Stunning Lemon Lime flavors are here to shine in the most gorgeous lemon lime cheesecake cake! With layers of lemon lime cake, graham cracker crust, graham cracker crumble, lemon lime curd (yes!), and citrus cream cheese buttercream. Your taste buds will sing and every memory of winter will melt away with this bright and cheery cake perfect for spring and summer baking.

DOUBLE THE FLAVOR

I wanted both lemon a lime to shine in this fun and delicious cake. If you’d like this Lemon Lime Cheesecake Cake to be all lemon or all lime, you certainly can! In fact, I have an amazing Key Lime Pie cake in my first cookbook Cake Confidence, that I know you’re going to love.

The curd, buttercream, and cake layers all have a touch of lemon and lime. Other than the curd, it’s not a SUPER strong flavor, but it’s there enough that you’ll taste it and love it.

Cake or Cheesecake?

For this lovely lemon lime cheesecake cake, there’s a few different elements I created to taste just like cheesecake, without actually being a cheesecake.

I love graham cracker as the crust, so we incorporated that right into the crust. Yes! There’s a crust baked right into the cake layers and it’s simply divine. I love adding crusts to my cake recipes. I also covered the outside of the cake in graham cracker crumbs, so you get even more graham cracker flavor.

For the cheesecake flavor, we have an amazing cream cheese buttercream! Easy peasy.

the best Lemon lime curd

This is a curd you will be tasting with a spoon again, and again, and again! It’s so addicting and mouthwatering. Dangerous combo, I know. It’s really easy to make and comes together very quickly. The full directions are below with the instructions.

Basket-weave buttercream technique

I have never seen this anywhere before and loved coming up with something new for this gorgeous cake. All it takes is a wilton 127 piping tip and angling the tip right up against the cake in lines that tuck right into each other. The video here should help you nail this stunning technique:

https://youtube.com/shorts/kjwsp6vkzMM?feature=share (I don’t know why Youtube doesn’t want me to embed this one, oh well).

Doesn’t that just look mouthwatering? It’s so tasty with all the elements that make up the most perfect bite of sweet, crunchy, creamy, and tangy.

That’s it! I hope you enjoy my latest cake, and get ready for some more fun spring flavors headed your way this season.

As always, I’d love to see your Baking with Blondie inspired creations! Make sure to tag me @bakingwithblondie on Instagram so I can join in on all the fun. 🙂

xo,

Mandy

Get the Recipe: Lemon Lime Cheesecake Cake

5 from 1 vote
Soft tender lemon lime cake layers with a graham cracker crust, lemon lime curd filling, graham cracker crumble, and citrus cream cheese buttercream.
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Ingredients
 

Lemon Lime Cake with Graham Cracker Crust

  • 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
  • 4 egg whites, room temperature
  • 2/3 cup sour cream
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon & lime zest (so 1 T lemon , 1 T lime)
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon/lime juice (1/8 cup lemon, 1/8 cup lime)
  • 1 15.25oz White Cake Mix, I prefer Duncan Hines Brand for the best taste, but anything will be similar.
  • 9 whole graham crackers
  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter , melted

Lemon Lime Curd

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 whole egg
  • 1/2 cup lemon/lime juice (1/4 cup lemon, 1/4 cup lime)
  • zest from one lime (about 1 teaspoon)
  • zest from one lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

Citrus Cream Cheese Buttercream

  • 2 sticks (or 1 cup) unsalted butter, left out at room temp for 10 minutes or so
  • 8 oz cream cheese (or 1 brick)
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon fine zest lemon/lime
  • 1/8 cup heavy cream
  • 7-8 cups powdered sugar

Graham Cracker Crumble

  • 9 whole graham crackers , crumbled

Instructions
 

For the Cake Layers

  • Preheat the oven to 325 F (convection bake. If doing traditional bake, you'll just need to leave the cakes in a few minutes longer), and prep two 8" cake pans with a swipe of shortening and dust of flour to prevent sticking. Set aside.
  • In a food processor, pulse together the graham crackers and melted butter into a fine powder. Evenly distribute the crust between the two rounds and press firmly with the bottom of a measuring cup or glass. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, hand-whisk the cake ingredients except for the cake mix. Sift in the cake mix and gently stir to combine (don't overmix). Split the cake batter between the two cake rounds and bake for 27-32 minutes until the center is completely baked through. Flip the cake rounds out onto a wire rack to cool completely, then wrap up in plastic wrap and freeze until assembly.

For the Curd

  • In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir together the yolks, sugar, juice, and zest. Whisk together as the miture begins to thicken (about 3 minutes). After the curd thickens, remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Strain the curd and discard the zest. Cover the curd (directly) with plastic wrap on the surface and place in the fridge until it's completely cooled.

For the Buttercream

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip up the butter until it's light and fluffy. Add in the cream cheese and whip it up again until it's thoroughly combined.
  • Add in the salt, vanilla, zest, and heavy cream and combine.
  • Slowly add in the powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time with the mixer on low speed, until it's all combined. If it's too thick, add in about 1 Tablespoon heavy cream if needed. If it's too thin, add in about 1/2 cup more of powdered sugar.
  • Flip on the speed to HIGH and whip for about 2 minutes to lighten color and volume.

Assembly

  • Place down the first cake layer with the graham cracker showing on top. Spread on a thin layer of buttercream with an offset icing spatula. Pipe a strong dam around the outside rim of the cake layer. Spread on about 1 1/2 cup of the lemon lime curd (don't overfill or it will leak out!). Place the next cake layer on top. Crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of buttercream and then freeze.
  • Add on a final thin coat of buttercream, press on the graham cracker crumbs on the side, then pipe a buttercream design on top using the Wilton 127 tip in a herringbone pattern (video is here for you to see how!)
    Enjoy!