This is a superb lemon frosting and does not take long to make.
I FORGOT TO MENTION: FRESH LEMON JUICE IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST!! This is an absolutely fantastic recipe. It has actually become my base icing for many different things... 1. Omit the lemon and replace it w/ strawberry juice - and you have strawberry icing. 2. Make sure the butter is still fairly hard and add some body temperature melted chocolate and you have chocolate icing (again, omit the lemon!) 3. Add some very ripe mashed banana (just a tablespoon!) and you have delicious banana lemon icing. 4. Instead of lemon use a couple tablespoons of Bailey's Irish cream and you have a fantastic whippy icing for adults (absolutely delicious on chocolate cake)... I do have a couple tips regarding the original recipe. If you find the consistency to be too hard (which will very likely happen) I would not add more lemon unless you really like a very powerful lemon flavour. Instead add a few drops of milk or cream (it will not curdle if you add it once the other ingredients have already been beaten). Another way to combat too hard icing is to make sure your butter is absolutely at room temperature. Finally, for those on a tight budget - margerine works just fine!
Read MoreTasted ok...we followed recipe to the letter added a little more lemon juice. Tasted buttery, but was not the glaze consistency that it appeared to be. Needs more more vanilla and something to make it more like a glaze if that is what you are looking for...
Read More I FORGOT TO MENTION: FRESH LEMON JUICE IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST!! This is an absolutely fantastic recipe. It has actually become my base icing for many different things... 1. Omit the lemon and replace it w/ strawberry juice - and you have strawberry icing. 2. Make sure the butter is still fairly hard and add some body temperature melted chocolate and you have chocolate icing (again, omit the lemon!) 3. Add some very ripe mashed banana (just a tablespoon!) and you have delicious banana lemon icing. 4. Instead of lemon use a couple tablespoons of Bailey's Irish cream and you have a fantastic whippy icing for adults (absolutely delicious on chocolate cake)... I do have a couple tips regarding the original recipe. If you find the consistency to be too hard (which will very likely happen) I would not add more lemon unless you really like a very powerful lemon flavour. Instead add a few drops of milk or cream (it will not curdle if you add it once the other ingredients have already been beaten). Another way to combat too hard icing is to make sure your butter is absolutely at room temperature. Finally, for those on a tight budget - margerine works just fine!
soooooo good & soooo easy!! i tried the original recipe and liked it alot, then i tweaked it a bit and now i love it alot. :) i used 2 sticks of butter, a 2lb bag of powdered sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, 5-6 tablespoons of lemon juice & proceeded as directed. I beat the daylights out of it and it came out very light & fluffy! absolutely fab-u-loso indeed! perfect lemon buttercream icing!
I halved this to use with a lemon box mix cake. It was really sweet! I mean REALLY sweet! It didn't spread too well, either, as it was really thick.
Very nice frosting. Used it to ice a lemon sheet cake. If you want a really lemony taste, use lemon extract in place of the vanilla, or do half vanilla and half lemon.
This is a keeper. Sure you may have to add a little extra lemon juice or, as I did, a little milk...icing is like that..this icing is lemony and not too sweet.
i used 2 1/2 cups of the sugar and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice to add more lemon flavour and make it thinner as people were complaining it was too hard to spread. Ended up tasting excellent, very lemony but a little too runny. A little more confectioners sugar would have done the trick so maybe use 3 cups like the recipe says but add 3 tablespoons of lemon juice.
i added more lemon juice,then called for,and it was divine! i used it on top of the glorious sponge cake also on this site. will use this icing again,thank you!
Tasted ok...we followed recipe to the letter added a little more lemon juice. Tasted buttery, but was not the glaze consistency that it appeared to be. Needs more more vanilla and something to make it more like a glaze if that is what you are looking for...
Very nice taste. I needed to think it out with a little extra lemon juice though it was to stiff with just the 2 tablespoons. It is tastey and perfect for the lemon cake I made. Thanks-
I liked the way this icing got a crust on it (really don't like those thick, creamy whipped frostings) ... but this was too tart with the lemon juice. Hubby took one bite of it ... made a sour face and then only ate the cake. Next time I will use milk instead of lemon juice and add 1 teaspon of lemon rind so we get the lemon flavor without the pucker!
This was good, but needed more lemon flavor. Easy to fix, just add more lemon juice. When making icing, I also like to add powdered sugar one cup at a time to taste test. It was sweet enough for me at 2 cups powdered sugar. With just 2 cups, it is between a glaze and thick icing texture, which was perfect for my dessert. I used fresh squeezed lemon juice and rind.
