If you’ve been around these parts, you know my daddy loves a mean key lime pie. He also loves my pound cakes, so making a mean key lime cake recipe was bound to happen sooner or later. The texture is soft and moist thanks to a cream cheese base, and I don’t hold back on the key lime zest and juice because that’s where the flavor comes from. I grew up with fresh limes, so using real juice just makes sense! Finally, I finish it off with a delish cream cheese glaze that’s straight up amazing y’all. Slice it up and get into it.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
Video Tutorial
How to Make Key Lime Cake
These step-by-step photos show how to make key lime cake, but be sure to check the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and detailed instructions. Skip to the → Easy Key Lime Cake Recipe
1. Cream together the butter, oil or shortening, and cream cheese, then add the sugar
Mix until smooth, then slowly add the sugar and beat until very pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping the bowl as needed.
2. Mix the remaining ingredients for the key lime cake batter
Lower the mixer speed and add the flour in two additions, followed by the salt, key lime zest, and key lime juice. Mix just until combined, then add the vanilla and give it one final mix.
3. Pour the batter into a prepared Bundt pan
Smooth the top evenly.
4. Bake until the cake is golden, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
Cool briefly in the pan, then invert onto a serving plate and let cool completely.
5. Make the key lime glaze
Mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and key lime juice until smooth and pourable.
6. Pour the glaze over your cooled key lime pound cake
Slice and serve!
Want to Save This Recipe, Boo?
I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
PRO TIP: If you can’t find actual key limes, most grocery stores have bottled key lime juice. Grab Nellie & Joe’s, boos. It’s the best.
Full Key Lime Cake Recipe
Key Lime Cake Recipe
Want to Save This Recipe, Boo?
I’ll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 tbsp shortening or oil
- 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 2 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs room temperature
- 3 cups plus 1 tablespoon of sifted cake flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 tsp key lime zest
- 2 1/2 tbsp key lime juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Glaze
- 4 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1 tbsp key lime juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Cake
- Start by preheating your oven to 325°F then liberally spray a 12-cup bundt pan with non-stick baking spray.
- In your mixer bowl, add butter, oil or shortening, and cream cheese and beat for 2 minutes on high speed. Slowly add in sugar beat on high speed for an additional seven minutes until very pale yellow and fluffy.
- Next, add eggs, one at a time, combining well after each addition and scraping down the sides as needed.
- Turn your mixer down to its lowest speed, and slowly add flour into batter in two increments then add salt, zest and juice. Be careful not to over beat.
- Lastly, add in vanilla extract, scrape down sides and mix until well combined and turn off mixer.
- Pour cake batter into prepared bundt pan, and bake for 1 hour and 15 -25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert cake on serving plate for at least an hour or until the cake is cool to the touch.
For the Glaze
- Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract and key lime juice until smooth then pour over top of cooled cake and serve. Note: this icing must be refrigerated so keep that in mind.
Notes
How to Store
- Room Temp: If you leave the cake unglazed, you can keep it tightly wrapped on the counter for up to 2 days. Serve the cream cheese glaze on the side and keep that in the fridge until you’re ready.
- Fridge: Because this cake has a cream cheese glaze, it needs to be refrigerated once glazed. Wrap it well or store it in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week. This pound cake holds up really nicely chilled!
- Freezer: Wrap slices or the whole cake tightly in plastic wrap, then foil, and freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge. If freezing unglazed, wait and add the glaze after thawing.
Nutrition
Recipe Tips
- Start with room temp ingredients. Let your butter, cream cheese, and eggs sit out before you get going. That’s how you get a smooth batter and glaze.
- Grease that bundt pan real good. We’re using a bundt here, so hit every nook and cranny with nonstick spray to make sure the cake comes out clean.
- Mix gentle once the flour goes in. Turn the mixer down low and don’t overdo it, or you’ll end up with a dense key lime bundt cake.
