A tender lemon-kissed cake recipe with lemon cheesecake filling topped with a crumb streusel topping dusted with powdered sugar.
There are a million reasons I love this cake. First, it’s super easy (even though it looks totally complicated and fussy) because you use a box cake mix.
Wait, I have to tell you a funny story real quick about cake mixes. Well, it’s more mean than funny but I have to laugh at the wicked comments I get on my recipes or I’d go nutters and have to move into my parent’s garage.
I just recently got this on one of my shortcut cake recipes, “I cant believe yall from the south and you use box cake mix… some southern bells yall are. No southern home kitchen should ever allow boxed cake in it!”
OK, lady. What you gonna do? Take away my card?
You can say what you want about box cake mixes but some of my FAVORITE cake recipes use them. My mama’s Kahlua Cake won the blue ribbon first place prize in a state-wide contest and it starts with a cake mix. So there.
There are so many things I love about this one but ONE of them is that it totally looks and tastes like something from a fancy-pants bakery (but it’s totally easy).
And it has just the right amount of fresh, crisp, lemon zing.
Then it’s got this coffee cake thing going on with the crumb topping that will just blow your mind.
And the lemon cream filling is so absolutely perfect you could just go sit on the couch and eat the whole batch with a rubber spatula.
If you love desserts made easy with a cake mix, try some of these recipe too!
- Cherry Danish Cake - An easy semi-homemade cake recipe dotted with cherry pie filling, drizzled with sour cream icing and topped with slivered almonds.
- Impossible 5-Ingredient Chocolate Cake - An impossibly moist, fudgy, decadent chocolate bundt cake recipe made with just five ingredients.
- Easy Pecan Pie Bars - All the fabulous flavor of pecan pie in a chewy, gooey bar recipe made easy with a cake mix base.
- Cake Mix Cookies - Make these super easy cookies from any cake mix using any morsels.
- White Wine Cake - A super moist, rich cake recipe made with white wine and a touch of cinnamon.
- Pistachio Cake - Also called Watergate Cake, this moist cake recipe uses pistachio pudding in the cake and in the frosting.
Lemon Crumble Cream Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 white cake mix
- Egg whites, oil and water for cake mix
- Zest of one lemon
- 1 8-oz. package cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
- 1/4 fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Combine sugar, melted butter, flour and salt in a small bowl and stir with a fork until combined and crumbly. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10" springform pan.
- Prepare batter per manufacturer’s instructions (do not over-mix the batter). Stir in lemon zest.
- Pour into a greased and floured 10-inch springform pan.
- Crumble crumb topping evenly over cake batter.
- Bake immediately for 35-45 minutes or until cooked through.
- Cool completely then slice in half horizontally.
- Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and lemon juice in a large bowl and mix until well combined and smooth.
- In a separate bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form.
- Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture until combined. Add more powdered sugar if needed to ensure filling is thick enough to support the top layer of cake.
- Spread cream cheese mixture over bottom half of cake then top with remaining half of cake.
- Dust top of cake liberally with powdered sugar.
- Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.
- Refrigerate in an air-tight container to store.
Notes:
It is VERY important to bake the cake immediately after adding the crumb topping and to not overwork the batter when mixing to ensure the cake cooks properly.
You can use a yellow or even lemon cake mix if you prefer. I’ve just always liked the way the white cake looks and it doesn’t have as much added artificial flavor that would compete with the real lemon flavor.
You can substitute cool whip for the real whipped cream if you prefer. I’d think about 2-3 cups would work.
If you don't have a springform pan, just use two 9-inch cake pans, dividing the batter evenly between the two. Top one with the crumb topping then bake per manufacturer's instructions for two 9-inch pans.
