Labor Day is bittersweet holiday because it signifies the unofficial end to summer. Kids usually go back to school right after Labor Day and by Tuesday it will be fall for all intents and purposes. We welcome the cooler fall temps and look forward to the beauty of the changing leaves, but we also let go of the carefree, lazy days of summer. 

Labor Day is often spent getting in one last summer weekend at the beach or at a BBQ with friends and family. If you are hosting or heading out to a BBQ or picnic this weekend, bring this Lemon Pudding Cake and be the star of the party! 

Coincidentally this Lemon Pudding Cake is also bittersweet, haha. It’s mostly sweet, but the lemon does add some zesty, bitter flavor. It’s a made-from-scratch cake made with instant lemon Jell-O pudding, lemon juice and lemon zest and layered and topped with thick layers of whipped cream!

Warning – this cake is sticky! You really have to grease your cake pan, cover the bottom with a piece of parchment and sprinkle it with flour so your cake will come out of the pan! The first time I made this cake I only greased the pan and it would not come out!

We have friends coming into town for our 3rd Annual Wine Tour Weekend, we have a big brunch before the wine tour so I will be serving a Lemon Berry Trifle using my poor flopped cake, haha! So if your cake fails there’s always trifle 🙂 Just kidding! If you follow the instructions and grease and line properly it won’t fail! 

Lemon Pudding Cake

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• Author: Chocolate Covered Cheetah

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Cake

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 package lemon instant Jell-O pudding
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup whole milk

Whipped Cream Frosting

• 3 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Berries and lemon zest for decoration (optional)

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Instructions

Cake

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with blade attachment, beat butter and sugar on high for 2 minutes or until fluffy
3. Add eggs 1 at a time
4. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract, mix
5. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, pudding mix, sea salt, baking powder and baking soda,
6. Slowly add the dry mixture to the mixing bowl, alternating with the whole milk
7. Mix until the dry ingredients are just fully combined
8. Grease a 3, 6″ cake pans, cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan, coat with thin layer of flour
9. Divide the cake mixture between the 3 pans, bake for 30-32 minutes until cake is set
10. Remove from oven and cool completely

Whipped Cream Frosting

1. While the cake is cooling put a the clean bowl of your electric mixer in the freezer for 1 hour
2. Remove from freezer, fit with whisk attachment
3. Add whipping cream to the bowl, whisk on high until it starts to thicken
4. Slowly add sugar and vanilla extract, whisk until desired consistency is reached (it should be thick)
5. Once cake has cooled completely, set the first layer down on a serving plate, top with a thick layer of whipped cream, repeat with other 2 layers
6. Top with berries and lemon zest for decoration if desired

Notes

You can bake the layers 1 at a time if you don’t have 3 pans, but be sure to cool the layers before removing them to move on to baking the next.

You can use a larger cake pan (8 or 10 inch) and make it a 2 layer cake.

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