Home Desserts Trisha Yearwood Key Lime Cake

Trisha Yearwood Key Lime Cake

This recipe for Trisha Yearwood key lime cake takes the flavors of summer and turns them into one stunning dessert. 

Ridiculously moist and bursting with citrus flavors, the cake alone is enough to blow your tastebuds away. But it doesn’t end there. 

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A Slice of Key Lime Cake with a Cup of Coffee

Taking the cake to the next level is a sweet and tangy key lime glaze and a rich and buttery cream cheese frosting. How awesome is that?

Best of all, the cake is easy to make! Sure, there are several components to it, but they’re all simple and impossible to mess up.

And trust me, it’s worth the effort. 

Get ready to be whisked away to the tropics with this incredible key lime dessert!

Trisha Yearwood Key Lime Cake

Like a ray of sunshine, this cake is enough to brighten up even the darkest days. 

Trisha Yearwood’s key lime cake recipe uses oil instead of butter, which makes it seriously moist.

Infused with juices from lemon and orange, the cake is loaded with citrusy goodness.

Then there’s the key lime glaze. The balance of sweet and tangy takes the dessert over the top.

Tying it together is a buttery cream cheese frosting, which makes any cake taste a thousand times better.

Its richness is a perfect contrast to the lightness of the cake.

Ingredients

For the Cake:

  • Lime-Flavored Gelatin – To color the cake and add flavor.
  • Granulated Sugar – To sweeten things up!
  • All-Purpose Flour – The starch that forms the base of the cake.
  • Baking Powder and Soda – The leavening agents that make the batter rise.
  • Vegetable Oil – For an insanely moist cake.
  • Orange and Lemon Juice – For that lovely citrus flavor.
  • Vanilla Extract – It brings out the flavors of the rest of the ingredients.
  • Eggs – They bind the ingredients together.

For the Glaze:

A mixture of key lime juice and powdered sugar makes a smooth glaze with a sweet and tart flavor.

For the Icing:

A combination of butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar yields a sweet and tangy frosting.

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Tips for the Best Cake

  • Grease the pan well so that you can easily take the cake out of the pan. Grease it generously with butter and coat it with flour. But of course, you can skip out this entire step if you have parchment paper! Just line the pan with a sheet of parchment paper, and you’ll be set.
  • Use fresh key limes for the best flavor. Fresh lime juice has a brighter and more intense flavor than the bottled kind. 
  • Don’t have key limes where you’re from? That’s okay, you can use regular lime juice instead. While the cake won’t be as aromatic, the flavor will be similar.
  • Want a refreshing, citrus cake, but not a fan of lime? You can swap it out with lemon or orange.
  • Want a greener cake? Add a drop of gel food coloring into the batter. Don’t worry, it won’t change the taste of the cake.
  • For more flavor and texture, top your cake with shredded and toasted coconut, fruits, and berries, or toasted chopped nuts.
  • Transfer leftover cake into an air-tight container and store in the fridge for 3 to 5 days.
Homemade Key Lime Cake Topped with Sugar Icing and Limes

Can I Make Cupcakes?

Absolutely! Fill cupcake liners ⅔ full and bake them at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 minutes.

You can also use other pans to bake the cake in. Just be sure to adjust the baking times accordingly.

  • For a layer cake, use 3 9-inch round cake pans and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 18 to 20 minutes.
  • For a bundt cake, grease and flour a bundt pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

How To Juice a Lime

This cake calls for a lot of limes, and they don’t come cheap. You’ll want to know how to properly juice them to make the most of it.

Here are a few tips to help you squeeze the most juice out of limes:

  • Use a gadget. This could be a citrus squeezer, a hand juicer, or a wooden reamer. Any of these tools will yield more juice than solely using your bare hands. 
  • Pop it in the microwave. Warm the lime for 20 to 30 seconds to let its juices flow easily. It might be too hot to the touch, though, so give it a minute to cool before you squeeze.
  • Roll it against the counter. This motion will pop some of the lime’s segments open, making it easier to juice.
  • Slice it lengthwise for easier grip. This helps if you’re using your hands alone. 
  • Juice it with a fork. Poke and twist the segment around a fork to burst more pulp bits. 

Trisha Yearwood Key Lime Cake

Servings

12

servings
Prep time

20

minutes
Cooking time

40

minutes
Calories

297

kcal

Ingredients

  • For The Cake
  • Butter and Flour (for greasing and dusting the pan)

  • 1 (3-ounce) package 1 (3-ounce) lime-flavored gelatin

  • 1 /13 cups 1 /13 granulated sugar

  • 2 cups 2 sifted all-purpose flour

  • 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 salt

  • 1 teaspoon 1 baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon 1 baking soda

  • 1 1/2 cups 1 1/2 vegetable oil

  • 3/4 cup 3/4 orange juice

  • 1 tablespoon 1 lemon juice

  • 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 vanilla extract

  • 5 5 large eggs, slightly beaten

  • For The Glaze
  • 1/2 cup 1/2 key lime juice (about 25 small key limes or 4 large limes)

  • 1/2 cup 1/2 powdered sugar

  • For The Icing
  • 1/2 cup 1/2 butter, room temperature

  • 1 (3-ounce) package 1 (3-ounce) cream cheese, room temperature

  • 1 (1-pound) 1 (1-pound) box powdered sugar

Directions

  • To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9x12x9-inch cake pan with butter and lightly coat with flour. Alternatively, line the pan with parchment paper.
  • In a large bowl, stir the gelatin, granulated sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda until well-combined.
  • Pour in the oil, orange juice, lemon juice, and vanilla, and beat in the eggs. Stir until the mixture is smooth and lump-free. Pour batter into the greased pan.
  • Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
  • Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer onto a cooling rack. Poke holes in the cake with a fork.
  • To make the glaze, whisk together the lime juice and powdered sugar until the mixture is smooth.
  • Pour the glaze over the warm cake on the rack. Allow the cake to cool completely.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the icing. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the powdered sugar until the icing is smooth and spreadable.
  • Spread the icing over the cooled cake. Refrigerate before serving. Enjoy!
Trisha Yearwood Key Lime Cake

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INSANELYGOOD

Hey there! I'm Kim. I love running, cooking, and curling up with a good book! I share recipes for people who LOVE good food, but want to keep things simple :)

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