My ⅛ sheet pan saw some action this weekend. Well, it sees a lot of action because I use it for all kinds of things, but it was the leading player in this Trader Joe's inspired mini lemon sheet cake. Our small cake, which ended up being a tad bit larger than TJ's, was maybe the best scratch frosted lemon cake I've ever made, and just the right size for two. There's still enough to freeze for later, but it won't last for months!
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Mini Lemon Sheet Cake Flavor and Texture
This is a Trader Joe's inspired cake, but I actually haven't (yet) tried theirs. I did buy their little Cheery Lemon Animal Crackers, though, because I love using iced animals crackers as decorations on other baked goods. But you don't have to put animals on top at all. As for flavor, the cake was lemony thanks to zest, juice and Boyajian lemon oil. And the texture was super soft! The sour cream really did its magic in this cake.
Scratch cakes take more mindfulness than cookies, and sifting the flour (especially if it's lumpy bleached, which is softer) is worth it. It's also worth weighing the ingredients. Even though this is just a little ⅛ sheet pan cake, I used the stand mixer for creaming. Here's a picture of the batter in the pan. It rose quite a bit to the point I was concerned it was too much, but it shrank back down as it cooled.
Room Temperature Ingredients
This is a pretty easy cake, but as a reminder or if you are new to making scratch cakes, be sure your ingredients are at room temperature and not straight from the refrigerator. My butter was a bit warmer than usual, but it still held its shape. The eggs were fairly warm too because I set them in in hot water for 3 minutes which is my usual way of bringing eggs to room temperature. The sour cream was also brought to warm room temperature using a low setting of the microwave. The goal is to keep everything just warm enough to emulsify smoothly.
Lemon Frosting
The amount of lemon frosting on the cake in the photos is ⅔ of what's in the recipe card, so if you are okay with a thin layer of frosting you can use ⅔ of the ingredients and save some butter. It's a lemony rich frosting with both butter and cream cheese, but the ratios are more like a buttercream with cream cheese rather than a true cream cheese frosting. The frosting also calls for less powdered sugar than most because that's the way we like it. And it's lemony! It's hard to give accurate measurements for lemon zest because sometimes zest has more moisture and sometimes its dry and it varies in potency. I just use a lot because we generally never find things too lemony. For the frosting, taste as you go.
Recipe
Mini Lemon Sheet Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (127 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ¼ cup salted butter softened
- 1 ½ tablespoons neutral oil (vegetable oil, canola, etc.)
- 1 cup sugar (200 grams)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ⅓ cup just very slightly rounded sour cream (80 grams)
- 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon lemon oil or lemon extract I use Boyajian
Lemon Frosting
- 6 tablespoons salted butter, softened (114 grams)
- 1 to 1 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted after measuring (110 to 170 gram)
- 4 tablespoons softened cream cheese of mascarpone (56 grams)
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste
- 1-2 teaspoons lemon zest, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon lemon oil or lemon extract (will probably need more if using extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F. Grease bottom of a ⅛ sheet pan.
- Sift the flour with the baking soda and whisk in the salt. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, preferably a stand mixer with the paddle attached, beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest until creamy. With the mixer going, drizzle in the oil.
- After you've added the oil, stop the mixer and stir in one egg until it is incorporated. Beat with the mixer for 30 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl, then repeat with the second egg. Beat until smooth, then stir in half of the flour mixture and the sour cream. Beat on low until smooth, then add remaining flour mixture, lemon juice and lemon oil (or extract).
- Pour into the pan. Drop pan lightly on counter to bring air bubbles to top. Bake at 325 for about 35 to 38minutes. Definitely check around the 30 minute mark, especially if you've changed the pan size. Mine took 38 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool.
Lemon Frosting
- Beat the softened butter until creamy. Beat in 1 cup of the powdered sugar, stopping to scrape the side of the bowl. Beat in the softened cheese, zest and half of the lemon juice. Add lemon oil or extract. and Stir.
- Add remaining sugar and lemon juice as needed to desired sweetness and consistency, beating until smooth. Add a drop of yellow gel food coloring if you'd like a deeper yellow or leave it as is.
Sue says
Another cake I want to try! It sounds delicious!