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Perfectly moist lime cake, topped with a homemade lime buttercream frosting, and sprinkled with lime zest!
Try my classic chocolate sheet cake, or switch it up with lemon, cherry, or strawberry flavored sheet cake!
another tasty sheet cake
Hi, it’s me Lily – again! Today, I want to share with you a new recipe for Lime Sheet Cake. Remember the Lemon Sheet Cake, Strawberry Sheet Cake and Cherry Sheet Cake we’ve shared over the last few months? My mom is on sheet cake fix, so we tried one with limes.
I really like limes, so I thought this lime cake was delicious!!
It’s super easy because you just use a box of white cake mix that you buy at the store, along with a package of lime jello mix, and some lime juice. But don’t worry, it’s not sour at all! It’s just enough lime juice to make it tasty, without being sour.
My most favorite part is the homemade lime buttercream frosting with lime zest. It’s super yummy and goes perfectly with the lime cake. If you like, you can also put some lime zest on top of the frosting to make it look pretty! Trust me, it tastes as good as it looks!
tips for making your lime cake
This recipe is really easy to make like I said, and I had a lot of fun making it. I bet your kids would like to make it with you too! Here are some tips to make sure your lime sheet cake turns out perfectly:
If you don’t have an 11×16 baking pan… You can use any of the following. Just make sure to keep a close eye on it while it’s in the oven and use a toothpick to check for doneness. (Note: 11×16 is a half-sized small metal sheet pan.)
- Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F fill the cupcake liners ⅔ of the way full. Bake for 20-25 minutes
- Bundt Pan: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and lightly flour the pan. Pour in batter and bake for 40-45 minutes.
- 9×13 cake pan: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and lightly flour the pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes.
- Full sized sheet pan: You will need to double the recipe for it to fill up a full-sized sheet pan (cookie pan with rimmed edges). Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
What is lime zest? The zest is an ingredient taken from the outermost part of a piece of citrus. To make your own zest, be sure to remove any wax and wash the fruit thoroughly. Next, grate the peel very finely.
You can use a citrus zester, the fine side of a box cheese grater, a microplane or even a sharp paring knife. Carefully remove the outermost layer of the peel (the colorful part). Stop before you get to the white layer.
A medium sized lime will create about 1 tablespoon of zest.
Other topping ideas: If lime zest isn’t your thing, you could add…
- Shredded or toasted coconut
- Crushed graham crackers
- Sliced strawberries, raspberries, banana, pineapples
- Chopped Macadamia nuts
Got leftovers?
If you’re making a sheet cake, you probably have quite a few people you were trying to feed, so send some home with them. 😉 Or, keep it all for yourself and store one of these ways:
- Room temperature: covered, for 1-2 days
- Fridge: cover tightly and store for 3-5 days
- Freezer: Flash freeze first. You do this by placing the entire cake in the freezer or place cut pieces on a baking sheet, be sure they are not touching. Freeze for 2-3 hours, or until the outside is frozen. Remove and wrap the cake with plastic wrap then again with foil. Label and return to the freezer. Freeze for 4-6 months. If the cake is unfrosted you do not need to flash freeze first.
For more fruity cakes, check out:
- Cherry Sheet Cake
- Strawberry Sheet Cake
- Banana Pudding Poke Cake
- Berry Icebox Cake
- Strawberry Jello Poke Cake
Lime Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 box white cake mix plus ingredients on box
- 1 lime juiced
- 3 oz package lime JELLO gelatin mix
Frosting
- 1/4 c butter softened
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 2 c powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 TB lime juice you can use more if you want a stronger citrus taste
- a few tsp lime zest
- 1-2 TB milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Add white cake mix and gelatin mix to a medium bowl.
- Add the ingredients on the back of the cake mix box and lime juice. Beat until well combined.
- Pour into a greased 11×16 pan. Bake for 20-22 minutes. Let cool.
- While cake is cooling make frosting by creaming together butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, lime juice, lime zest and milk. Beat until smooth.
- Frost cake and ENJOY!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
making this cake right now
🙂 Hope you liked it!! Thanks for giving it a try!
Please let me know if I am supposed to add the juice of one lime in with the cake mix since it looks like it is listed as part of the cake but is not mentioned in the cake instructions. Thanks, I can’t wait to try this!
Oh, yes..you add it with the cake ingredients in step 3. Sorry, about that! I’ll have to fix it. Let me know what you think of this cake! We love it!
This cake was delicious! I have been buying cakes for birthdays for the last couple of years but this recipe inspired me to bake and decorate a cake for my husband’s birthday. It was a lot of work (the decorating part mostly) but it tasted so much better than store bought.
Thank you so much for letting me know!! We love this cake!! I’m so glad you liked it better!!
what is lime zest
Lime zest is from the peel of the lime, it’s the outer green layer:) Hope that helps!
what is lime zest ???
Marion Wood,
Lime zest is the outer green layer of the lime peel. You can use a micro-plane zester or a fine grater, or even a peeler to get it. Just make sure that you don’t go to deep into the peel. You don’t want the whiter part, just the green on the surface. Hope this info helps. 😀
Thank you!! That is exactly what it is:)
All these sound so yummy. I did notice on the Lime Sheet Cake that there was a typing error.
Under ingredients for the frosting:
1 TB lime juice (you can use more if you want more lemon taste) NOTICE it says more LEMON and I’m sure you mean Lime.
Uh, oh…I changed it! Thanks so much for letting me know!
confusing… first it says jello, then pudding. Also, doesn’t say anywhere when or where you put in the lime juice… (I’m guessing with the cake mix since the cake turns green…)
Kind of confusing…. From the stand point of a retired kitchen manager and restaurant manager… I would clarify you description of “instant jello.” When I first looked at the recipe… I thought instant jello referred to “PUDDING”…. but when looking at all the variations of this cake and search the internet of current jello flavors… it is my guess that you are using “GELATIN”… and is it regular or sugar free?? PLEASE ADVISE if I am correct.
I added the word GELATIN to the recipe. 😉 And no – not sugar free.
This looks yummy! My husband loves stuff like this, so I’m gonna have to try it out. Do you think a 9×13 pan will work OK? Don’t think I have a 11×16.
It is!!:) Yes, that should be fine. You may need to leave it in for a couple min longer..just keep an eye on it:) Thank you!
Thank you Lily for your email and recipe. I will make sometime this summer. I have lot going on right now with moving. Have a fun summer.
How much buttermilk does the recipe call for? I do not see it in the list of ingredients.
There isn’t buttermilk in this recipe, it just calls for 1-2T of milk:) It’s is step 5, of the instructions. Hope that helps!!
TB milk how much a cup?