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This Lemon Jello Cake is perfect anytime of year, but it’s especially great for Easter and the 4th of July. It’s an easy lemon cake that uses a few shortcuts to speed things up!
Table of Contents
- The Best Lemon Cake Recipe
- Lemon Jello Cake Ingredients
- How to Make Lemon Jello Cake
- Watch this Cake Be Made…
- Why Did My Cake Fall in the Middle?
- Tips for Making Lemon Jello Poke Cake
- Does Jello Cake Need to Be Refrigerated?
- Can You Freeze Lemon Jello Cake?
- More LEMON DESSERTS to Make:
- More CAKE RECIPES You Have to Try:
- Lemon Jello Cake Recipe
The Best Lemon Cake Recipe
Hey guys! It’s Sarah, yes that one who was able to share our road to adoption with your help and the most incredible day when we finally held our baby girl and the miracle of adoption. But today is about lemon jello cake.
I got so excited about this easy lemon cake recipe that I have to warn you that this post not only includes a delicious recipe for lemon jello cake, but it also includes a lot of tangents that you’ll read in the gazillion parenthesis! Writing this down instead of telling it to you personally allows my brain too much time to wander as I write simple sentences. You will learn the inner-workings of my head!
I love lemony food. Everything with lemon tastes fresh—lemonade, lemon squares, pasta lemon cream sauce…Sour Heads (those freshen up your senses pretty quickly). And there is nothing better than a fresh tasting dessert! (Do you want to know how I learned to spell dessert? In elementary school my teacher told me that you want more dessert so you spell it with two “s”es and not one…desert. Shout out to you, school teachers!)
This lemon jello cake is one of our favorite treats. It is the moistest (my sister-in-law’s favorite word…and anything that has the “oi” sound) cake with help from the Lemon Jell-O flavor packet and the icing on top that seeps down through the sponginess (is that a word? I like to make up words) of the cake. And moist cakes are the only way to go.
This lemon jello cake will forever and ever remind me of visiting my grandparents house on Sunday evenings where we would play, talk and eat. I still see their 50-year-old antique silverware and old plates lining the table before everyone digs in. Food does that, doesn’t it? What recipe do you make that transports you back in time?
Lemon Jello Cake Ingredients
This lemon cake recipe comes together quickly with the help of a few shortcuts. I love homemade cakes, but simpler family recipes like this one are great to have on hand too! Here’s what you’ll need to make this cake mix lemon cake recipe:
- Lemon Cake Mix: We prefer Duncan Hines brand, but any brand will work great.
- Eggs: Adds structure to the cake.
- Water: Adds moisture and helps activate the jello making the cake extra moist
- Oil: The fat that keeps the cake moist and tender.
- Lemon Jello: You will use just the jello powder and be sure it isn’t sugar free
- Lemon Juice: Fresh lemon juice is an absolute must!
- Powdered Sugar: Adds all the sweetness to the icing
The measurements for all the ingredients can found down below so keep scrolling down to the recipe card for all the details.
How to Make Lemon Jello Cake
Want to know why this is the best lemon cake recipe ever? Because it’s also the easiest! Here are the basic steps for making this lemon poke cake:
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease and flour a 9×13 baking pan.
- Mix: Add the boxed cake mix, eggs, water, oil and jello powder to a stand mixer and mix until just combined.
- Pour: Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking dish.
- Bake: Place the cake into the oven and bake for 27-30 minutes.
- Whisk: While the cake is baking, whisk the ingredients together for the icing.
- Poke: When the cake is done, poke holes it all over with a fork while it is still hot.
- Pour: Spread the lemon glaze all over the top of the cake being sure to spread it to every corner of the cake.
It really couldn’t be easier, right?! These instructions can also be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Watch this Cake Be Made…
Why Did My Cake Fall in the Middle?
There are several potential causes for fallen cakes, and happily, there are also several solutions.
- Whether it’s too much or too little, incorrect moisture can cause problems in your cake baking. If there is too little moisture in a cake, it can fall in the center. However, too much moisture can also affect a cake.
- If you forgot to add the eggs at the right time and then added them later figuring “eh, it will be fine,” you might pay the price for your laissez-faire attitude with a fallen cake. Be sure to read the recipe first.
- Your oven could be to blame. Even if the temperature is set correctly on the dial, that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the temperature inside of your oven. Check it periodically with a heatproof thermometer to make sure that the temperature you’ve set it on is actually the temperature inside of the oven.
- The cake may have puffed up and looked golden on top, but when you take it out of the oven it sinks and turns gummy in the middle. You probably didn’t bake long enough. Don’t depend on a visual cue to detect doneness; you should also insert a skewer or cake tester to make sure it comes out mostly clean.
Tips for Making Lemon Jello Poke Cake
You can use any lemon cake mix you’d like, but we typically stick to good ol’ Duncan Hines. But if there’s another brand you love, use that instead!
A few readers have suggested adding lemon zest into the cake and lemon icing. We haven’t tried this ourselves (yet!), but it sounds delicious.
Readers have also suggested using a mixture of orange and lemon jello in the cake mix or a mixture of orange and lemon juice in the icing. Again, both suggestions sound wonderful. I just wanted to mention these tips in case any of you are looking for ways to amp up the lemon jello cake!
Does Jello Cake Need to Be Refrigerated?
Normally, jello poke cakes need to be refrigerated because you’re pouring stuff over the cake and adding whipped cream, but this lemon jello poke cake is another story. Because the jello is baked into the cake and just a glaze is placed over the top you really don’t need to refrigerate it. Yay!!! Although, it’s actually really yummy both warm and cold, so do as you please. Store it in the fridge if you want!