It sure is yummy! I used bottled lemon juice and it turned out great! I used this icing on a boxed lemon cake mix. Thanks for sharing!
I melted the butter (used unsalted) then added all of the ingredients. I increased vanilla to 1 full teaspoon and added lemon extract like others (one teaspoon). That made for a great thick, but not too thick, glaze. Tasted great, too!
This so good. I added the vanilla, and a small cap full of Lemon extract in addition. Another addition I added was 2 drops of Yellow food coloring & the zest of 1/2 a lemon (into the mixture). It turned out a beautiful pale yellow, perfect for my Lemon cake. I am adding the remaining zest on top as well as slicing some lemons, dipping them in sugar and placing them on the cake. YUMMY!
Great frosting! Really tasty. I didn't have fresh lemon juice, so I used the bottled kind and added a little lemon extract to make up for it. I may have used less butter though.
Great recipe when you add 1.5 tbsp milk and decrease sugar by 1/4 cup. I found that to ice a 2layer 9" cake, you need to 1.5 teh receipe as there was BARELY enough to ice the cake.
This is perfect- light and fluffy if you beat it long enough, and fresh tasting with fresh lemon juice. Was perfect on top of lemon cupcakes that weren't very lemony. I went with 2.5 tablespoons of lemon juice in the frosting, and that was bordering on too strong, so I would be careful about adding any more than that. I would add some milk to thin it out if needed, and more sugar if you need to thicken it up. If you go with cupcakes, after frosting, top them with a large-grain turbanado-style sugar for a delicious crunch that looks gorgeous! Yum!!!
I too made a lemon sheet cake from a box and did not have any frosting. So I made this. I think next time I will use lemon extract instead of the Vanilla. Also, I put in some lemon zest from the yellow of the lemon before I juiced the lemon. This is great and creamy!
As is, the recipe is way too sweet and the consistancy too thick. It was more like a real sugary frosting, not a lemon icing. I added the juice of 1 1/2 fresh lemons and a bit of whipping cream to thin it out. It came out perfect. But I think I could use even more lemon juice next time.
I wanted this to pour over a lemon bunt cake, so I didn't want it too stiff. I ended up using 3 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice and letting the warm cake do the rest. Excellent recipe!
Absolutely melt-in-your-mouth icing--substitute freshly squeezed orange juice for the lemon juice and this is perfect for the Orange Cake recipe--LOVE this!
I swear by lemon zest. If you are looking for a tart butter cream, this is your recipe if you add the zest of one lemon. I also added yellow food coloring.
Used on Greek Lemon Cake for my husband's birthday, and the combo was great. The icing, when made by the recipe, was too thick and unspreadable, but this is easily remedied by adding more liquid. I added extra lemon juice and some buttermilk until I had the consistency I wanted. Thanks!
I used this icing with Carol's submitted "Lemon Filling" and the flavors mixed very well together. It was a hit at the party. Thanks.
I used this over a pistachio cake and it was wonderful. I added just a little more lemon juice than called for because I like that extra twang of lemon!
OK SO THIS I SUPERB!!!! I DID JUST A BIT OF TWEEKING THAT I FOUND HELPFUL. I USED AS DIRECTED ADDING 1 TBSP OF LEMON EXTRACT ON TOP OF THE 2 TBSP OF LEMON JUICE AND HEATED THE ICING IN THE MICROWAVE TO POUR ON MY LEMON BUNDT CAKE. WORKED AMAZING I THING I FOUND PERFECTION!!!!
Very nice! Quick and easy...next time I'm increasing the pucker effect by adding more lemon juice =)
When I began making this icing I thought I had 3 cups Confectioners Sugar, I didn't and at that point it was too late. I decided to give it a fluffier feel and a not so bold lemon flavor to add a cup of flour. I had to add quite a bit more vanilla flavoring and I added 1/4 milk to thin it a bit. I was amazing. My family thought it was the best ever. And the other advantage is that it was less calories than would have been.
I tried this recipe for a box lemon cake. This is an overall perfect icing that you can use for just about any cake. Since I didn't have lemon juice or flavoring on hand, I substituted orange juice, and it came out delicious! Just enough citrus tang. Because I modify the box cake instructions (I add 1 package of lemon instant pudding and substitute orange juice for the water) the icing didn't really need any more lemon flavoring. It turned out very good! Thanks for a great icing recipe. I'm sure I will use it many times.
