Lemon Curd Cake (Print)
Zingy lemon cake, filled with creamy curd and a layer of smooth, lively buttercream. A dream for folks who love citrus.
# Ingredients:
→ Lemon Cake
01 -
170 grams unsalted butter, sliced into 12 pieces, soft but not runny
02 -
1 teaspoon regular table salt
03 -
4 teaspoons baking powder
04 -
260 grams sifted cake flour, like Softasilk
05 -
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
06 -
6 large egg whites, at room temp
07 -
60 millilitres fresh lemon juice, no seeds or pulp
08 -
180 millilitres whole milk, let it lose the chill first
09 -
390 grams white sugar, keep some aside
10 -
Zest from 2 lemons, just the yellow bit
→ Filling
11 -
480 millilitres lemon curd, either homemade or store-bought
→ Lemon Buttercream
12 -
226 grams unsalted butter, softened up
13 -
113 grams full-fat cream cheese, bring to room temp
14 -
480 grams powdered sugar
15 -
0.125 teaspoon table salt
16 -
30 millilitres heavy cream, add more or less for texture
17 -
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
18 -
30 millilitres lemon juice, freshly squeezed
# Steps:
01 -
Dust the three 20-centimetre pans with flour after lining them with circles of parchment and double up on greasing. Turn your oven on to 175°C.
02 -
Toss the lemon zest into a bowl with 3–4 tablespoons of sugar and squish it all together till it smells amazing and turns bright yellow. You can whirl it in a food processor if you want to make it finer.
03 -
In another bowl, mix up the milk, vanilla, lemon juice, and egg whites. Leave off to one side for a bit.
04 -
In your mixer bowl, combine the rest of that sugar, the lemon-infused sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder. Blend on low till it all looks the same.
05 -
Start dropping those softened butter chunks into the dry mix, one after the other, while the machine is running. Keep going till it looks crumbly and the butter bits are about pea-sized.
06 -
Dump in half the egg white bowl and crank the speed up. Beat for about a minute until it’s looking puffy and light. Drop the power to medium-low, add the rest, and blend till it all comes together. Use a spatula to make sure nothing is left unmixed at the bottom.
07 -
Spoon the batter evenly across your pans, level out the tops, and bake for around 18–22 minutes. Give them a turn halfway through. The cakes should be pale golden and a toothpick poked in the middle comes out clean.
08 -
Once out, let the cakes sit in their pans for 10 minutes. Pop them out, peel off the parchment, and put them on a wire rack to finish cooling.
09 -
Beat your butter and cream cheese in a bowl until it’s totally smooth. Sprinkle in half of the powdered sugar and the salt, mix on medium-low. Scrape down the sides, add the rest of the sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, and cream. Keep mixing until creamy and smooth. Use a spatula to finish off if you need to.
10 -
Set one cake layer on your plate. Pipe a buttercream ring around the edge and scoop 180–240 millilitres lemon curd in the middle. Add a second layer, repeat with more buttercream and curd. Pop the last layer on top, cover the whole thing with the rest of the buttercream. Decorate or just smooth it out as you want.
# Notes:
01 -
Let the cakes cool off all the way before putting everything together so the layers stay nice.
02 -
You can make the buttercream a couple days ahead and stash it in the fridge. Let it chill on the counter till soft before spreading.
03 -
Pop the finished cake in the fridge and it'll last up to five days. Let it sit out for about half an hour before digging in.