Pretty and pink with a bit of puckering zippy lemony zest, this Pink Lemonade Cake is the perfect centerpiece of the dessert table. A tender, from scratch cake is layered with a lemon cream cheese frosting to give you a cheery double dose of pink lemonade.
Pink lemonade is lemonade’s visually vain cousin, but rightfully so. The tart acidity is tamed by the sweet taste and eye-catching pretty pink hue.
The recipe starts with making the cake. Here the reserve method used. Mixing the butter into the dry ingredients coats the flour with the butter, preventing it from developing the gluten in the mixing process and ultimately making it soft and tender.
While the cakes are baking in the oven, the lemon cream cheese frosting. Lemon juice and extract give the cream cheese-based frosting extra lemony flavor.
When the cakes are cooled, the layers are frosted and then ready to serve!
The soft, tender cake crumb matches the soft pink hue of the cake. The lemonade adds an extra dose of lemon to the cake alongside the lemon juice, zest, and extract.
Cream cheese acts as a great contrast, mellowing out any sweetness with a rich and creamy tang.
This is a fun dessert for the warmer weather months. Its soft coloring is perfect for the pastel springtime or the sunny rays of a summer day.
Pink Lemonade Cake
For the cake:
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 3/4 cup pink lemonade concentrate, defrosted
- 1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons lemon extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
- Pink color gel
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into small pieces
For the frosting:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
- 4 to 6 cups powdered sugar
- Pink food gel (optional)
To make the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F and spray 2 8-inch cake pans with baking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a bowl whisk together eggs, lemonade concentrate, buttermilk, lemon extract, lemon zest, and pink coloring, set aside.
- In another bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Add butter to the dry ingredients, mixing on a low speed until it looks like sand.
- Add half of the egg-mixture into the dry ingredients, beating continuously for 90 seconds.
- Scrape the side and bottom and the bowl. Add the remaining egg-mixture in 2 additions, beating 30-seconds after each addition.
- Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean with a few moist, not wet, crumbs. Let cakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting and finish the cake:
- In a bowl beat butter and cream cheese until smooth and lump free.
- Add in lemon juice, lemon zest, and lemon extract.
- On a low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar. Add 1 cup at a time until you reach the desired level of sweetness. Add in pink food gel (if desired).
- Frost the cooled cake layers, serve, and enjoy!
Recipe adapted from My Cake School.