I used Key Lime juice instead of Lemon (and omitted vanilla) to make a wonderful Key Lime cookie frosting. Excellent on your favorite sugar cookie recipe.
Easy to make but too sugary and not lemony enough. So, I added zest of 1 large lemon and the juice of that lemon instead of the 2 Tbsp. called for. Leave the rest of the recipe as is and spread over slightly warm, not hot, cake that has been pierced all over. It will partially sink into the cake and still ice the top, and it tastes GREAT!
I used this on vanilla cupcakes and...wow! Delicious! The only small change I made was by adding a dash of zest - not much - the zest of two lemon slices. This will be my go to lemon frosting recipe from now on. Thanks!
I frosted sugar cookies with this and it was really good. I ended up adding another teaspoon of lemon juice because I didn't think the flavor was strong enough, but I still think it might have needed more.
I found it to be too sweet and too thick, so I added a bit of softened light cream cheese. I then used this to ice a lemon cake, but I feel it would be better suited as a lemon cookie or sugar cookie frosting since it is so sweet and thick.
I just used this lemon icing to frost my cupcakes and i cant stop licking the bowl! Its creamy and i am a huge fan of lemon so this was a GREAT recipe for me! if your as big as a lemon fan as me, add one more tablespoon to it and it will be perfect!
I will try using less lemon the next time it was almost a little to sour for me. Will try less and review again later.
So great!! We made this with Lemon Cake and all four of us (no kids included) ate the icing with just a bit of cake. The icing was so good. Don't think we changed the recipe at all. It has been over a month, and we are still talking about it. Got some fresh lemons today, so I think I will be making again.
I had to use WAY more lemon! And it still isn't up to my lemon taste standard. I would've added more but it would ruin the consistency. Over all it fell short of my expectations.
I didn't follow the recipe exactly but it was really good. I used 2 sticks butter, 1tablespoon vanilla, 4 tablespoons lemon juice, then added sugar until I had the right consistency, probably about 1 lb.
This frosting is great. A little lemon juice was added to make a more creamy consistency. It was very sweet but I will be thinking of ways to decrease the sweetness so I can reuse. I really like the way you can change it to your liking.
I just used this with the Lemon Gold Cake, also by Carol. It was very easy to make and came out great.
Excellent. Cut back about 1/4 C on sugar then thinned with additional lemon juice and milk. Beating for an extended period of time made the icing easy to spread.
This is a great recipe! The only thing that I did to make it better was add about half a teaspoon more lemon juice, but otherwise it was great! My entire family loved it, especially my little brother.
This really didn't work out for me. I couldn't get the sauce past the stage where the granulated sugar stopped being granular. Hehe, uh oh. I just noticed however that the sugar is supposed to be confectioners sugar. This makes a lot more sense. I just learned that confectioners sugar is powdered sugar. Now I know. My boyfriend ate my granulated sugar dressing anyway and liked the treat with it rather than without it. I will make it next time properly. I am giving this 5 stars because the taste is great.
I put this icing on cupcakes and it was so yummy.I whipped it extra long because I wanted it fluffy.Also I thinned it a bit with buttermilk(it was what I had on hand)and used fresh lemon.Excellent
This is great! Melt the butter and sift the confectioner's sugar for a smooth icing. I thinned it out with about a tablespoon of milk so I could apply it with a pastry brush to lemon-poppyseed scones. Absolutely delicious!
This was good tasting but next time I'll add more lemon. I like lemon frosting real lemony! This tasted like buttercream with a touch of lemon.
I like to add some of the fresh lemon zest to the party. It really takes the flavor up a notch.
This is a nice simple recipe to make, I use it all the time when I make lemon cake or cupcakes,
This lemon frosting turned out just beautifully with a few modifications. I added 1 teaspoon (effectively doubling)vanilla extract, then added 2 T. cream and 1 T. milk as it was a little dry as written. I also used high quality bottled lemon juice (3 T.). Went so well with the lemon cake I made. I topped the whole thing off with a little shredded coconut and it was awesome! Everyone gobbled it up. Would be wonderful for Easter. Thanks for a great recipe!
Used juice from a lemon and added a little milk to adjust consistency. Tasted great on lemon cupcakes
Yummmmm! I was looking for a basic icing recipe, so I used milk instead of lemon juice. I guess I put about 5 Tbsp of milk and the icing was a big hit!
