Easy & Delicious Lemon Gooey Butter Cake

On a hot Carolina summer day, lemonade is the ultimate thirst-quencher. But when you crave a sweet, refreshing treat, nothing beats Lemon Gooey Butter Cake! This delightful dessert is part lemon cheesecake, part lemon pound cake, and 100% pure citrusy bliss.  

Decadently delicious and perfectly balanced between sweet and tangy, this Lemon Gooey Butter Cake is a true delight and couldn’t be easier to make! Just grab a store-bought lemon cake mix for the base, top it with a gooey, tangy cream cheese layer, and pop it into the oven. That’s it!

If you’ve had other gooey butter cakes, you know they can be super sweet. But here, the lemon zest and lemon extract perfectly balance that sweetness, delivering a delightfully tart zing. Finish it off with a sprinkle of powdered sugar and your favorite summer berries for a perfect sweet and tangy warm-weather dessert!

Easy & Delicious Lemon Gooey Butter Cake

Recipe by Kathy DickenCourse: DessertDifficulty: Easy

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

When you crave a sweet, refreshing treat, nothing beats Lemon Gooey Butter Cake! This delightful dessert is part lemon cheesecake, part lemon pound cake, and 100% pure citrusy bliss.  

Ingredients

• Cake Layer

• 1 egg

• 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick) – melted

• ½ teaspoon lemon extract

• ½ teaspoon lemon zest

• Cream Cheese Layer

• 1 (8-ounce) package of cream cheese – room temperature

• 2 eggs

• 1 teaspoon lemon extract

• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

• 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick) – melted

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar + more for garnish

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Mix all Cake Layer ingredients in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until well blended. Pat into the bottom of a prepared baking pan.
• Rinse bowl, and add all Cream Cheese Layer ingredients except sugar. Mix with an electric hand mixer until well blended. Add sugar and mix again until just combined. Pour over the cake layer in the pan and spread evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until top is golden brown.
• Cool completely before cutting into squares and garnishing with confectioners’ sugar and fresh berries.

Notes

• Salted or unsalted butter may be used.