The Best Key Lime Cake Recipe! Learn how to make key lime cake from scratch that is rich, delicious and easy to make at home!
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All of the sweet and tangy goodness of key lime pie in a beautiful Key Lime Layer Cake. This dessert is like a vacation in every slice.
This moist and easy double layer cake is frosted with a smooth and creamy lime cream cheese frosting, and topped with a deliciously sweet and tart homemade key lime curd.
If you are a key lime pie fan, you will fall in love with this cake recipe!
Why you'll love this recipe for Key Lime Cake
- Tangy and refreshing flavors: There is so much lime juice and zest in the cake, frosting, and curd that makes this Key Lime Cake so delicious!
- Super moist: This cake recipe is so much better than any store bought cake!
- Easy, yet impressive: Even though this cake looks over the top, I promise you can make it even if you aren't a pro baker!
Homemade Key Lime Cake ingredients
To make this cake, curd, and frosting you'll need:
- all purpose flour
- baking powder, baking soda
- salt
- canola oil
- granulated sugar
- eggs, egg yolks
- whole milk
- lime zest, lime juice
- vanilla extract
- salted butter
- cream cheese
- powdered sugar
How to make Key Lime Cake from Scratch
- Bake the cake layers: Add the lime juice to the milk and set aside. In a large bowl with a handheld mixer, cream the oil, sugar, lime zest, eggs, and milk mixture until mixed. Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.
- Divide batter evenly between 2 prepared cake pans and bake at 325° for 20-30 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.
- For the curd: Simmer the lime juice, ½ the zest, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan until the sugar dissolves and it starts to bubble. In a medium heat proof bowl, whisk together the eggs and yolks.
- Carefully and very slowly while whisking constantly, pour ¾ of the hot lime juice mixture into the eggs. Then whisk this mixture back into the saucepan and turn the heat to medium low. Whisk constantly until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. About 6-9 minutes. Do NOT let this mixture boil.
- Remove from heat and push through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, fold in the butter, vanilla and remaining lime zest. Store in the fridge with a piece of plastic wrap directly on top.
- For the frosting: Cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add in the zest, vanilla and salt. Carefully beat in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Continue until smooth and fluffy, thinning it out with a little milk if necessary.
- Assemble: Place the cake on a plate or platter. Spread about ⅓ of the frosting on the bottom layer. Top with the 2nd cake layer. Smooth another ⅓ frosting over the top. Place the remaining frosting into a piping bag and pipe a border around the top of the cake ensuring no breaks in the decoration.
- Place as much curd as you’d like into the center of the cake and smooth out to the border. Garnish with lime wheels and zest, if desired. Chill cake until frosting is firm.
How to serve Key Lime Cake
This cake can be served sliced on its own or with:
- extra curd
- fresh whipped cream
- coffee or tea
How to store Homemade Key Lime Cake
Storing: Cake can be stored wrapped tightly in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Freezing: This cake is not recommended to be stored in the freezer as the lime curd can weep out moisture when thawed.
Key Lime Cake substitutions and additions
Butter: Butter is essential to this recipe. We haven't tried it with dairy free butter but it might work!
Sugar: We don't recommend substituting white sugar.
Canola Oil: We haven't tried testing this with olive oil but I think it would work with extra virgin olive oil!
All Purpose Flour: We don't recommend substituting the flour, but you can check out this article on Substitutions for All-Purpose Flour.
Baking Powder: Baking powder is essential for this recipe. Do NOT substitute with baking soda.
Baking Soda: Baking soda is essential for this recipe. Do not substitute with baking powder.
Eggs: We don't recommend substituting eggs, but you can read this article on Egg Substitutions for Baking if you need to substitute. Try it at your own risk!
Milk: You can substitute milk with half and half, low fat milk or non dairy milk.
Vanilla Extract: Helps to add flavor, we don't recommend substituting.
Limes: We recommend using fresh limes in this recipe. They don't have to be key limes!
