Don’t you just love lemon desserts? I’ve been on a lemon kick recently and this lemon cake roll is just the latest lemon dessert recipe I want to share with you. So lemony, so refreshing and so delicious!
If you love lemon, you are going to flip over this delicious lemon cake roll. Not only is this easy, it only takes a few ingredients.
Looking for the best roll cake recipe? With The Best Lemon Roll Cake recipe, this roll cake has a fantastic flavor with a creamy filling that has a burst of lemon flavor. This light and airy cake combined with the tangy creamy lemon filling makes this lemon cake simply irresistible.
Lemon desserts have an amazing flavor. The tangy lemon combines with sweet cake. It is such a great combination. When you combine these great flavors together with the roll cake style of cake, this just makes an incredible dessert.
What is a Roll Cake
If you have ever had a Swiss Roll, you have had a mini roll cake. Roll cakes are light and airy cakes, sometimes resembling a sponge cake in texture, that is topped with a creamy filling and then gently rolled. This forms a log sized cake that has layers of cake and filling. It comes together to create such a delicious flavor and beautiful design.
What is the Best Lemon Cake Filling
The filling in this lemon cake recipe is a cream cheese based filling. It is so creamy and has the tartness of the lemon and cream cheese that mixes with the powdered sugar and heavy cream and creates a decadent flavor that is sweet and rich but not too sweet.
How Do You Roll a Cake
It might seem like it is impossible to roll a cake after it is baked when you start to do it for the first time. When the cake is still warm from the oven, the cake is taken from the pan and placed on a towel, that has been sprinkled with powered sugar, which is used to roll the cake into shape. Once the cake has cooled, it is unrolled, topped with the filling and then rolled back into place. Once everything has set, the cake can be cut and served.
How to Store This Lemon Cake
Once you have cut this lemon cake into slices, you will want to store the lemon cake in the refrigerator. While many cakes do best when they are stored at room temperature, because this lemon cake has a cream cheese based filling, it will spoil if left at room temperature for too long.
Can This Cake be Frozen
If you have extra cake that you will not get finished before it goes bad, you can always freeze the cake. After slicing the cake, you can wrap each slice in plastic wrap. This keeps the cake together. Then you can freeze each one. Put the slices together in a freezer bag. This keeps the cake together in one place and the freezer bag also it gives the cake one more layer of protection against freezer burn. I like to freeze them in slices because it lets me take out the cake slice by slice instead of taking the cake out as a whole. You can also store the cake in an airtight container. If you choose to use the container, and all the slices of cake are together on the container, use a layer of parchment between the layers to keep the cake from sticking together.
Ingredients Needed To Make A Lemon Cake Roll
This is a super easy cake roll recipe and most of the ingredients are probably in your pantry already.
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Lemon juice
- Zest from one lemon
- Vanilla extract
- Milk
- Flour
- Baking powder
- Cream cheese
- Powdered sugar
- Heavy cream
(Actual measurements in the recipe card below.)
How To Make A Lemon Cake Roll
- In a medium bowl, beat eggs and sugar on high for 2-3 minutes.
- Add vegetable oil, lemon juice, zest, vanilla, milk, and flour. Beat on high speed until evenly blended.
- Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper and spray it with nonstick.
- Pour the cake batter into pan, using a spatula to spread the thin layer, making sure it reaches all edges.
- Preheat oven to 350° and bake for 15-17 minutes or until edges begin to turn golden.
- Lay a clean kitchen towel on your surface and generously coat with powdered sugar. When cake is baked, turn out onto towel and peel off parchment paper.
- Sprinkle powdered sugar on the top side as well, and roll your cake up around the towel. Set aside to cool completely. (Make sure you roll it right out of the oven to avoid cracking.)
- Make your filling by beating together cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and heavy cream.
- Once cake has cooled, unroll cake, spread filling all over, and roll back up (not too tightly so filling won’t spill out).
- Roll foil around cake and seal, then refrigerate or freeze at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Top with whipped cream (optional), cut into slices and serve (if frozen, let sit out a bit before cutting).
Try This Delicious Cake Today
Here are a few more lemon desserts that can be found on the blog:
More Delicious Lemon Desserts You’ll Enjoy
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Lemon Cake Roll
Ingredients
Lemon Cake
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 4 large eggs
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- zest from one lemon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp milk
Lemon Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar (add up to ½ cup more if filling is not thick and fluffy)
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° and line a baking sheet or jelly roll pan with parchment paper and spray it with non stick spray. Set aside.
Lemon Cake
- In a medium bowl, beat eggs and sugar on high for 2-3 minutes.
- Beat in vegetable oil, lemon juice, zest, vanilla, milk, flour and baking powder until evenly blended.
- Pour cake batter into prepared pan, making sure it reaches all edges.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until edges begin to turn golden.
- Lay a small towel on your surface and generously coat with powdered sugar. When cake is baked, turn out onto towel and peel off parchment paper. Sprinkle powdered sugar on the top side as well, and roll your cake up around the towel. Set aside to cool completely. (Make sure you roll it right out of the oven to avoid cracking)
Lemon Cream Cheese Filling
- Make your filling by beating together cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and heavy cream.
- Once cake has cooled, unroll cake, spread filling over the top, and roll back up (not too tightly so filling won’t spill out.)
- Roll foil around it and seal, then refrigerate or freeze at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Cut into slices and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Delicious idea!
How do I pin your recipes to Pinterest? I see where it says here is a perfect pic to send to pinterest but when I attempt to send any of your recipes to pinterest nothing happens! Tell me what to do please! Thanks Jan Solomon
Hi Jan, if you hover over the left upper corner, a red “pin it” button should pop up and you can pin directly to your boards on Pinterest. Try that and let me know if it worked or didn’t work for you. :)