Copycat Olive Garden™ Lemon Cream Cake

A delightful lemon cake with a creamy mascarpone filling and buttery crumb topping that’s absolute perfection. It’s a copycat Olive Garden™ Lemon Cream Cake that you’ll love to make and serve.

I love lemon all the time, but it’s a perfect match to springtime and summertime. One of my absolute favorite recipes is a Lemon Cream Cake. It’s copycat Olive Garden™ recipe, and if you’ve never had it, this is definitely the time to try it.

If you already love it, then this is the perfect way to enjoy it at home, and share with everyone you love.  Think of it for all of your spring parties, Easter menus, and all through the summer–you’ll have people chasing you down for the recipe!

Layers of moist cake and mascarpone filling (which is the secret weapon), topped with little crumbles of powdered sugar & butter—it just melts in your mouth!  What I love about it even more, is that it uses a boxed cake mix, so it speeds up the process. The creamy filling adds so much to the cake that you can’t even tell it’s not homemade. It’s light, and fresh, and creamy, and the flavors perfectly meld together. 

I make this as part of our Easter Sunday menu, and it’s my favorite.  It’s lighter than a typical cake because of the filling, which is also the frosting, and it looks pretty as well as tastes divine.  I also like to serve it all summer when we have friends over.  Spring parties, gatherings, dinners, lunches, even baby showers and bridal showers are the perfect places to serve this cake.

Ingredients

• French Vanilla cake mix
• Mascarpone cheese
• Powdered sugar
• Lemon juice’
• Heavy cream
• Butter
• Vanilla extract
• Flour

I prefer the French Vanilla cake mix, but you can also use a regular white cake mix.

Equipment

• 9-inch cake pans (2)
• Pastry cutter
• Hand mixer or stand mixer

How to make

Make the vanilla cake mix as directed, and bake in 2 nine-inch cake pans. Cool completely, and remove from the pans.

Lemon Filling: In a medium-size bowl, combine mascarpone cheese and 2 cups powdered sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in lemon juice. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on high, whip cream until stiff peaks form. Using a spoon, fold cream cheese mixture into the whipped cream; set aside.

Crumb Topping: In a medium-size bowl, combine flour and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Add butter and dribble in the vanilla extract. Cut cold butter into flour mixture until mixture is in pieces no larger than a pea. Bake the crumbles for 5 minutes at 350 degrees. Refrigerate until ready to frost cake.

Assembling the cake: When the cake is completely cool, spread about half of the filling on the bottom cake layer. Place the second cake on top, and frost the top and sides of the cake with the rest of the Lemon Cream Filling. Cover the top and sides of the cake with the Crumb Topping, pressing it onto the sides to cover. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

More lemon dessert recipes

• Lemon Lush Dessert
• Oreo Lemon Truffles

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Lemon Cream Cake (Olive Garden Copycat)

Lemon cake with a creamy mascarpone filling and buttery crumb topping.

Print Recipe

Prep Time:20 minutes mins

Cook Time:35 minutes mins

Equipment

• 9-inch cake pans
• Pastry cutter
• Stand mixer

Ingredients

• 1 French Vanilla Cake Mix

Lemon Cream Filling

• 8 oz mascarpone cheese softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup heavy cream

Crumb Topping

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup cold butter
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Instructions

• Make the vanilla cake mix as directed, and bake in 2 nine-inch cake pans. Cool completely, and remove from the pans.
• Lemon Filling: In a medium-size bowl, combine mascarpone cheese and 2 cups powdered sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in lemon juice. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on high, whip cream until stiff peaks form. Using a spoon, fold cream cheese mixture into the whipped cream; set aside.
• Crumb Topping: In a medium-size bowl, combine flour and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Add butter and dribble in the vanilla extract. Cut cold butter into flour mixture until mixture is in pieces no larger than a pea. Bake the crumbles for 5 minutes at 350 degrees. Refrigerate until ready to frost cake.
• Assembling the cake: When the cake is completely cool, spread about half of the filling on the bottom cake layer. Place the second cake on top, and frost the top and sides of the cake with the rest of the Lemon Cream Filling. Cover the top and sides of the cake with the Crumb Topping, pressing it onto the sides to cover. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Notes

*You can use regular white cake mix if you don’t have French vanilla

Servings: 10

Author: Kierste Wade | Old Salt Farm

*Originally posted 2016