Lemon Sheet Cake

Published April 24, 2016. Updated August 17, 2017

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Here you have the ultimate spring and summer sheet cake! This Lemon Sheet Cake is one of the best sheet cakes I’ve ever had! It’s so bright and lemony, it’s soft and fluffy and each bite melts away in your mouth! And when you top it with plenty of fresh berries it only gets that much better! With the berries it reminds my of my favorite berry lemonades and it’s so perfectly refreshing. This is one of those cakes that is dangerous, I kept walking into the kitchen cutting off little square after little square and before I knew it I had no idea how much I’d actually eaten (oops!).

Lemon Sheet Cake | Cooking Classy

I love sheet cakes because the are easy to make and you don’t have to take the time to layer a cake together and frost it up nice and fancy – just slather it with a fair amount of sweet lemon glaze and slice it up into squares. Sheet cake is perfect for any get together because it makes enough to feed a small crowd and who doesn’t love a good sheet cake? This one is so vibrantly lemony thanks to the glaze but if you are worried it might be a little too strongly lemony for your kids you could replace some of the lemon juice in the glaze with a few tablespoons of buttermilk. This one is definitely worthy of being added to your recipe box and I have the feeling it’s going to be a recipe you’ll want to make over and over again this summer! I hope you love this sheet cake as much as my family does!

Lemon Sheet Cake | Cooking ClassyLemon Sheet Cake | Cooking ClassyLemon Sheet Cake | Cooking Classy Lemon Sheet Cake | Cooking Classy Lemon Sheet Cake | Cooking Classy Lemon Sheet Cake | Cooking Classy

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5 from 9 votes

Lemon Sheet Cake

Such a bright and refreshing cake that's perfect for summer. It's soft and tender and perfectly sweet and zesty. Then when you finish it off with a lemony glaze and fresh fruit it takes it to a whole new level of tempting!
Servings: 20
Prep20 minutes
Cook25 minutes
Cooling1 hour 30 minutes
Ready in: 45 minutes

Ingredients

Cake

Glaze and toppings

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a rimmed 18 by 13-inch baking sheet (average size cookie sheet), dust with flour then shake out excess. 
  • In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt for 20 seconds, set aside.
  • In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together sugar and lemon zest for 30 seconds until fragrant and slightly yellow in appearance. 
  • Add butter and whip mixture on medium speed until very pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs one at a time then blend in vanilla extract. 
  • In a bowl or 2-cup liquid measuring cup whisk together buttermilk, sour cream and 2 Tbsp lemon juice. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low speed just until combined then add in 1/2 of the buttermilk mixture and mix just until combined. 
  • Repeat once more with flour and buttermilk then end by mixing in last 1/3 of the flour mixture just until combined. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula and fold batter several times to ensure it's evenly incorporated. 
  • Pour and spread batter evenly onto prepared baking sheet (it will seem thin but it should bake up nearly to the top). Bake 22 - 25 minutes until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.
  • In a mixing bowl whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth (If needed you can add a little more powdered sugar to thicken or more lemon juice to thin). 
  • Pour and spread glaze over cooled cake. Chill 20 minutes to help set glaze (it won't set fully but to get cleaner cuts you'll need it to set slightly). Top with berries, lemon slices and mint just before serving.
Nutrition Facts
Lemon Sheet Cake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 280 Calories from Fat 81
% Daily Value*
Fat 9g14%
Saturated Fat 5g31%
Cholesterol 54mg18%
Sodium 115mg5%
Potassium 78mg2%
Carbohydrates 47g16%
Sugar 35g39%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin A 305IU6%
Vitamin C 7.1mg9%
Calcium 32mg3%
Iron 0.8mg4%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition values are estimates only. See full disclaimer here.