This Pink Lemonade Chiffon Cake is super easy to make and so soft! The cake is topped with a pink lemonade buttercream frosting that’s insanely delicious!
Make sure to try my Classic Lemon Chiffon Cake too!
Pink Lemonade Chiffon Cake Recipe
This cake is against everything my boys believe in.
It’s pink…it’s lemon…and it’s wearing a skirt.
I know, I couldn’t help it…a cake in a pink tutu? It’s like the daughter I always thought I wanted.
But then I ate it.
Ok, things just got weird.
But I promise you will love this cake..I even have a trick for those non-lemon people like my boys, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
The cake itself is a pink lemonade chiffon cake and omg you guys need to make this. It’s SO soft and squishy…the closest I have ever come to the texture of a boxed cake mix.
And also, I frosted it pink ombré…which may be my new favorite way to frost cakes. So simple and pretty!
First get busy caking…
How to Make The Best Lemonade Cake
The method is easy for this, but you will need two bowls, because you’re gonna separate the eggs and whip the whites on their own.
You add pink lemonade right into the batter.
Now, I’ve made this cake a few times…if you aren’t a huge lemon person you can still add the lemonade and it will be almost undetectable in the batter.
But if you like the lemon…this is a lemonade cake after all…you will need to add some lemon zest into both the batter and the frosting.
When you have the cake batter almost done whip the whites with a little cream of tartar and fold them right into the batter.
Once they are baked and cooled you can level them if necessary. This cake doesn’t produce huge domes, so I only took off a tiny bit of the top to get them to stack flat.
How to Frost Your Chiffon Cake
Spread your buttercream frosting in between the layers, and then crumb coat the whole cake lightly. Next allow the frosting to set…or you could pop it in the fridge to set quickly.
Then divide the remaining frosting into thirds. Frost one portion a darker pink, the next a shade or two lighter and the last portion leave white or very pale pink.
With the darkest color spread that around the bottom of the cake using an offset spatula…
Using the next dark color, apply it the same way around the middle. As you spread the frosting it will naturally blend together. Finally use the palest color at the top at the cake.
So pretty, right?
That’s when I decided to dress up my cake…
Love that cake tutu!
Then slice and enjoy!
Print
Pink Lemonade Chiffon Cake
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 slices 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Pink Lemonade Chiffon Cake is super easy to make and so soft! The cake is topped with a pink lemonade buttercream frosting that’s insanely delicious!
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 5 eggs, separated with whites reserved
- 3/4 cup pink lemonade
- 3 Tbsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- *pink food coloring
Frosting
- 1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
- 2 lbs powdered sugar (about 8 cups)
- 1/2 cup pink lemonade
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
- *pink food coloring (optional)
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Spray 3, 8″ cake pans generously with baking spray, set aside
- In bowl of stand mixer, mix on low speed flour, sugar baking powder and salt together until combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add in the egg yolks, oil, pink lemonade and 2-3 drops of food coloring if desired. Beat mixture on medium high for 3 minutes, scraping sides as needed.
- In a separate mixing bowl combine egg whites and cream of tartar and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form, will take a few minutes.
- Fold egg whites into the cake batter and divide equally into the 3 prepared pans.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until centers spring back to touch.
- Cool in pans for 10 minutes and then remove from pans and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting
- Beat butter until smooth and creamy. Slowly add in powdered sugar and pink lemonade, alternating back and forth until everything is mixed in.
- Add in the zest and 1-2 drops of food coloring, if desired. Mix until creamy and desired consistency is reached. Feel free to add more powdered sugar or lemonade to get desired consistency. *Hint, the more pink lemonade you add, the more the frosting will appear “curdled”, so to amp up the tartness, if desired, add more zest.
- Spread the frosting on the layers and the outside of the cake.
Notes
recipe adapted from Southern Living
To achieve the frosting technique I got here I crumb coated the whole cake and then divided the frosting into thirds coloring one section slightly darker, the next a little lighter and didn’t add coloring to the last bit. I used an off-set spatula and started with the darker color on the bottom, adding the middle color next and finishing the top with the lightest color. I blended it all together with my large off-set spatula.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 819
- Sugar: 101.8 g
- Sodium: 231.1 mg
- Fat: 34.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 126.6 g
- Protein: 5.2 g
- Cholesterol: 138.5 mg
Stunningly beautifull!
You had me at pink tutu! I adore pink and anything ombre, so this cake is like the best thing ever!
There is so much I love about this post, I don’t even know where to begin. But I will choose the ombre frosting because, hello, GENIUS! And the technique is so simple! I am a big pink lemonade fan – I need to find somewhere to make this cake for!!
this is beautiful!! so impressive!
this is just so pretty! i could definitely eat a slice right now. thanks for sharing Shelly!
How can I adapt this to make cupcakes?
I wouldn’t adapt the recipe at all, just fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 15ish minutes
This looks absolutely amazing—and refreshing! I so want this for my birthday. Are you taking requests? 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Pretty. In. Pink.
Gorgeous.
This is a cake even “Boys” would devour.
I know mine would…Pink and all!
Looks amazing! I am going to make this for my daughter’s 11th birthday. She loves pink and lemon! Should be a hit all the way around.
Hi Shelly, Beautiful Cake… Is the lemonade concentrate or is it from a carton? If it is already made do you think a straight concentrate would give it more zip without having to use the zest?
probably, yes! I just pink lemonade from the carton and it was very subtle…so I imagine that the concentrate would work great!
Love this cake! Just beautiful. Quick question….lemonade? Concentrate or pre-made?