Can You Freeze Lemon Jello Cake?
Because this isn’t a poke cake you can freeze jello cake! Lemon jello cake needs to be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap after it has cooled completely. It’s going to stay good for up to 3 months.
This delicious lemon jello cake is perfect for any occasion. With a tangy lemon flavor and a light, fluffy texture, it’s sure to be a hit with your family and friends. Plus, check out our step-by-step video to see every part of the process!
More LEMON DESSERTS to Make:
- Lemon Mandarin Orange Jello Salad
- Lemon Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- Sweet Glazed Lemon Cookies
- Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
- Lemon Cake with Coconut Frosting
- Classic Lemon Bars
- Lemon Cheesecake Mousse Cups
- Lemon Raspberry Bars
More CAKE RECIPES You Have to Try:
- Apple Cake with Caramel Frosting
- Better Than Anything Cake
- Chocolate Sheet Cake
- Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Sheet Cake
- Carrot Cake
- Banana Cake
- Banana Pudding Cake
- Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
- Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake
- All our Cake Recipes here!
Lemon Jello Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 Box Lemon Cake Mix, 15.25 oz
- 4 Eggs, large
- 1 ⅓ Cups Water
- 2/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 Package Lemon Jello, small box — 3 oz
For the Icing
- 2 Lemons, juiced
- 1 ½ Cups Powdered Sugar
Instructions
Make the Jello Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray and sprinkle with flour.
- Tip and tap the edges of the cake pan to coat it with flour.
- In the bowl of a mixer, add the cake mix, eggs, water, oil and jello powder and mix together.1 Box Lemon Cake Mix, 4 Eggs, 1 ⅓ Cups Water, 2/3 Cup Vegetable Oil, 1 Package Lemon Jello
- Pour into the greased and floured pan.
- Bake for 27-30 minutes. While the cake is in the oven, prep the icing (see instructions below).
- When cake is done, poke all over with a fork while still hot.
- Immediately pour lemon icing over top.
Make the Lemon Icing:
- In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice and powdered sugar until smooth.2 Lemons, 1 ½ Cups Powdered Sugar
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made this cake in a bundt cake pan. It was not near a tall as I remember this cake to be when my mother made this cake back in the day. I think the difference in the missing ounces of cake mix make a big difference. So, the second try I added about 3 ounces of mix from another box. It was better, but still not quite the same. I am on my way to the kitchen to try again. I’ll let you know the out-come and how I changed the recipe. I might add another egg and a little lemon extract. Wish me luck!
Going to try it with blueberries in it!
Yummmmmm! We would love to hear how it goes Christine!
All of these jello cake recipe calls for a 9×13 square pan for baking, can you use two 9’in round cake pans instead?
Gr8 recipe. Want to substitute for water — thinking of half Eagle Brand Condensed Milk — to give it a lemon pie taste and more moisture. Suspect this will add to baking time. Will advise results.
That is a great question! It sounds delicious and now I want to try it, but since I’ve never tried swapping the water, I can’t give any directions on how it will affect the baking time.
Taste great I added a lemon & the zes. Very moist taste good plain and with the strawberry topping w/whipped cream.
Sounds amazing!!
Although there’s no publication date on the post for this recipe, I’ve noted from scrolling through the comments that it was published about 7 years ago. A box of cake mix used to weigh over 18 oz, but now only weighs 15.25 oz. This is at least a 15% decrease, not an insignificant amount when it comes to baking.
My box of lemon cake mix instructs using only 1 cup of water, which is quite a large difference from this recipe.
With all the vintage recipes out there that use boxed cake mixes, I wish I knew how to adjust them to the lesser amount of dry mix we’re now forced to deal with.
Hey Trish! You are absolutely correct about this. I’m going to have to rework this recipe and figure out the measurements for the other ingredients.
Did you ever figure out a new recipe for the smaller cake box size?
Hi Rayna! I’m actually working on this recipe as we speak and reshooting new photos. My gut says that I might have to buy two boxes of cake mix just to keep the number of ounces the same, but if I find a better solution, I’ll update the recipe card!
The mixture is so watery I’m wasn’t hopeful this cake would bake properly so added 7 TLBS flour. Took longer to bake and didn’t rise up completely compared to my previous lemon jello cakes. I should have sifted powdered sugar so no lumps would be on the top of the cake. I used Duncan Hines perfectly moist butter golden mix 15.25oz. I’m extremely disappointed in their reformulations.
Hi Rita! Did you just pour in the Jello powder to the batter? The batter should be thick like a normal cake batter. I’m so sorry you were disappointed!
This may not be relevant now, but Duncan Hines has reformulated their cake mix and it seems to have issue when “upgrading” the mix. Of course, they all have inflation-sized their packages ounces. I do think this will create issues in recipes using boxed cake mixes.
Hi Kathy! This is all totally valid! I’m actually working on this recipe as we speak. I’ll update the recipe if I find issues. Don’t we all love paying more for less product! Ugh!
I’m so excited! I have been trying to find this recipe since I lost my book of my mom’s recipes, she made it for my birthday every year, after she passed away I couldn’t handle it at first, memories, it is the moistest. Thank you so very much
I’m so glad you found it!! One of my favorite things about food and recipes are how they tie us to the ones we love!
I only had sugar free jello so I used it. I thought it was still good.
Thank you so much for the feedback!
So many words for such a simple recipe.
There is a button at the top of the post to jump to the recipe card. Feel free to skip the post and head straight to the recipe if you want!