There’s more to a lemon cake mix than just lemon cake. Today, I’ll show you 17 different ways to use the reliable boxed cake mix to make extraordinary desserts. Of course, this round-up also includes a wide array of cake recipes, but it’s not limited to just that. From melt-in-your-mouth cookies to silky cheesecakes to decadent truffles, this collection has it all. And because they all call for the boxed cake mix, you know they’re embarrassingly easy to make. But as amateur-friendly as these lemon cake mix recipes may be, they also yield special-occasion desserts.
15+ Best Desserts with Lemon Cake Mix
1. Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Spring is the season of light and fluffy cakes and poppy seeds. This cake perfectly fits the bill. This lemon cake is extra moist because of lemon pudding. The lemon glaze on top gives it an even more refreshingly sweet and tangy flavor. The poppy seeds provide a lovely crunch, nutty flavor, and a pretty presentation, to boot. It’s sweet enough to be served as a dessert, but also excellent for breakfast or brunch.
2. Lemon Cake Mix Cookies
These cookies have just the same melt-in-your-mouth texture as chocolate crinkles, but with a lemony and buttery flavor, instead. They’re delicious as can be, and also, so so pretty! The cracks along the surface give them character, while the dusting of powdered sugar makes them look extra adorable.
3. Lemon Bundt Cake
All you’ll need is a combination of boxed lemon cake mix and instant lemon pudding to create this luscious bundt cake. Its sweet, buttery, and lemony flavors and tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture will surely tickle your tastebuds. The fact that it comes in the form of a bundt cake gives it such a rustic flair. It makes it look perfectly homemade!
4. Key Lime Cake
Lemon cake mix and lime jello unite to make the most refreshing and citrusy cake! It’s the perfect dessert to bring to a summer potluck. Both cake and glaze burst with bright and zesty flavors, so this cake is guaranteed to impress. No one has to know it wasn’t made from scratch! This can be our little secret.
5. Lemon Cool Whip Cookies
These lemon cookies are ridiculously soft, chewy, and moist. The melt-in-your-mouth texture alone will leave you wanting more. The flavor is also just as addictive as the texture, though. It has just the right balance of sugary sweetness and tartness from the lemon. Lastly, look how pretty! They’re so festive, they’re perfect for the holidays.
6. Lemon Blueberry Cake
Here’s another bundt cake recipe that will tantalize your taste buds, for sure. It’s proof that lemons and blueberries are a match made in heaven. These two create an epic citrus and berry mash-up of flavors. Just the cake on its own is already delicious, but the sweet glaze is what takes it over the top. Together with the cake’s dense yet moist texture, it might just be your newest favorite.
7. Raspberry Lemon Cake
Here’s another berry and citrus fusion you’ll absolutely enjoy. Filled with sweet and tart raspberries and wonderfully tangy lemon juice, this cake is the epitome of summer desserts. While the cake is rather dense, its light flavors make it ridiculously refreshing. It’s so good, you’ll want to eat it for breakfast, brunch, and dessert – all on the same day.
8. Strawberry Cheesecake Lemon Bars
Strawberry cheesecake and lemon bars are combined to make one seriously addictive dessert. How can anyone say no to these bars? Decadent cream cheese filling and sweet strawberry preserve are sandwiched in between two layers of moist and buttery lemon bars. The combination of layers creates a soft, chewy, and downright delicious treat.
9. Vintage Lemon Apricot Nectar Cake
Take a trip down memory lane and delight in this vintage lemon apricot nectar cake. It’s just like the cake your mom or grandma used to make. With a combination of lemon cake mix, apricot nectar, and lemon juice, this cake is simply divine. Both textures and flavors are beyond delicious. And thanks to the many varieties of canned nectar available in groceries, you can easily add an extra layer of flavor to the cake. I’ve tried coconut-pineapple and peach-apricot in this recipe, and they both turned out beautifully.
10. Lemon Blueberry Dump Cake
In the mood for a berry cobbler, but too lazy to bake from scratch? This lemon blueberry dump cake is the answer. This dump cake couldn’t be easier to make. Literally just throw in fresh or frozen blueberries into a baking dish, followed by sugar and lemon juice, dry cake mix, and melted butter. The rest is up to the oven.
11. Perfect Lemon Cupcakes
These are lemon-flavored cupcakes topped with lemon buttercream frosting and a slice of fresh strawberry for garnish. Between the light and airy cakes and the silky and fluffy lemon frosting, it’s hard to decide which one to love the most. But it’s when they’re together that they’re at their best. The lightness of the cupcakes provides a perfect balance to the rich buttercream frosting.
12. Lemon Jell-O Cake
This lemon Jell-O cake goes all the way back to the 1960s. It’s a vintage dessert that’s just as delicious now as it was then. Apparently, the technique of combining a boxed cake mix with Jell-O or pudding has been around for ages! You really can’t go wrong with this magic combo. Somehow, these two artificial components create a moist, tender, and refreshing cake.
13. Lemon Strawberry Poke Cake
Bright yellow at the bottom and pastel pink on top, this poke cake is the ultimate summer dessert! Lemon cake is poked and drizzled with sweetened condensed milk and frosted with whipped cream and a light and fluffy strawberry mousse. Lemon and strawberries are yet another sensational tandem. The strawberries’ sweetness and tartness and the lemon’s citrusy flavor make a perfect combination.
14. Lemon Orange Jell-O Poke Cake Recipe
Instead of the usual sweetened condensed milk, this lemon poke cake is drizzled with orange Jell-O. The orange goodness from the Jell-O makes the cake wonderfully moist and flavorful. The lemon and orange combo really shines through. The cake is topped with whipped cream, creating a fluffy contrast to the tender sponge cake.
15. Easy Strawberry Lemonade Cake
First of all, how pretty is this cake? Its jaw-dropping look will make you think it’s a complicated bake, but it’s not. It’s just a simple poke cake drizzled with a mix of strawberry gelatin and lemonade. Amazing, right? You also don’t even need to make a buttercream frosting for this cake! Just smear some Cool Whip on top, and voila.
16. Mini Lemon Drop Cupcakes
These lemon drop cupcakes are just as tasty as they are adorable. If you find their shape to be a little odd, it’s because these mini cupcakes are served upside down. This simple little technique adds such personality to the dessert! They’re drizzled with lemon glaze, which gets absorbed by the cupcakes and makes them even extra moist and mouthwatering.
17. Lemon Cake Truffles
Last but not least are these amazing lemon cake truffles that only call for three simple ingredients. As complicated as they may seem, these truffles are just a mix of lemon cake and cream cheese that’s shaped into balls and dipped in white chocolate. They’re a lot similar in texture to cake pops, but with a lemon twist. Serve this at your next party and believe me, they’ll be the first to disappear. Click on a star to rate it!
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