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Home » Blog » Cakes & Cupcakes » Lemon Buttermilk Cake With Strawberry Jam-Cream Cheese Icing

Lemon Buttermilk Cake With Strawberry Jam-Cream Cheese Icing

July 21, 2019 By Kelly 17 Comments

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Lemon Buttermilk Cake With Strawberry Jam-Cream Cheese Icing is a dense, moist cake you can make without a mixer. Frosting the cake with fluffy cream cheese icing, with an added dollop of strawberry jam, takes it to the next level! It’s a tasty and pretty little dessert to take along to a dockside picnic or potluck.

A lemon buttermilk cake with strawberry jam-cream cheese icing on a blue and white plate sitting on a weathered grey table on a lakeside dock.

A lemon buttermilk cake on a plate on a dock next to a yellow rowboat.

Aimée Bourque The Picnic Queen

Meeting and working with like-minded food creatives fuels my soul! Aimée Bourque from Simple Bites moved to my home province of Nova Scotia last winter, and we’ve become fast food friends. Her blog focuses on whole, seasonal foods with family and friends. She also shares fantastic picnic and camping-inspired food posts. We recently collaborated on a romantic lakeside picnic for two, including my newly tested recipe for lemon buttermilk cake.

A cake on a blue and white plate next to an arrangement of wild roses on a dock.

A cake on a small grey table on a dock.

Testing My Lemon Buttermilk Cake Recipe

I’ve become obsessed with buttermilk this summer! I love the smell and taste of it, and I make any excuse to use it in my cooking and baking. When I was developing the recipe I started with a healthy-ish version including spelt flour, coconut sugar, and coconut oil. In the end I decided this version with all-purpose flour, white sugar, and butter, looks and tastes the best.

A close up overhead shot of a cake with pink frosting topped with wild roses.

A woman slicing a pink cake on a dock next to a lake.

Reducing The Amount Of Sugar In A Cake Recipe

I recently visited a dietitian and have been eating mindfully since. My meal plans are based on the balance of whole grains and protein, with fruit and vegetables, but sometimes I just want a slice of cake! This lemon buttermilk cake recipe is loosely based on a Cranberry Clementine Loaf recipe I shared on Baked The Blog. I used the clementine loaf recipe as a starting point and reduced the sugar by half. Because the cream cheese icing is sweet, you won’t even notice the reduced sweetness in the buttermilk cake.

A woman's hands holding a slice of lemon cake on a lakeside dock.

A slice of lemon buttermilk cake with strawberry jam-cream cheese icing.

Lemon Buttermilk Cake Ingredients

All-Purpose Flour

I tested this lemon cake recipe with stone ground spelt flour and it worked great, however I prefer the softer texture, and lighter colour, of all-purpose flour.

Sugar

For health and weight-management reasons, I’m on a mission to reduce my sugar intake. I would normally use a full cup of sugar in a cake recipe like this, however, I reduced the sugar by half and it works fine. I also tested the recipe with coconut sugar which also worked.

Baking Powder

I am so used to using baking powder in cake recipes I hardly ever think to use baking soda. The rise and flavour of baking powder is familiar to me which means I tend to use it as a default.

Buttermilk

Buttermilk is my new favourite ingredient! I’ve been using buttermilk in my lime yogurt dressing in place of the yogurt, and as a substitute for the milk in my prosciutto fontina quiche. My rule of thumb is to use buttermilk anywhere I’d use yogurt, milk, or sour cream.

Melted Butter

You could try beating the butter and sugar until light and fluffy if you want. Because the lemon buttermilk cake is quite moist and dense, I haven’t found a noticeable difference. Melted butter is so fast and easy!

Eggs

The recipe as written is baked in two 6-inch cake tins, which equals one egg per tin. Eggs help create a smooth cake batter and add lift, texture, and a hint of yellow to the cake crumb.

Vanilla

I love to double and sometimes triple the amount of vanilla in my recipes. I held back here because I wanted the lemon to shine through. I’ve been using clear vanilla extract for all of my summer baking. I love how it keeps the colour of the lemon cake light and pristine.

Lemon Zest And Juice

Lemons come in different sizes, it’s true, but don’t sweat it. If you have super tiny lemons, consider using two! My lemons yielded about 1/4 cup of juice each. Combined with lemon zest it’s the perfect amount for a small cake.

