A three-layer moist orange lemon cake topped with homemade buttercream and citrus slices. This cake is pure spring and summer!

A single slice of triple layer orange lemon cake with a homemade buttercream. In the background, oranges and lemons are arranged around a cake stand with a full orange lemon cake, garnished with orange and lemon slices.

Hey Cousins! In this post, I will be sharing a cake that one of my friends made for me, and I absolutely fell in love with it. This Naked Orange Lemon Cake is super moist, and fluffy. It’s a three-layer cake full of sweet citrus flavor, and it’s layered with the most delicious buttercream ever. Seriously, cousins, you’re going to fall hard for this cake! Not only is it one of the best desserts ever, but the actual cake is stunning! It’s naked on the sides with slices of orange, and topped with dollops of wonderful homemade buttercream and lemon and orange slices! It’s amazing! I can go on, and on about this cake. And I will! However, let’s get to the get-down!

Ingredients to Make a Homemade Layered Orange Lemon Cake

Lemon Cake Ingredients:

6 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cups unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
1 ¾ cup granulated white sugar
4 large eggs
2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp lemon zest
⅓ cup fresh lemon juice

Orange Frosting ingredients:

3 cups unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
6 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp orange zest
3 tsp fresh orange juice
3-6 tbsp heavy whipping cream

Garnish:

Lemons and oranges, thinly sliced
Fresh Mint leaves

A close up image of a three-layer lemon orange cake. Three layers of yellow cake are separated by two layers of while buttercream. The top of the cake slice is garnished with a lemon slice and mint leaf.

Baking Equipment Needed

As always you’ll need a few things on hand when making this cake. Some of those items are:

Mixing bowls
Handheld mixer or stand mixer
Baking spatula
Wet & dry measuring cups
(3) 9-inch round cake pans
1 large piping bag fitted with a star tip

How to Make a Naked Orange Lemon Layer Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Spray the three cake pans with baking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Using a standing mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy.
Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract until combined.
With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients just until combined.
With the mixer still running on low, add the buttermilk, lemon zest, and lemon juice and mix just until combined.
Pour batter evenly into cake pans.
Bake for around 20-25 minutes, or until the cakes are baked through.
Using a standing mixer, cream together all ingredients for the buttercream, until stiff and smooth peaks form.
Using a cake slicer, slice a thin layer off the tops of the cakes to create a flat surface.
Place 1 cake layer on your serving plate.
Evenly cover the top with about 1 cup of frosting.
Top with the 2nd cake layer and evenly cover the top with about 1 cup of frosting.
Top with the third cake layer.
Spread the remaining frosting all over the top and sides.
Using a frosting leveler, smooth the frosting evenly and remove it to create a naked look.
Pipe larger dollops of frosting onto the top of the cake.
Place the sliced orange along the bottom of the cake.
Place the sliced lemons in between the larger dollops.
Let the cake sit for a minimum of 1 hour before serving.
Cut and enjoy!

A single slice of lemon orange cake served on a plate. The triple layer cake has vanilla buttercream and a garnish of lemon slices, orange slices, and mint leaves.

Not a cake designer? It’s okay!

Whenever I post a cake recipe with pretty or “ done up” cake a lot of people get intimidated. I don’t want you to be intimidated at all y’all! I want you to have fun while decorating. The first time that you decorate this cake, it may not look like the cake in my pictures, However, practice makes perfect! You can try practicing decorating with buttercream on a flat surface, before decorating the actual cake. That’s usually what I do when I’m trying something new, especially when I’m trying a new cake design. So take your time y’all, and give yourself time to practice.

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