Today, we’re sharing a recipe for the key lime cake from Magnolia Room Cafeteria in Tucker.
Owner Louis Squires opened Magnolia Room in 2017, following the closure of his favorite restaurant, S&S Cafeteria at Embry Village, a year earlier. As a regular patron of S&S for 17 years, Squires was friendly with many of the Southern cafeteria’s employees and wanted to pick up where this beloved Atlanta restaurant left off. He modeled Magnolia Room after the Embry Village location of S&S Cafeteria and hired 24 members of its staff to work at his new Tucker restaurant.
Named for the dining room inside the former downtown location of Rich’s department store, Magnolia Room quickly became a go-to restaurant for Southern comfort food in Tucker.
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According to the restaurant’s marketing manager, Nate Martin, this S&S Cafeteria recipe for key lime cake is over 80 years old. A little tart (thanks to a combination of orange juice and fresh lime and lemon juices) with sweetness from vanilla and sugar, lime Jell-O gives the yellow cake a slight green tinge. It’s then iced with white cream cheese frosting or buttercream.
Check out the recipe for Magnolia Room Cafeteria’s key lime cake below.
Ingredients
- 3 oz. lime Jell-O
- 1.5 cups white sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 5 eggs
- 1.5 cups neutral oil
- 6 oz. orange juice
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- ¼ cup lime juice
- ½ cup powdered sugar
Directions
- Combine Jell-O, white sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a small mixing bowl.
- Add eggs, oil, orange juice, lemon juice, and vanilla extract, then using an electric mixer, mix until well blended, no more than two minutes, on low speed. Scrape down bowl.
- Prep three 9-inch cake pans with canola oil spray. Fill each cake pan evenly with batter.
- Bake at 350 Fahrenheit for approximately 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool.
- Mix the powdered sugar and lime juice in a small bowl. Before assembling layers, and while the cake is still warm, pour the coating over the cake. If desired, pierce layers with a fork.
- After the cake has cooled, assemble the layers using a cream cheese frosting of your choice, including store-bought or this easy recipe from Southern Living.