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Lemon Cream Dessert Cake

A lemon-flavored cake with a coconut and lemon cream frosting.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Canola oil and coconut work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 139 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Lemon Cream Dessert Cake

Oven350 degrees
Time20-30 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the batter

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans.

  3. Blend cake mix, water, oil and egg whites. Beat at low speed until moistened, then beat 2 minutes at high speed.

  4. Fold in coconut and lemon peel.

  5. Remove 2 cups batter in small bowl.

  6. Beat egg yolks 2 minutes at high speed.

  7. Add the 2 cups batter and lemon juice, mix well.

Bake the cake

  1. Layer batters alternately in pans, beginning and ending with white batter.

  2. Swirl lightly to make marble effect.

  3. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

  4. Cool.

Make the frosting and assemble

  1. In large bowl, beat powdered sugar and cream cheese until smooth.

  2. Fold in Cool Whip.

  3. Mix pudding with milk, add lemon peel, fold into cream cheese mixture.

  4. Fill and frost layers.

  5. Refrigerate 3 hours before serving.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

789Calories
19 gProtein
64 gFat
41 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 10 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Coconut1/2 cup shredded (40g)283
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Cream Cheese1 oz (28g)99
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Cakenot in our table0
Waternot in our table0
Puddingnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Canola oil + coconuttop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together139 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Coconut + milktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,648 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Cream cheese + milktop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,393 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  4. Coconut + lemontop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Coconut + cream cheesetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together200 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Whites provide structure and yolks add richness and tenderness to the batter.
Cake mix
Flour and starch form the cake's structure as it bakes.
Canola oil
Fat keeps the crumb moist and tender.
Cream cheese
Adds body and tang to the frosting, keeping it thick and smooth.
Cool whip
Lightens the frosting with air, giving it a fluffy texture.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the lemon flavor of the cake.

The step that matters

Layering and swirling the batters. The white and yolk-enriched batters bake at the same rate, so layering them carefully and swirling only lightly keeps distinct marbling. Overmixing blends the colors and deflates the batter, which can leave a dense cake.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (canola oil, egg, coconut, sugar, cream cheese, milk):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Pineapplefits better
  3. Bananafits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against canola oil, egg, coconut, sugar, cream cheese, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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