Pink Lemonade Cake is a pretty and delicious dessert cake recipe. Sweet and tart, this 3-layer lemonade cake made from scratch is one adults and kids won’t be able to get enough of! This cake is a lovely pink color and topped with a mouthwatering lemonade buttercream frosting—I want to enjoy a slice just thinking about it. A lovely pink homemade cake recipe perfect for any occasion!
Best Pink Lemonade Cake
Do you have a birthday, baby shower, or other event coming up? Or maybe some excess fresh lemons lying around. This pink lemonade cake is stunningly beautiful and even more delicious.
This unique cake is packed with flavor and will make a statement on any dessert table. Pink lemonade cake is something you don’t see very often but won’t be able to get enough of! It tastes like summertime!
What is a Lemonade Cake?
- It’s your favorite summer drink turned into a delicious dessert! Imagine this—it’s peak summer, you spend the day outside under the sun sipping on a cool, refreshing glass of pink lemonade.
- We took those summertime flavors you love and created the ultimate summer dessert!
- Lemonade cake, in this case, pink lemonade cake, takes a traditional cake batter and adds the perfect amount of tart lemony flavor with lemon juice and pink lemonade concentrate!
- I like to add a few drops of pink food coloring to get that bright pink color that makes the cake pop visually and even more fun! If you are a fan of all things lemon, you will adore this pink lemonade layer cake!
Have I convinced you yet? To make this pink lemonade cake you’ll need these ingredients:
Cake flour, Baking powder, Salt, Baking soda, Sugar, Butter, Shortening, Eggs & 2 yolks, Buttermilk, Sour cream, Lemon juice, Pink lemonade concentrate, Vanilla extract, Red/pink food coloring
Lemonade Buttercream Frosting
Powdered sugar, Butter, Lemon extract, Salt, Pink food coloring
How Do You Make this Lemonade Flavored 3-Layer Cake?
Cake
• Gather ingredients together.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the bottoms of 3 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper and lightly spray with baking spray. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment add sugar, butter and shortening. Beat on a high speed for 2 minutes or until light and fluffy.
• Next, add the eggs and mix for 30 seconds.
• Add buttermilk, sour cream, lemon juice, pink lemonade powder and vanilla and mix until combined.
• Next add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated.
• While the mixer is on, drip the food coloring into the batter until desired color has been reached.
• Evenly divide the batter into the prepared cake pans and place them in the preheated oven on the middle rack. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of each cake comes out clean.
• Once baked, remove the cakes from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack and let cool completely.
• Get the frosting ingredients together.
Frosting
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment add powdered sugar, butter, lemon extract, salt, and food coloring.
• Beat the frosting on a high speed for 2-3 minutes, until smooth and creamy. While the mixer is still running, add more drops of food coloring, if needed, until the desired color is reached.
Assembly
• Once the cakes are completely cool, carefully remove them from the pans. Place the first cake on a plate or cake stand.
• Add about ½ cup of frosting on the cake and evenly spread using an icing spatula. Repeat the frosting process, ending with the 3rd cake layer on the top.
• Once all cakes are layered, frost the top and sides of the cake using an icing spatula to get a smooth finish.
• Spoon the remaining frosting into a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe swirls into the top of the cake.
• Decorate with fresh lemon slices if desired.
• Cut into 12 slices and serve (cut slices smaller if you need to serve more people).
What to Serve With Pink Lemonade Cake
This cake could easily, and probably will, be the center of attention at any dessert table. It has the perfect amount of lemon flavor and buttercream frosting. Everyone will love this delicious cake. Especially if you serve it on a hot summer day!
But if you need a few more delicious recipes to serve alongside try our Lemon Pudding Cookies, Strawberry Loaf Cake, or Easy Lemon Snack Cake.
More Easy Dessert Recipes
Brown Butter Bundt Cake
Easy Blueberry Pie Recipe
3 Fun Summer Desserts to Help You Cool Off
Chocolate Depression Cake – Wacky Cake
How to Store This Cake
- If you are pressed for time and need to make your pink lemonade cake the day before the party, you can just make sure to let it cool before following our storage instructions.
- I doubt you will end up with leftovers, it is really that good, but if you do end up with leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
If you made this beautiful Pink Lemonade 3-layer Cake recipe please let me know! You can leave a comment with a star rating below. I’d love to know how you liked it!
Equipment
- 3 9-inch Round Cake Pans
- Stand Mixer
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 cups Cake Flour
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 2 cups Sugar
- 1 cup Butter, room temperature
- ¼ cup Shortening
- 4 Eggs + 2 Yolks
- 1 cup Buttermilk
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- ⅓ cup Lemon Juice
- 3 Tablespoons Pink Lemonade Powder
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla
- Red/Pink Food Coloring
Lemonade Buttercream
- 7 cups Powdered Sugar
- 2 cups Butter
- 2 ½ teaspoons Lemon Extract
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- Pink Food Coloring
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Line the bottom of 3-9" cake pans with parchment paper and lightly spray with baking spray. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment add sugar, butter and shortening. Beat on a high speed for 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and mix for 30 seconds. Add buttermilk, sour cream, lemon juice, pink lemonade powder and vanilla and mix until combined. Next add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated. While the mixer is on, drip the food coloring into the batter until desired color has been reached.
- Evenly divide the batter into the prepared cake pans and place them in the preheated oven on the middle rack. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of each cake comes out clean. Once baked, remove the cakes from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack and let cool completely.
Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment add powdered sugar, butter, lemon extract and salt. Beat the frosting on a high speed for 2-3 minutes, until smooth and creamy. While the mixer is still running, add more drops of food coloring, if needed, until the desired color is reached.
Assembly
- Once the cakes are completely cool, carefully remove them from the pans. Place the first cake on a plate or cake stand. Add about ½ cup of frosting and evenly spread using an icing spatula. Repeat the frosting process, ending with the 3rd cake layer on the top. Once all cakes are layered, frost the top and sides of the cake using an icing spatula to get a smooth finish.
- Spoon the remaining frosting into a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe swirls into the top of the cake. Cut into 12 slices and serve.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!