Lemon Curd Cake

To all my fellow lemon enthusiasts, this is the lemon curd cake recipe you’ve always dreamed of. With its tangy and silky lemon curd, its moist cake layers packed with lemon flavor, and its not-too-sweet ermine buttercream, I guarantee you’re going to love this cake.

How to make this lemon curd cake?

Possible adaptation of this recipe.

Ingredients and substitutions.

This cake recipe requires different ingredients that could be substituted according to your needs :

• Cake Flour: If you don’t have any cake flour on hand, you could try swapping it with an easy cake flour substitute or with the same weight of all-purpose flour. If you opt for the latter option, the texture of your cake might be less soft.
• Vegetable Oil: any kind of flavorless oil will do, such as grapeseed or canola oil.
• Buttermilk: you can easily swap it with the same quantity of room-temperature milk, adding the lemon juice to it and letting it sit until it curdles a little. I find that the results are completely identical.

Size adaptation of your lemon curd cake.

I tend to write my recipes for 3 layers of 6-inch cake tins, which also happen to be perfect for 2 layers of 7-inch cake pans. You can easily adapt the recipe to bigger cake tins though. Simply multiply the grams measurements by:

• 1.75 to get 3 layers of 8-inch cake pans.
• 2.20 to get 3 layers of 9-inch cake pans.
• 2.70 to get 3 layers of 10-inch cake pans.

If you end up having to divide an egg, mix the white and the yolk of the egg, then, add the desired measurements to your cake batter.

Bake the moist lemon cake layers.

1. Preheat your oven to 330°F (165°C). And prepare three 6-inch cake tins.
2. Add to your mixing bowl the sugar and the lemon zest. Give it a quick mix to allow the sugar to draw the lemon out oil from the zest.
3. Next, add your flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Give it another quick mix.
4. Now add the room temperature butter cut into cubes, and mix it all until it looks like wet sand.
5. Add one egg at a time, mixing on medium speed between each addition. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl so that there’s no dry spot left.
6. Switch to a spatula and mix in your buttermilk, oil, and lemon juice (all at once).
7. Pour your batter into your cake pans and bake them at 330F° (165C°) until a toothpick comes out clean (around 35 minutes).

Make the lemon curd.

1. In a pan add the lemon juice and zest.
2. Mix your eggs, egg yolk, corn flour, and sugar in a separate bowl.
3. Add the egg mixture to your pan and heat it on low heat constantly stirring with a spatula.
4. When it starts to thicken, turn off your stove and add the butter. Stir as the residual heat melts it.
5. Pass the lemon curd through a fine mesh strainer and transfer it to a bowl. Cover it with cling film to prevent it from forming a skin.
6. Use it once completely cooled.

Make the ermine vanilla buttercream.

For this vanilla buttercream, I chose an ermine buttercream. If you’ve never tried it before, it’s the least sweet of all the buttercream out there and feels like it’s the perfect compromise between the versatility of buttercream and the taste of whipped cream.

it’s not a difficult recipe, but if you’re intimidated you could replace it with this easy cream cheese buttercream which is also perfect for cake decorating.

1. In a saucepan, mix with a whisk the flour and the milk.
2. Heat it on medium-high heat, constantly stirring until it starts to thicken like pudding (more or less 5 minutes).
3. Add the granulated sugar and keep mixing until it starts boiling. When it does keep mixing for one more minute and turn the stove off.
4. Transfer your mixture to a bowl, and let it cool to room temperature.
5. Now add your room temperature butter to your mixing bowl, and mix it with the whisk attachment on high speed until it’s light and soft.
6. Keep mixing while adding your flour mixture a spoonful at a time. Scrape the bowl with a spatula from time to time.
7. Add the vanilla extract and beat your buttercream on high speed for a minute.
8. Switch to the paddle attachment and beat the buttercream on the lowest speed until there are no air bubbles left.
9. Set it aside until you’re ready to use it.

Assemble your lemon curd cake.

1. Make sure your cake layers are completely cooled and leveled before assembling your cake.
2. Then, alternate each cake layer with your lemon curd. Make sure to make a buttercream dam as it is a soft filling.
3. Finally, cover and decorate your cake.

Baker’s secrets.

In order to make sure you end up with the best results, here are three baker’s secrets (that are not so secret really):

• I cannot stress enough how using a kitchen scale is a game-changer when baking. I know the cup system is practical and easy, but once you try weighing your ingredients, you’ll regret not starting sooner both in terms of texture and taste.
• Temperature is also another game changer. Always use room temperature ingredients unless stated otherwise and preheat your oven, you’ll taste the difference.
• Finally, do not overmix your cake batter. Honestly, nine times out of ten, when someone has a problem with a cake recipe, it’s because they overmixed their cake batter. You’re in luck though, this lemon curd cake recipe uses the reverse creaming method, which makes overmixing easier to avoid.

How to decorate your lemon curd cake?

I opted for a rather simple cake design. But if you’re looking for more original cake decorating ideas, make sure to check one of the several cake ideas lists. The cake designs are classified according to the cake decorating level they require and are paired with instructions on how to recreate them.

Can you make your lemon curd cake ahead?

You can easily make this lemon curd cake ahead. Spreading the process of making layers makes it way more manageable, especially for beginners. You have several options:

• You can freeze the cake layers for up to 6 weeks. Only make sure they’re tightly wrapped in plastic wrap.
• You could also make the frosting ahead and freeze it in plastic wrap or an air-tight container for up to a month. Once thawed, whip it again at your highest speed to allow it to come back together.
• Finally, you can also easily keep your lemon curd in the fridge for up to a week or freeze it for at least 3 months in an air-tight container using cling wrap to avoid freezer burn. You’ll only have to let thaw in the fridge for at least 24H.

Whatever option you choose, let the cake layers, the frosting, or the entire cake thaw at room temperature before using / serving.