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–+ servings
Lifting the first slice of lemon velvet cake off the cake plate showing the two layers of pale yellow cake with plenty of yellow lemon buttercream.

Lemon Velvet Cake

This velvety lemon cake is super easy to make. Because it is made with oil instead of butter, there is no waiting for ingredients to come to room temperature. Plus the resulting texture is light and airy with a moist crumb. It is perfect with lemon buttercream or lemon cream cheese frosting.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time45 minutes
Servings: 16 Servings
Author: Carlee

Ingredients

  • 2½ cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • 1½ cups vegetable oil
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup buttermilk or 1 cup milk soured with 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon lemon extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • optional: yellow food coloring
Makes: 9inch round

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350° F and grease two 9 inch cake pans
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together 2½ cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon baking powder until completely combined and free of clumps.
  • In a large bowl, beat together 1½ cups vegetable oil, 3 large eggs and 1½ cups granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
  • Add 1 cup buttermilk, 1 teaspoon lemon extract, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, whipping until combined.
  • Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just mixed and then spoon cake batter into prepared pans. If desired, add a few drops of yellow food coloring to enhance the color.
  • Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top of the cake springs back after being lightly touched with a finger.
  • Cool in pans for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Notes

Lemon sweetened condensed milk buttercream compliments this cake perfectly! 1 batch is plenty to coat it, but I like making 1½ batches so that I have plenty to play with. 
You can use canola oil, avocado oil or another neutral flavored oil in place of the vegetable oil.
If you want, you can bake the cake in a 9x13-inch pan. Just add a few minutes to the bake time and keep an eye on it. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1Serving | Calories: 346kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 12g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 32mg | Sodium: 200mg | Potassium: 54mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 69IU | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 1mg
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