Lemon Cake- A Doctored Cake Mix Recipe
If you've been searching for the BEST recipe for Lemon Cake from a doctored cake mix, we are happy to say that this is it!
This easy lemon cake has a lovely soft texture, is ultra moist, has fantastic lemon flavor, works for cupcakes as well as cake layers, and is sturdy enough to hold up to fondant! What's not to love?
We've frosted this lemon layer cake with a luscious Lemon Buttercream, which is a new recipe for our site also! We've fallen in love with its lemon flavor and it pipes like a dream.
We're so glad to have this lemon buttercream option for slathering and swirling onto all sorts of cakes from lemon cake to homemade vanilla buttermilk cake to classic yellow, coconut and even strawberry! Lemon buttercream pairs perfectly with so many cake flavors.
However, our Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting as well as our homemade Lemon Curd Filling would both be great choices!
Table of Contents
How to Make a Lemon Cake- Doctored Cake Mix Recipe
You can find the full, printable cake recipe further down in this post, but here is a quick rundown of our steps!
First, you'll start with a simple white cake mix (look for recipes that do not contain pudding in the mix as we'll be adding a bit of lemon pudding to this recipe). We used Duncan Hines.
- Combine the sifted cake mix with the flour, sugar, and pudding and whisk to blend. *Just 4 tablespoons of pudding is all that we needed to really make a difference in the texture and flavor of this cake.
- We tried baking without the lemon pudding, and while it was good, the stand-out favorite among all of our family taste-testers was the version that contained pudding. The texture is more velvety and the lemony flavor is really nice. We also tried using Lemon Cake Mix instead of White, but didn't like the flavor as much.
- Add the remaining ingredients, including the eggs, water, sour cream, extracts, and lemon zest. The addition of pudding, sour cream, and flour give the cake a from-scratch feel, as it is a bit denser than a straight from the box cake mix cake...but I wouldn't describe this as a dense cake. It is light, has a soft texture, and did I mention an amazing lemon flavor? SO good!
This recipe makes about 7 ½ cups of batter which was just the right amount to divide between three 8 inch layers. I love cake recipes that have enough batter for three layers so that you can have an additional layer of filling! Mmmmm....bring on the lemon buttercream!
Looking for a Lemon Scratch Recipe Also?
I should also mention that while we LOVE this doctored Lemon Cake Mix recipe, we have a favorite Scratch Lemon Cake Recipe as well! If you enjoy baking scratch recipes also, this is a great one.
We hope to eventually have a doctored cake mix version and scratch version of all of our recipes!
Lemon Cake: A Doctored Cake Mix Recipe
Nobody would guess that this amazing lemon cake recipe all starts with a simple cake mix! So moist and lemony!
Ingredients
- 1 box (15.25 oz.) white cake mix, sifted (Any mix without pudding in the mix)
- 1 cup (114g) all purpose flour (plain in the UK)
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- ½ box (4Tablespoons, (48g) instant lemon pudding (we used Jell-O brand) Do not make pudding, use the dry mix.
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ⅓ cups (322g) water
- 1 cup (242g) sour cream (we use full fat sour cream)
- 1 Tablespoon (12g) lemon extract
- ½ teaspoon (2g) vanilla extract
- zest of one lemon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 8x2 inch round cake pans.
- In the bowl of your mixer, add the dry ingredients and whisk at least 30 seconds to blend.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix for 1 more minute. If you are using a hand mixer, mix for a bit longer.
- Pour into prepared pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Check at 25 minutes, if a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached, it is done.
- Cool in the pans 5 to 10 minutes then turn out.
- Makes 7 ½ cups batter
- Works well for cupcakes
Can you make this with 2 layers or a sheet cake?
Hi April, Yes, this recipe can be baked in two 9 inch round pans at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes. If you bake in two 8 inch rounds, you will have 1 1/2 cups leftover to make a few cupcakes. You could also use a 9x13 sheet cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Check with a toothpick in the center for doneness. It is done when the toothpick is clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
Hi Nancy, Yes the pudding does need to be instant.
Can I use less sugar ?
Hi Mary, I am sorry but I have not tried using less than 1 cup of sugar. I think you could reduce by 1/4 cup, maybe more, I just can't be sure without experimenting. Let us know if you give it a try.
What would be the bake time for cupcakes?
Hi Krystal, for standard size cupcakes bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Remove cupcakes from the pan to the cooling rack soon after they are out of the oven.
Hi Melissa.
Ok, call me crazy, but I want to convert this into a coconut cake since there isn't a doctored one. :( I've made this lemon version many times, and its spectacular!! :) My only question is, do you think I can use coconut milk instead of water? I'm going to follow everything else exactly. Crossing my fingers! Thank you for all of your incredibly wonderful recipes ????
Can I use this recipe for three 8in round pans?
Hi Aggie, I think it would be fine to use coconut milk instead of water. The recipe will have more fat content but cake mixes are very forgiving. I would love to hear what you think after you give it a try.
Hi Nia, We use three 8x2 inch round pans for the recipe.
Hi Bebe, Thank you for the response. I tried the coconut milk, coconut pudding and extract. It came out great and the texture was just right. However....I would like to see if I can get more coconut flavor in it...haha! I love coconut :)
Hi Aggie, That's great thanks for letting us know. Maybe a bit more coconut extract or sprinkling sweetened coconut between layers and pressing it onto the sides and top of the cake.
if i use lemon jello instead of lemon pudding, would that turn out the same/similar?
LOVED THIS RECIPE!! Turned out great, although my cupcakes stuck to the liners at first ???? I changed it up just a little bit, used vanilla pudding with extra lemon extract and zest AND used 1 1/2 cups of Chobani greek yogurt with blueberry (needed a little extra kick of blueberry for my flavor). With the extra liquid, I used the other half of the pudding mix and replaced the water with milk to make it nice and creamy. LOVED it. Plan to try it with strawberry next ????
Hi Shea, We have not tried this recipe with lemon jello. The jello will give you a boost of flavor but it may change the texture of the cake giving you a more open crumb (not as tight and smooth). Cake mixes are very forgiving so you could give it try. Reduce the jello to 2 Tablespoons.