It's funny, creating this recipe kinda happened by accident. I was actually making my grandma's lemon cake recipe, and I thought I had all the right ingredients. I'd even remembered to pick up the cake mix, which is usually the one thing I forget. Not so. This time I forgot to get a lemon pudding mix. Not to be deterred, I decided to make it anyway, only in a slightly different way. My guys ended up loving this lemon poke cake, claiming it's one of the best cakes I've made in awhile.
Ok, so I'll be honest. Any lemon cake, especially this lemon cake, is even better the next day. Aging an extra day suits a good lemon cake. So, if you can hold out, I recommend making it the night before and enjoying the next day. Just my two cents.
Instead of an instant pudding mix and water, I decided to substitute lemon juice and a lemon extract we had on hand. Now, here I could have kicked myself again because if I'd been thinking clearly, I would have used my Lemon essential oil. But I wasn't, so extract it was. Hey, it still turned out to be a very scrumptious cake.
It is a bit of a heavier cake, so a small slice will do. I could have almost made this in a bundt pan, as the texture really reminded me of a pound cake. A regular 13×9 pan will do, though.
Grab the printable recipe, start mixing, and enjoy!
Lemon Poke Cake (without the Pudding)
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 yellow cake mix
- 4 eggs
- 3/4 cup lemon juice
- 3/4 cup canola oil
- 1 tbsp. lemon extract or you can substitute a smaller amount of Lemon essential oil
Icing:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- Juice of 2 lemons or about 6 tbsp. lemon juice
Instructions
- Mix cake mix, eggs, and lemon juice, beating for 2 minutes. Add canola oil and lemon extract, and beat for another 2 minutes.
- Bake at 350° for about 30-40 minutes in loaf, bundt, or cake pan (I used a 13×9 pan).
- While cake is baking, mix up icing.
- When cake is done and while still hot, prick with fork all over.
- Spoon on icing, spreading over entire cake.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Can't make it just yet? Pin it for later!
My cousin from AZ gifted me a bottle of Lemon-Cello they made from lemons in their yard. I used that – 3/4 cup of Lemon-Cello instead of lemon juice. I also used the Lemon-Cello for the icing where the lemon juice was to be used. All in all, it created a very fluffy cake, with the icing making it taste a bit like a rum cake, only more delicate. To the icing, I did add a tsp of butter, and a dash of milk so that it was a pourable icing. I’ll make this again.
Jean, I’ve never heard of lemon-cello. What’s it like?
Lemon cello is a lemon liqueur from Italy.
Fascinating! Thanks for the info, Pam.
Mel, we have a small family, and didn’t want too much left over. So I made it in two square pans, but will it hurt to freeze one for another time?
Thanks,
Joann
Hi Joann, I would think it’d be fine to freeze it. Just make sure it’s in an airtight container. Thank you!
So very good! I made a bundt cake, it’s moist and lemony, delish!
Melinda, thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed it.
I always look for recipes to use with my myriad lemons, and this looks yummy. I don’t keep lemon extract on hand because I have more lemons on my tree than I will ever hope to use, and it just seems unnecessary.. Do you suppose I could use lemon zest instead?
Pam, I think lemon zest would work just fine. It would add a good lemon-y flavor. Thank you!
We have some lemons that need to be used. Thanks for the share!
Thanks for stopping by, Nick! I hope you enjoy the recipe.