Lemon buttermilk cake with strawberry jam-cream cheese icing on a small table on a dock.

Strawberry Jam-Cream Cheese Icing Ingredients

Cream Cheese

You could make a simple buttercream for this cake, but I love the tang cream cheese adds to this cake!

Icing Sugar

Also called powdered sugar or confectioners sugar.

Strawberry Jam

Aimée suggested adding strawberry jam to my cream cheese icing as fresh, mashed strawberries are too liquidy. If the jam doesn’t make your icing pink enough, you could also add one drop of red food colouring.

Looking For More Lemon Recipes? Try:

  • Microwave Lemon Curd
  • Classic Lemon Bars
  • Condensed Milk Lemon Tarts

Looking For More Strawberry Recipes? Try:

  • Strawberry Rhubarb Bread Pudding
  • Strawberry Shortcake With Chai-Spiced Biscuits
  • Vegan Strawberry Streusel Loaf
A 6-inch lemon buttermilk cake with strawberry jam-cream cheese icing.
Print Recipe
5 from 6 votes

Lemon Buttermilk Cake With Strawberry Jam-Cream Cheese Icing

A dense, moist lemon cake you can make without a mixer. Frosting the cake with fluffy cream cheese icing, with an added dollop of strawberry jam, takes it to the next level! It’s a tasty and pretty little dessert to take along to a dockside picnic or potluck.
Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time35 mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Canadian
Keyword: lemon cake, lemon buttermilk cake, buttermilk dessert recipes, lemon cake recipe, moist lemon cake recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup butter melted
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 lemon zest and juice
  • 1/4 cup butter soft
  • 1/4 cup cream cheese room temperature
  • 1 cup icing sugar sifted
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
  • pinch salt
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons strawberry jam

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease two 6-inch cake tins and line with parchment paper.
  • In a large bowl whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to mix.
  • In another bowl whisk buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
  • Fold wet ingredients into dry until just combined. Divide batter between prepared cake tins and bake 30-35 minutes, or until internal temperature of cake is 200º to 205ºF. Cool cake on rack and remove from tins.
  • For the Strawberry Jam-Cream Cheese Icing - Combine butter, cream cheese, icing sugar, vanilla, salt, and strawberry jam. Mix by hand or with a mixer until smooth.
  • Place half of strawberry jam-cream cheese icing on top of one of the lemon buttermilk cakes. Spread icing to edges of cake. Place second cake, upside down, on top of the first cake. Spread remaining frosting on top and sides of cake. Keep in fridge until ready to serve.

Notes

If you find your strawberry jam-cream cheese icing is not as pink as you'd like, add one drop of red food colouring.

Did you make this recipe? I would love to see how you made out! Let me know on Instagram by tagging me @baconandbaileys and hashtag it #baconandbaileys so I can take a peek and re-share it in my Instagram stories! You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

All images created in partnership with my friend Aimée of Simple Bites. Recipe & Photography by myself; Food Styling by Aimée.

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Filed Under: Cakes & Cupcakes Tagged With: buttermilk, cream cheese icing, lemon, strawberry jam

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Julia

    July 21, 2019 at 8:40 pm

    Looking forward to making this very soon! It looks so delicious! I always take the sugar down by at least a half cup in recipes. I want to taste the lemon, or the berries, or whatever is in there, not the sweet sugar.

    Reply
    • Kelly

      July 22, 2019 at 10:27 am

      Yes exactly! It’s only recently that I discovered you could do this without really affecting the flavour or the texture at all. I tried making the recipe with coconut sugar, but nothing really compares to white sugar in baking. I also made the recipe as a 6-inch cake to fool myself into it being smaller! Ha! Thanks so much for reading Julia. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Matt - Total Feasts

    July 22, 2019 at 10:06 am

    This sounds like a beautiful summer cake Kelly. Lemon and strawberry are a great combo, and I lime that you’ve sought to reduce sugar. I used to bake a lot more until I realised my sugar intake was way too high! Beautiful photos as per usual!

