Lemon Earthquake Cake is a dessert that starts with a layer of coconut and macadamia nuts, followed by a lemon cake and cream cheese swirl, all topped and baked with white chocolate chips. Try my Oreo Earthquake Cake and Pumpkin Earthquake Cake for a couple more varieties of an earthquake cake.
Lemon Earthquake Cake
Just like an earthquake causes the earth to shift and cause cracks in the land, this Lemon Earthquake Cake has ingredients that may move around as it is being baked and you may see cracks and crevices in the top after it’s baked. It is supposed to be a bit messy and lumpy.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Cake Mix: Look for a box of lemon cake mix. Follow the instructions on the box to make the cake.
Coconut: Use sweetened shredded coconut for this cake. Sweetened coconut has added sugar and sometimes other sweeteners as opposed to unsweetened coconut, which has not been coated with any sugars or sweeteners.
White Chocolate Chips: Look for high-quality white chocolate chips to use in baking recipes like this one.
Macadamia Nuts: Macadamia nuts are actually fruits that are produced by the macadamia tree. They are also known as Queensland nut, bush nut, maroochi nut, bauple nut, and Hawaii nut. They are considered a delicacy when compared to other kinds of nuts.
How to Make a Cream Cheese Swirl
It’s pretty easy to get that fancy marble swirl in a cake.
- Add dollops of cream cheese on top of the lemon cake batter. They shouldn’t be uniform or pretty.
- Use a knife or skewer to make loose vertical zig-zags from one end of the pan to the other.
- Then make zig-zags in the opposite direction.
How to Store Earthquake Cake
Because of the cream cheese layer, I do recommend storing covered in the refrigerator. It should last 2-3 days.
More Earthquake Cakes
Lemon Earthquake Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box (15.25 ounces) lemon cake mix, mixed according to package directions
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- ½ cup chopped macadamia nuts
- 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup (1 stick / 113 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 ½ cups (312.5 g) confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (168 g) white chocolate chips
- vanilla ice cream, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° and grease a 9×13-inch pan with cooking spray.
- Prepare the cake batter according to package directions.
- Sprinkle the coconut and macadamia nuts onto the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Spread your cake batter over the top. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and salt.
- Beat with a mixer until combined. Dollop the mixture over the cake and use a knife to marble.
- Sprinkle white chocolate chips on top and bake for about 55-60 minutes, or until the center is set.
- Serve warm with ice cream, if desired.
Video
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I love your cake recipes.
Looks delicious and I wish to make it soon.Thank you
This pineapple lemon cake looks amazing.
Cynthia Armstrong would love to see some of your recipes,desserts and dinners,the lemon cake looks delicious.
How do you sprinkle white chocolate chips on top and bake 55-60 minutes without them melting? My cake looked nothing like the photographed cake🤪.
How do you store the cake? Does it require refrigeration?
We did not refrigerate but only had it for 24 hours.
Sounds delicious, but I don’t use boxed cake mixes. I guess I will try to improvise.
Ah-mazing. Even my husband who disavows coconut loved it and didn’t complain about the coconut once! My lemon box mix was not lemony– so I added lemon juice and lemon zest to my cream cheese mixture, also subbed sliced almonds for macadamias. I baked it for 1 hour 20 mins at 325. This cake is incredible. Kept well on the counter and we gave away half to friends who loved it as well. They don’t typically love sweets and their comments was–Ohhh..yeahhh!
This is one of the best cakes ever!! Delicious