Of course this was my first time trying to make a key lime cake but this turned out to be soo yummy I am going to have to make it again very soon. The recipe I used was adapted from a wonderful recipe I found at www.theletteredcottage.net. For ingredients I did not have I substituted with similar ingredients for example, I realized that I did not have orange juice which the recipe required but I have pure 100% grapefruit juice which was just as good as the orange juice. I also used pure lime concentrate instead of real limes.
Here is the recipe:
1 box of lemon cake mix
1/2 cup of lime Jello
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1/2 cup orange Juice (pure grapefruit Juice is a great substitute!)
3/4 cup water
1 box confectioner’s sugar
1/4 cup concentrate key lime Juice
1/4 cup fresh key lime Juice
1 pack cream cheese (8 oz – at room temperature)
8 Tablespoons margarine (or just regular butter)
1 Teaspoon vanilla essence
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare three 9″ cake pans by lining only the bottom with parchment paper. You can use 9″ circular parchment. Ensure parchment is greased and lightly floured. This makes it easier to remove the cake after baking.
3. In a large bowl combine the cake mix, eggs, oil, orange (or grapefruit) juice, jello and water. Mix for about 3 minutes with hand mixer at medium speed.
4. Using a measuring cup, pour equal amounts of batter into each pan.
5. Place cakes in oven and bake for 25 minutes.
6. To prepare the glaze whilst cakes are baking, cut two limes and squeeze 1/4 cup of lime juice into a measuring bowl (Lime concentrate also works great too:).
7. Add 1/4 cup of bottled lime juice into the bowl (or you can add more lime concentrate).
8. Add 4 tablespoons of confectioner’s sugar to bowl with lime mixture. Mix together and spread all over surface of the warm cakes right when they come out of the oven.
Frosting:
1. Combine margarine and cream cheese and mix on high speed for 1 minute until soft and smooth.
2. Add the remainder of the confectioner’s sugar and vanilla essence and mix on medium speed until well blended and frosting has a fluffy smooth consistency
Layering Cakes:
1. Remove first cake from cake pan and parchment and place on cake stand with glazed side facing upward.
2. Spread some frosting on the top of it starting from the middle and out to the edges.
3. Stack second cake on top of the frosted cake and apply equal portion of frosting.
4. Place third cake on top of the two cakes. Spread frosting from middle out to edges and cover entire cake with remainder of frosting in a swirling hand motion.
Eat right away or I found that storing in the refrigerator lets the lime glaze and frosting sink in for a even better taste.
Scrumptious! Enjoy!! MN