection!) can be far too smooth and you should have a runny frosting.
• Eggs. We’ll want simply the yolks (so be at liberty to save lots of the whites for coconut macaroons or meringues). This may type the bottom of our key lime curd, which we are going to beat into our frosting.
• Key Lime Juice. See my be aware above; I usually can’t discover key limes after I need them, so I used bottled key lime juice (and whereas contemporary will at all times be my desire, bottled works properly right here!).
• Graham cracker crumbs. These are elective, however for a key lime pie vibe, you may press some graham cracker crumbs up the edges after frosting. These add a pleasant texture too!

No vanilla right here, as this is able to dampen the contemporary lime taste.

SAM’S TIP: In contrast to many citrus fruits that attain their peak in the course of the winter, limes are in season in the course of the spring and summer season months. So that you may need to think about saving recipes like orange cookies and lemon cake for the winter, and make key lime cake when the climate is heat!

That is simply an outline of the elements I used and why. For the complete recipe please scroll all the way down to the underside of the put up!

Learn how to Make Key Lime Cake

Make the Cake Layers

1. Whisk collectively the dry elements and sugar, then regularly stir within the butter one tablespoon at a time. Be sure you wait so as to add the following tablespoon of butter till the earlier tablespoon is totally mixed.
2. Stir within the oil and lime zest till included. You’ll be left with a sandy, crumbly combination.
3. Add your lime juice to a big glass measuring cup, then pour in milk till you attain a complete of 1 ½ cups of liquid. This may look like an odd measuring method, however for those who’ve ever made my buttermilk substitute, you’ll acknowledge it. By doing this, we are literally making a type of buttermilk substitute. The scant cup of milk give us the right quantity of liquid and chemical response for the last word texture and taste.
4. Add the remaining moist elements to the milk combination, then slowly pour it into your batter till mixed. Scrape the edges and backside of the bowl as wanted and blend till you have got a easy, silky batter.

5. Divide your batter between your cake pans and bake. I like to make use of the toothpick take a look at to examine for doneness; you need to see a couple of moist crumbs or a clear toothpick.
6. Let the desserts cool for 10-Quarter-hour, then take away them from the pans and funky fully on a cooling rack.

Frosting

1. Make the important thing lime curd, then pour it by a superb mesh strainer right into a heatproof bowl. Let this cool fully earlier than including it to your frosting!
2. Beat the butter and cream cheese till easy, then regularly add 4 cups of the powdered sugar till included.
3. Progressively stir within the cooled key lime curd, working with one tablespoon at a time. Don’t do that too rapidly or add an excessive amount of, or you would break your frosting.
4. Scrape the edges and backside of the bowl, then style take a look at. Add the extra sugar in case your frosting appears too smooth, tart, or about to interrupt.

Sure, making a home made key lime curd is extra time consuming than merely including a splash of juice into the frosting, however it actually nailed the flavour I used to be on the lookout for, whereas simply including lime juice merely does not do the trick. I promise, the additional work is properly value it!

Meeting

1. Degree and frost your first cake layer, then repeat with the second layer. Add your ultimate layer on high. If desired, do a crumb coat.
2. End frosting your cake with a good layer across the exterior.
3. Press graham cracker crumbs up the edges of the cake, if desired.
4. Pipe whipped cream swirls across the high of the cake and enhance as desired. I prefer to sprinkle lime zest and graham cracker crumbs on the tops of the swirls.

SAM’S TIP: Let the curd cool fully and add it regularly, or your frosting might break. This may be exhausting to repair (I discuss a bit about this in my raspberry frosting put up), so prevention is greatest.

Incessantly Requested Questions

This key lime cake is the proper summer season birthday cake! I can’t wait to listen to the way you prefer it.

Get pleasure from! And Should you’re having fun with these enjoyable and flavorful desserts, undoubtedly try my chocolate raspberry cake and new cannoli cake subsequent!

Let’s bake collectively! Subscribe to my e-newsletter to be notified of all the most recent recipes, and discover my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜

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