This Lemon Cream Butter Cake is the love child of a buttery lemon cake and a lemon cheesecake. A perfect marriage of the two textures and flavours.
Why I love this lemon cream cheese butter cake!
If you are a lover of lemon, you will be over the moon with this delicious cake, that brings together lemon cake and lemon cheesecake in one pan.
The buttery lemon cake forms a layer around the bottom and outside, while a creamy lemon cream cheese filling cooks up in the middle. It’s full of lemon flavour and a wonderful combination of textures. Enjoy this one chilled with a dusting of icing sugar on top.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Lemon – you will need fresh lemons, as the recipe specifies both lemon juice and lemon zest.
Cream cheese – full fat cream cheese is required to ensure the cream cheese layer bakes up properly.
Butter – Unsalted butter is recommended for this cake, but if you only have salted butter, be sure to adjust the amount as noted in the Recipe Card.
Cook’s Notes
- Be sure to place your springform pan on a baking sheet as a small amount of butter may leak out as the cake bakes. Alternately, you could wrap the bottom and sides of your springform pan with foil.
- Speaking of wrapping in foil, I have long struggled with my springform pan over-cooking the sides of my baked goods and I suspect it is because it is a dark pan. I’m always hesitant to reduce the oven temperature, but I’m thinking I will start wrapping the outside of the pan in foil to try to temper that tendency in future. I’ll let you know how that works out. (Or I guess I could just buy light pans :)
- Keep a close eye on the cake as it nears the 30 minute mark and watch closely. It will be best if you can get it out of the oven when it is just cooked, which means the outside cake part looks lightly golden and the centre of the cake looks set.
- Finally, if you want to fancy up your cake, place a paper doily on top of the cake and dust your icing sugar over it. Carefully remove to reveal a pretty pattern.
Top Tip!
Full fat cream cheese is required to make sure the cream cheese part is thick enough not to run off the top of the cake. And speaking of which, you need to add the cream cheese layer slowly, into the centre, spreading it out towards the edges, to ensure it doesn’t escape over the sides.
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Get the Recipe: Lemon Cream Butter Cake
Ingredients
For the cream cheese filling:
- 8 oz. full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature **do not use light, reduced fat or no fat cream cheese
- 1 cup icing/confectioners’ sugar
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
For the Cake:
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled
- 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt, reduced to a pinch if using salted butter
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 2 large eggs
- Zest of 2 small or one large lemons
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 1/2 tsp vanilla, or vanilla bean paste
For garnish:
- Additional icing/confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F. (not fan assisted) Prepare an 8-inch springform pan by spraying with cooking spray and lining the bottom with a round of parchment paper. Place pan on a baking sheet and set aside. *Baking sheet is recommended as some small amount of butter may leak out during baking.
- Prepare the filling: In a large bowl with an electric beater or the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes, until smooth and creamy.
- Add the icing sugar and beat for another 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat until completely combined, about 1 minute. Add the melted butter, vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice. Beat until completely combined, about 1 minute. Set aside.
- Prepare the cake batter: In large bowl, whisk together the flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk in melted (cooled) butter, eggs, lemon juice, vanilla and lemon zest just until combined. Do not over-mix.
- Pour the cake batter evenly into the prepared springform pan. Spread to the edges and level batter. Very carefully and a bit at a time, pour the cheesecake filling mixture in the centre of the cake, spreading it to within about 1/2 inch of the edge of the pan, leaving that 1/2-inch around the outside with just bare cake batter visible.
- Bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until the outside edges of the cake is light golden and the centre of the cake is set. You can test with a cake tester around the outside edges, but not in the centre, as it is mostly cream cheese. You want the center to be set, so you can test by moving the pan a little to see how jiggly the centre is.
- Allow cake to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and carefully remove the outer ring. Allow to cool completely at room temperature for 1 hour, then transfer to a serving plate and refrigerate to chill before serving.
- To serve, serve chilled, with a little sprinkling of icing/confectioners’ sugar.
Notes
More Lemon Cake Recipes to Love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Is this recipe better to make with all purpose or cake flour? Super excited to make it!!
Hi Kelly, all-purpose flour is recommended. I haven’t tested this cake with cake flour.
I have an 8-1/2 inch springform pan. Can I use this. If so should I cook it for less minutes?
I would give it a go, Stephanie. It will be thinner of course so it will bake for a bit less time, though I can’t say exactly how much less as I haven’t tried it. Watchit closely :)
For a 9 inch springform cake tin I increased the cake part by 50% and kept the lemon cream part the same. I’ve made it twice and it’s been a big hit.
So glad to hear, John! Thanks :)
I’m about to make this cake but my springform is 9” – am I best to use that and have a thinner cake, or an 8” round cake pan? I’d line it with parchment…..
Thanks!
Hi Vivian, I’d go with the 8″ cake pan lined with parchment. It might be too thin in the 9″. Enjoy!
Delicious! A family hit. This will be baked again and again. It was wiggly when I removed it from the oven, but it set well and was yummy. It looked just like all of the images and descriptions in the recipe.
So glad to hear, Tammy. Thanks so much!
A delicious and easy cake!!
Thanks so much, Penny!
Loved it!!!
So glad you enjoyed it, Linda :) Thanks so much!
Hi Jennifer
I just wanted to ask, can I make this a day ahead?
Thanks
Tam
Hi Tamara, it’s probably best on the day its made, but should be still good next day.
The filling is very runny, not sure how cold or what kind of cream cheese you’re using but he more you beat cream cheese, even full fat, which I used, becomes thinner, then adding egg, lemon juice etc. makes it even runnier.
Everyone seems to be having this problem, next time I will not beat nearly as long. I would have liked to have had the crust showing.
Hi Kathy, I have never been able to reproduce this in my own kitchen. I’m not sure what the difference is. Yes, the cream cheese filling is thin, but if it’s carefully spread, it works just fine for me.
This is a favorite of mine! I eat exclusively gluten free in my home because my partner has celiacs disease. I use King Arthur gf flour and this comes out AMAZING. I usually add extra lemon juice but thats because I love citrus fruits.
It’s tasty enough that you’ll want to print or save the recipe after the first bite.
So glad you are enjoying it, James :) Thanks!
My filling was runny and went to the edges! Now baking … I wonder what went wrong?
Is the filling supposed to be more runny than the batter?
Hi Mary Anne, did you use full fat cream cheese? And did you beat the cream cheese mixture as long as specified. It shouldn’t be that runny.