Old Fashioned Jello Lemon Cake Recipe (and Video)

This Old Fashioned Jello Lemon Cake recipe is fast and easy to bake!  Using boxed cake mix and a few other ingredients, this moist cake can be on your countertop in under 40 minutes!

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Calling all lemon lovers!  This delicious lemon dessert is airy, refreshing, and the perfect treat for the warmer months when you’re craving something light and lemony.

While you can make this cake year-round, I love making this lemon jello cake recipe in the winter when I’m over all of the cold, wet weather.  This delicious dessert has the perfect combination of both sweet and tart. The addition of lemon gelatin in the cake batter enhances the citrus flavor and contributes to the cake’s moist and tender texture. On top of that, adding pure lemon extract will make this old fashioned lemon cake recipe even more vibrant and luscious!

The Players for Old Fashioned Jello Lemon Cake

Ingredients:

• Cake Mix –  For this recipe, you’ll need one box of Lemon cake mix.  Alternatively, you can use yellow cake mix or white cake mix, but the lemon flavor won’t be as prominent.
• Lemon Jello – One small pkg lemon jello is needed for that additional lemon flavor.  
• Eggs – You’ll need 4 large room temperature eggs for this great recipe.
• Water – Plain cold filtered water is needed for our old-fashioned jello lemon cake. 
• Oil – Vegetable oil or Canola oil is needed for our jell-o poke cake recipe. 
• Lemon Extract – Adding pure lemon extract to our batter will enhance the lemon flavor and bring a brightness and freshness to our cake.
• Butter – To make the glaze, you’ll need 2 tablespoons for melted butter.
• Powdered Sugar – Some powdered sugar is needed for our lovely lemon glaze.
• Lemons –  We’ll be using both fresh lemon juice and lemon zest for our lemon glaze.

Tools:

• Cake Pan – For this Old Fashioned Jello Lemon Cake, you’ll need a 13″x9″ baking dish.  You can use a glass pan or ceramic dish if you’d like!
• Skewers – To make holes in the top of our cake, you’ll need either some toothpicks, chopsticks, a fork, or a skewer. You want the holes to be large enough to allow the lemon icing to seep down into the cake, but not so large that you can see the holes. 

How to make Old Fashioned Jello Lemon Cake

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a 9 x13-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray and set it aside.

In a large bowl using a whisk or hand mixer, whisk together the box cake mix, the lemon jell-o, eggs, 3/4 cup water, 3/4 cup oil, and lemon extract.  The batter will be thin and that’s what we’re looking for.

Pour the cake batter into your prepared baking dish and bake your lemon poke cake for 28-30 minutes.  If you find that your jello lemon cake is getting too brown, you can tent it with foil while it continues to bake.

Make the Lemon Icing

While the cake is baking, make the lemon icing.

In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest.  We want the lemon drizzle to be fairly runny so that the icing can fall into the small holes that we’ll be making in our homemade cake.

Once the cake is done baking, place the cake on a wire rack. The cake should be a pretty golden brown on the top, almost resembling a ‘crust’.  Poke holes in the hot cake using either a toothpick, the tines of a fork, or a chopstick. Do this over the entire top of the cake.

Pour glaze over the warm cake and allow the delicious cake to cool completely before serving.  You shouldn’t ‘see’ the glaze, as it should melt into the holes and absorb into the cake.  Enjoy!

Storage and Freezing Instructions

To store this lemon jello poke cake, cover it with plastic wrap or place it in an airtight container to prevent it from drying out. You can keep it on the counter at room temperature for up to 3 days.

If you’d like to freeze slices of your old fashioned lemon jello cake, wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap and then place it in a gallon freezer bag. You can store your cake slices in the freezer for up to 2 months.

When you’re ready to enjoy the cake, move it to the refrigerator to thaw for several hours or overnight.

Pin it for Later!

If you end up making this Old Fashioned Jello Lemon Cake recipe, leave me a comment.  I’d love to chat with you!

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