You’ll love how fresh this easy 4 Ingredient Lemon Cake tastes! This easy lemon sheet cake can be topped with whipped cream and fruit for a light dessert.

One of the most popular flavors of cake is lemon. Whether you make a lemon cake from scratch or use a cake mix to get that tart lemon flavor, a good lemon cake is a great option to take to potlucks and family gatherings.

stack of 4 Ingredient Lemon Cake with whipped cream and frosting

Easy Lemon Sheet Cake

Today we’re sharing a cake recipe that only has 4 ingredients. A cake mix and canned pie filling give this cake intense lemon flavor…and a light whipped topping make it perfectly light for spring and summer gatherings.

How to Make 4 Ingredient Lemon Cake

Wait until you see how easy this 4 ingredient lemon cake is! It will take maybe 5 minutes to mix up…and less than 20 minutes to bake. It’s the easiest cake ever!

Preheat the oven to 350º Fahrenheit.
Spray a 17x12x1-in. baking pan with cooking spray. (You can use a pan that is slightly a different size, just watch the baking time.)
In a large bowl and using a hand mixer, beat the cake mix and eggs until well blended. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.

wet ingredients for lemon cake in a mixing bowl

Fold in pie filling.
Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake at 350° for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Can you imagine the possibilities with this? Use a cherry cake mix and cherry pie filling….white cake mix and blueberry pie filling….so many options!

4 Ingredient Lemon Cake on a plate with fresh strawberries

What to frost 4 ingredient lemon cake with?

There are many options for topping this cake:

A simple dusting of powdered sugar.
A powdered sugar glaze.
Cream cheese frosting.
Lemon curd.
Whipped cream.

You can also top each piece with fresh lemon zest or with a slice of lemon.

What size is a sheet cake?

We used a 17x12x1″ sheet cake pan for this recipe. Some other recipes you find might call for 10×15″ or even 11×17″. If your pan size is slightly different, it is most likely ok to use, just watch the baking time closely.

4 Ingredient Lemon Cake on a plate with a fork

How thick is a sheet cake?

Sheet cakes are typically a thin, flat cake.

This sheet cake is only about an inch thick. If your pan is smaller is may puff up slightly more.

How many does a sheet cake serve?

You can cut sheet cake slices as large or small as you’d like, but typically a sheet cake can easily be cut into 24 pieces.

unfrosted lemon cake sliced in a baking pan

How do you cut a sheet cake evenly?

Use the tip of a knife to lightly score both the long and short side of the cake, making a small mark in the frosting. Do this before cutting and you easily adjust the rows and columns if they end up a little uneven.

It’s easiest to run a sharp knife down the whole length of the cake in one slice. Then, between cutting each row, take a paper towel and wipe the knife clean of any frosting. This should give you nice, clean cuts.

Note…the recipe only makes one layer of sheet cake. The pictures show three pieces of cake stacked on each other.

OTHER SHEET CAKE RECIPES

4 Ingredient Lemon Cake

3.86 from 7 votes

You'll love how fresh this easy 4 Ingredient Lemon Cake tastes! This easy lemon sheet cake can be topped with whipped cream and fruit for a light dessert.

Servings 15

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 18

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Ingredients

1 box lemon cake mix (15.25 ounces)
4 large eggs (at room temperature)
1 can lemon pie filling (15.75 ounces)
Zest of 1 lemon

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350º Fahrenheit. Spray a 17x12x1-in. baking pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl and using a hand mixer, beat the cake mix and eggs until well blended. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
Fold in pie filling.
Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake at 350° for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack.
When the cake is cool, frost with Cool Whip, homemade whipped cream or cream cheese frosting.
Top each slice with a lemon quarter.

Notes

The calories shown are based on the cake being cut into 24 pieces, with 1 serving being 1 slice of cake (no frosting or whipped cream). Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information.**