Sweet Tea-and-Lemonade Cake

26 Reviews
ADD YOUR REVIEW
Hands-on Time
35 Mins
Total Time
2 Hours 15 Mins
Yield
Makes 12 to 15 servings
By Pam Lolley
August 2014
RECIPE BY Southern Living

Feeling rowdy? Spin this into a tipsy cake by substituting up to 2 Tbsp. vodka or bourbon for the lemon juice in the frosting.

Ingredients

  • Shortening
  • 1 1/2 cups boiling water
  • 3 family-size tea bags
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 5 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 3 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon table salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • Lemonade Frosting

How to Make It

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease (with shortening) and flour a 13- x 9-inch pan. Pour 1 1/2 cups boiling water over tea bags in a heatproof glass bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and steep 10 minutes. Lift tea bags from liquid, and press against side of bowl, using back of a spoon; discard tea bags. Cool tea 20 minutes.

Step 2

Beat butter in a separate large bowl at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugars, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Whisk together cake flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture alternately with 1 cup tea, beginning and ending with flour mixture. (Discard any remaining tea.) Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Step 3

Bake at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack (about 20 minutes). Spread Lemonade Frosting on cake.

Step 4

Note: We tested with Luzianne Iced Tea tea bags.

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Ratings & Reviews

KED1210's Review

MeganWeeks
January 19, 2015
This cake cooked in time. It is very very dry. I'd be too embarrassed to present this cake to guests.

Avcruz's Review

Mdyson
August 09, 2014
I made it with an alteration: used 1 cup tea and added 1 cup applesauce to add moisture, as I read this was the biggest criticism of the recipe. 40 minutes and came out perfect AND moist!!

GamecockMom's Review

LKB
August 02, 2014
I agree the cake was too dry. The frosting with the bourbon was fantastic!

sandlapper43's Review

Avcruz
August 08, 2014
Would not make this again as it was very dry! The frosting was good.

MeganWeeks's Review

AMitchell
August 05, 2014
Amazing cake! I made this for my family a week ago and everyone enjoyed it. My cake wasn't dry for me, instead of discarding the remaining tea, I made sure that it was all combined with the batter. I think that might've helped.My family and I really liked the taste of the tea in the cake, it added a richness to the batter, a little something special. I can't wait to try the icing with bourbon!

designdenise's Review

Cknipfing
August 25, 2014
I agree with the majority of the reviews. I was so disappointed in the cake. The batter looked like way too much for a 9" x 13" pan, but I followed the directions as they were given. The cake would not bake in the center and the top cracked after baking it longer. The photo led me to believe the cake would be moist and rich in color. My result was just the opposite, I cant believe SL tested this thoroughly with all of these poor results. The frosting was good, but the cake was bulging out of the pan, so only half of the frosting could be applied to the cake. Never again....

CarolinaGalSC's Review

Boyzrus
September 01, 2014
Did those in the test kitchen NOT notice this cake was dry as sawdust? There is something missing in this recipe. Sadly, I already had the cake in the oven before I read the reviews. I believe vegetable oil or shortening is a missing ingredient. I agree with Avcruz, even some applesauce would have added the moisture this cake needed. The frostiing was delish but we won't be making this cake again.

Mdyson's Review

Kray1284
August 22, 2014
Worst cake ever! Waste of time and money. So dry and tasteless we threw the entire cake away.

barb51's Review

Yana
July 27, 2014
I was very disappointed. Had I read the other reviews I would not have made this cake. It did not bake well and was not done in the middle of the cake. I baked longer which resulted in it being dry. Not good and a waste of time and money.

brinnm's Review

ChEMom
September 01, 2014
I never make a recipe without reading the reivews first- until this one! I made it straight out of the magazine becuase it looked so good- the batter tasted pretty good- which was a good sign but the cake was completely tasteless. I was afraid I had made the tea too strong because I only had gallon sized bags, but I could still not taste any tea flavor. My BFF who is the nicest person in the world and will eat ANYTHING didn't eat it. I have never had to give a one star rating before but this was really awful. I am glad I did not bring it to a party- it would have been really diappointing! I threw the whole thing down in the trash
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