Tips for the best Key Lime Cake
Can I use regular limes for key limes?
If you can't find key limes, regular limes will work. Look for limes that have a smooth skin texture, feel heavy for their weight and give slightly when pressed with your fingers.
These limes will yield the most juice. Limes that are hard and have a more dimpled skin are generally less juicy.
You can often find key lime juice bottled in the grocery store. While this can be used for the curd, you will still want to have some fresh limes to use for the zest.
Frosting: You can easily tint the cake or frosting green using a gel food coloring.
This cake is meant to be “bare” on the sides. If you wish to fully frost the outside of the cake you will want to make a double, or 1.5x the frosting recipe.
Curd: If you prefer a completely smooth curd, you can refrain from adding the second round of zest after you strain it out. I like the flecks of lime zest in the curd, as it lets people know right away that it is lime curd.
The lime curd can be omitted completely, and this will still be a delicious cake!
Leftover lime curd can be used to make other desserts, added to yogurt, spread on toast or used to top french toast, pancakes or waffles. Lime curd will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Cake: Cake can be baked up to 2 days ahead of time. Store tightly wrapped in plastic in the fridge until ready to frost.
Key Lime Cake Recipe FAQs
Key Limes tend to be tart and very aromatic.
There is some naturally occusing sugar in key limes.
They are basically the same nutritionally.
Other cake recipes:
- Poppy Seed Lemon Cake
- Almond Vanilla Bundt Cake
- Moist Lemon Bundt Cake With Sour Cream
- Moist Banana Cake Recipe
- Best White Cake Recipe
Key Lime Cake from Scratch
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups all purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup canola oil
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 ⅓ cup whole milk
- 2 tablespoons lime zest
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
For the curd:
- 1 tablespoon lime zest divided
- ½ cup lime juice
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 large egg yolks room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons salted butter softened and cut into small pieces
For the frosting:
- ½ cup salted butter softened
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lime zest
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons milk if needed.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325℉. Prepare 2- 9" round cake pans lined with parchment on the bottom and sprayed with cooking spray.
- Add the lime juice to the milk and set aside, this will make a sort of buttermilk to tenderize the cake. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with a handheld mixer, cream together the canola oil, sugar, lime zest, eggs and milk mixture until thoroughly mixed. Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined. Mixture is on the thinner side.
- Divide batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
- For the curd: combine the lime juice, ½ the zest, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan. Simmer until the sugar dissolves and mixture starts to bubble. In a medium heat proof bowl, whisk together the eggs and yolks.
- Carefully and very slowly while whisking constantly, pour ¾ of the hot lime juice mixture into the eggs. Then whisk this mixture back into the saucepan and turn the heat to medium low. Whisk constantly until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. About 6-9 minutes. Do NOT let this mixture boil.
- Remove from heat and push through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, fold in the butter, vanilla and remaining lime zest to the still hot curd. Cool mixture. Store in the fridge with a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the curd to prevent a skin from forming.
For the frosting:
- For the frosting: In a large bowl cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add in the zest, vanilla and salt. Carefully beat in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Continue to beat until smooth and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes, thinning it out with a little milk if necessary.
To Assemble:
- To assemble: Place the cake on a plate or platter. Spread about ⅓ of the frosting on the bottom layer and smooth evenly to the edge. Top with the 2nd layer. And use another ⅓ frosting to evenly smooth over the top. Place the last ⅓ of the frosting into a piping bag and pipe a thick border around the top edge of the cake. You can use any piping shape you like for the border as long as there are no breaks in the decoration. This creates a bowl to hold the curd in the center.
- You can also place all of the frosting in a piping bag and use a round tip to fill and top the cake. Place as much curd as you’d like into the center of the cake and smooth out to the border. You will likely have leftover curd, store cake wrapped in plastic in the fridge for another use.
- Garnish with lime wheels and zest, if desired. Chill cake until frosting is firm.
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