- Keep an eye on the oven, boos. I believe in checking a cake earlier than even the guideline I suggest. Ovens all bake differently so just check early to prevent it overbaking and getting dry.
- Let it cool all the way before glazing. If the cake is still warm, that cream cheese glaze will slide right off.
Recipe Help
Fo sho, boos. Just know the flavor won’t be as intense, but the cake will still be good.
Add powdered sugar about 1/4 cup at a time until it thickens up the way you like. If it’s still loose, pop the glaze in the fridge for a bit and let it firm up.
pinterest 
facebook 
twitter 
email
A wonderful cake with lime fragrance in every bite. So, so, so delicious!♥️
(I couldn’t find key limes so I just used normal limes. I also used your cake flour substitute and it was perfect! I read the recipe a few times to see how much baking powder/baking soda to use and found nothing . I was so scared that the cake will not rise!!!! But it did and it was perfect!) Thank you for sharing with us your lovely recipies.
So glad you liked it! A pound cake doesn’t have leavening agents in it to keep the texture.
This cake IS Heaven on earth! Such a good full of flavor and moist cake. Thank you very much, people LOVE It at my bakery!
Thank you so so much Lorena!
I made this cake this cake is delicious. The family loved it. The only thing I wonder about is my icing was thin and I had it in excess, so I;m not sure what happened there or if it was supposed to be that way. I will make this again.
You can always add a bit more powdered sugar to the icing to thicken it up.
Thank you for this recipe! I made this cake today and it came out perfectly with a few substitutions. I used Swans Down cake flour since it’s already sifted and I halved the sugar measurements! Thanks again for sharing!
Thanks so much, doll!
I made this cake as a test cake this weekend because I intend to make it for an upcoming event and wanted to make sure that I got the desired results before sharing it at the event. I used my family as the testers to give me their input. My brother who doesn’t like anything key lime thoroughly enjoyed it (I didn’t tell him ahead of time what the flavor was lol.) My mother texted me at the cake was delicious so I will definitely be making it again. I added more lime juice than the recipe called for and accidentally used more vanilla flavor in the glaze than called for. I can’t wait to make it again and share it at my husband’s family reunion this weekend! Thank you so much for this recipe!
Almost identical to the Cream Cheese Pound Cake (also highly recommended), the Key Lime Cake is a complete winner, and I can attest to its utter resilience. As it happens, my island oven sticks out a bit too far and has touchy electronic controls- bump it and you’ve turned the oven off without knowing it. My cakes survived sitting in a cooling oven for about half an hour before I caught it and heated it back up and still came out quite well.
This recipe is really worth using the best butter on and would be a workout without a stand mixer. For me, it was bit lofty for a standard 12 cup Bundt pan. For my 2nd and 3rd repeats, I used a combination of smaller pans totaling 15 cups per batch. (Nordic does now have a 15 cup Bundt and a volume listed for each of their pans) I used less milk and more lime for the glaze as we all love a lot of citrus zing.
I would like to try making this cake again with all-purpose flour, what can I add?
Hi Mary, I’m not sure how you had so many problems with this cake. Can we walk through the steps? You can email me at info@jdelkadams.com.
I made this cake for Christmas dinner and it cake out really bad, I follow your recipe. It was so bad I throw it away, it was dry, and all you could taste was the Walmart Soft and silk cake flour, I’m sure I needed to add baking powder to this recipe but the recipe didn’t call for it.
This recipe is looking fingerlickin good
Our lime tree produced a mega amount of limes this year, so I was browsing recipes and hit upon this one. So glad I did! Everyone in the house made faces at made for making a lime cake, well when it was finished they were singing the cake’s praises! The only thing I did different was make a cake flour substitute and the cake was fantastic with the substitute. The bake time seemed a little long, so I set my timer for 1 hour and glad I did, because it was done then. Don’t know if it’s a difference in Bundt pans, but mine is light coated cast aluminum. So, be careful with the bake time y’all.