    Reply
    • Kelly

      July 22, 2019 at 10:30 am

      Thank you so much Matt! I love the petite-ness of a 6-inch cake (is that even a word? lol), and with the frosting you don’t even notice the reduced sugar. After a 40+ºC heatwave we’re finally on the verge of more seasonal temperatures here in Nova Scotia. I hate not being able to bake! Thanks for stopping in. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Julia

    July 23, 2019 at 2:09 pm

    5 stars
    Absolutely stunning cake! I love all the ingredients not to mention it’s beautiful. Such beautiful photography as well. A perfect cake for summer entertaining!

    Reply
    • Kelly

      July 24, 2019 at 9:37 am

      Aw, thanks so much Julia! To be honest it’s SUCH a simple cake to make. Even the frosting is so easy because most of the cake is exposed! A few wild roses on top and that’s it. Easy and delicious. Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  4. Isabelle @ Crumb

    July 23, 2019 at 11:06 pm

    5 stars
    I am just loving this collaboration! Aimee is one of my favourite bloggers (and a pretty awesome person in general), and this photo shoot feels like such a perfect intersection of your styles.
    I am all about the strawberries right now and I happen to have a half-finished carton of buttermilk in the fridge, so I think this cake and I have a date this weekend. 🙂

    Reply
    • Kelly

      July 24, 2019 at 9:39 am

      Thanks so much Isabelle! I first met Aimée in person last year when she was touring her book. I did her food styling for a morning TV segment, and when she said she was moving here we knew we wanted to collaborate! This was our most fun shoot so far, and hopefully there are many more to come. 🙂 I hope you love the cake if you have time to make it (and the sweltering heat doesn’t deter you). Ha!

      Reply
  5. Ramona

    July 31, 2019 at 10:37 am

    5 stars
    Absolutely gorgeous setting and the cake is just to die for. All my favourite flavours in there. Recipe saved! My daughter have seen it as well and she can’t wait for us to bake this at the weekend.
    Thank you so much for sharing and for the inspo.

    Reply
    • Kelly

      July 31, 2019 at 10:55 am

      Thank you so much Ramona! Even though it’s hard to turn on the oven this time of year, this cake would be a great fit for any season. I hope you love making the recipe! I bake with my daughter all the time too. xo!

      Reply
  6. Uma Srinivas

    August 1, 2019 at 7:19 pm

    5 stars
    The cake looks so good with outside pictures. I love to use buttermilk in cakes, they give nice and fluffy texture. Totally awesome strawberry jam cake

    Reply
    • Kelly

      August 5, 2019 at 10:29 am

      Thank you so much for stopping by Uma! To be honest, I’m kind of new to buttermilk, but I LOVE the smell and the flavour. It’s become a basic fridge staple for me this summer!

      Reply
  7. Swathi

    August 2, 2019 at 1:07 am

    5 stars
    I agree with you this is beautiful summer cake, lemon and strawberries are stars of summer. lovely setting to enjoy that beautiful cake. I wish I could taste a slice.

    Reply
    • Kelly

      August 5, 2019 at 10:30 am

      You really can’t go wrong with lemon and strawberries, and the lake setting doesn’t hurt either. Thank you for looking Swathi! xo!

      Reply
  8. Byron Thomas

    August 2, 2019 at 6:37 am

    5 stars
    Let me start by saying that this cake (and the setting) is gorgeous! I’m also from the east coast and there’s really nothing like it! I’m a sucker for anything berry-like paired with lemon. I find that lemon is to fruit what salt is to vegetables. It just brings out the flavour. I make a lot of jams and I always use lemon. That’s what pulled me into this recipe. I make a lemon buttermilk cake quite often, but I’ve never added that gorgeous icing. Looks so good!

    Reply
    • Kelly

      August 5, 2019 at 10:32 am

      Aw, thanks so much Byron! Eating cake on a lakeside dock is definitely a highlight of summer for me. Sometimes I wonder – is it possible to post too many lemon recipes? lol Thanks for dropping by. 🙂

      Reply

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Hi! I’m Kelly Neil.

I'm a food photographer, recipe developer, and freelance writer based in my hometown of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada and I love to bake! If you love simple, classic baking recipes (with occasional healthy or savoury dishes thrown in for good measure) then you are in the right place. My blog is filled with my food photography, and easy comfort food recipes I love. To read more about me and to see who I've worked with check out my Work With Me page...

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