Delish! Frosted lemon (cake mix) cupcakes with this and everyone went wild! Wonderful!
Very good, very sweet, but had to use milk to make it spreadable. Fresh lemon juice is a must.
I used only two cups of confectioners sugar and have the PERFECT consistency, I added a little lemon zest to give it a nice kick.
Frosting was too stiff so I added 2T of milk then 1/2 a tub of cool whip and then it was divine! Perfect consistency for my lemon cake.
Delicious! Has just the right amount of lemon flavor, it isn't too overpowering. I used fresh juice and some yellow food coloring to make it look extra lemony.
Really good. I used juice from half a lemon (watch out for seeds). I also used a fine grater to grate some peel into the icing. It turned out great.
this is a very good frosting/icing. i used it to ice the "ricotta cheese cookies" also on all recipes...mmmmmm!
I made this to top my Creamy Lemon Cake also on this site and it was a perfect match. Will be making this again. Thanks!
From the reviews I figured it would be a little difficult to spread, so I went ahead and added a bit of milk which made it too thin. I should have stuck to the recipe, but either way... tasty!
As written, way too sweet and thick. After making as directed and tasting it, I quadrupled the lemon juice. Then I added 1 Tbsp milk per other reviews, and it curdled. The end result was tangy and a good consistency, but nothing like the original recipe. And the curdling, while it still tasted fine, made all my dinner guests ask "what are we eating?" Would not make again.
Wow! This was a FANTASTIC icing recipe! I actually added extra lemon juice and a little fresh squeezed O.J. to make it not so sour...turned out wonderful. I didn't taste too much butter but just enough! Thank you for the fantastic recipe!
I'm giving 5 stars even though mine didn't turn out (my error, not the recipes) The consistency was off on mine, but the flavor was spot on! I used this with a raspberry puree to make a "raspberry lemonade cake"
This recipe was too sweet for my taste. Also you must use real lemons and not lemon extract or bottled lemon juice from concentrate. I would also agree with the previous recommendation to use extra lemon juice. I used 3 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice and the juice squeezed from one small lemon, adding only half teaspoon of vanilla about quarter cup extra of the powdered sugar (make to your desired consistency). It turned out very lemony and lovely spread over a store bought lemon cake mix.
Simple and delicious!! I used fresh lemon juice, and 1 tsp of milk as other reviewers used...very yummy!!!
I didn't have fresh lemon juice, but I used the bottled stuff and it still turned out great!
Very good. I added some grated lemon rind but it was great without. I filled an 8" white layer cake w/strawberries & whipped cream and used this to frost the top and sides - next time I would make another half a batch as I barely had enough.
my fault... i didnt use confectioners sugar so the sugar was still granulated , even on my cake! *ptuuii*
This frosting is amaing better than bakery. I substituted orange for lemon and also added freshly fine grated orange peel. I made a butter cake from the box and put a orange glaze on top of cake and then used this frosting, best cake ever.
Good recipe. Yes, the frosting is sweet but what frosting isn't? I added a teaspoon more fresh lemon juice since I like my frosting a little more tart. I also highly recommend adding at least 2 extra tsp of whipping cream because this frosting is super dense and unspreadable. It turned out perfect for my lemon cupcakes w/those tweaks. Enjoy!
I made this to go with Lemon Fluff Cake. Plenty of lemon taste and the perfect amount for the cake. Many Thanks.
I added an extra 2 Tbsp lemon juice and used this to frost the Luscious Lemon Cake from this site, which I baked as a birthday cake in a 9x13" pan. It crusted nicely, so I was able to decorate the cake without the colors running. Did I mention it's absolutely DELISH???
This was delicious! It was loaded with flavor. I did use fresh squeezed lemon juice and added 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp lemon extract.
I was not impressed with this recipe - I think it needs another background flavor besides the butter (which is pretty much all I tasted after the lemon). I'll search for another recipe, thanks.
This icing was excellent with a few changes. I thought the original recipe was too buttery so I added 2 more cups of confectioners sugar, and 2 more tablespoons of lemon juice. After a thorough mixing it was delicious and perfect for my lemon cupcakes.
YUMMY! I used the juice of one freshly squeezed lemon and added yellow food coloring. I put this icing on top of some sour cream cookies and they were absolutely amazing!
I've never made Lemon Icing before and this is great. I substituted palm oil for the butter and added lemon zest. This is great on the Lemon Fluff Cake on this site.
