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–+ servings
Slice of lemon curd cake on a white plate.

Lemon Curd Cake

Rich and delish
This lemon curd cake is made with two layers of moist lemon cake, filled with lemon curd, and frosted with lemon buttercream frosting.
5 from 192 votes
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
cool time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 55 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12 slices
Calories 548 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 115 g Butter
  • 2 tablespoon Lemon zest
  • 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups Granulated sugar
  • 4 Eggs large
  • 1 cup Buttermilk
  • ¼ cup Lemon juice
  • 2 ½ cups Flour
  • 2 ½ teaspoon Baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt

Lemon curd

  • ⅓ cup Lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon Lemon zest
  • ⅔ cup Granulated sugar
  • 80 g Butter
  • ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 Egg large
  • 3 Egg yolks large

Lemon frosting

  • 230 g Butter soften
  • 2 tablespoon Lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon Lemon zest
  • 4 ¼ cups Powder sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt

Instructions
 

  • Preheat an oven to 180c (350f) and prepare 2 8-inch baking pans with parchment paper.
  • Into a big mixing bowl, add the soft butter, and lemon zest. Mix with an electric hand mixer until creamy and smooth for about 3 minutes.
  • Add the vanilla extract, granulated sugar, and kosher salt, and mix until well combined.
  • Add the eggs one at a time mixing constantly until a creamy mixture forms.
  • Into a measuring cup or small mixing bowl, add the buttermilk and lemon juice and mix.
  • In a medium sized mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, and mix with a whisk until combined.
  • Add ½ of the dry mixture and the buttermilk mixture and mix it until almost combined.
  • Add the other half of the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
  • Divide the batter into 2 8-inch baking pans and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes (depending on your oven) or until a toothpick is inserted into the cake comes out clean.
  • Let the cakes cool to room temperature and remove them from the pans.

Make the lemon curd

  • Put all of the ingredients in a saucepan and cook it over medium-low heat whisking constantly.
  • Once the butter melt, the consistency of the mixture will be thin, dont increase the heat. Keep whisking until the mixture thickens for about 5 minutes.
  • When the mixture thickens, transfer it to a fine-mesh strainer set over and bowl and strain the mixture from any unnecessary lumps. This will give you a perfect and smooth curd.
  • Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the mixture cool for about 20-30 minutes.

Make the lemon frosting

  • Into a big mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter, lemon juice, lemon zest, powder sugar, and vanilla extract.
  • Mix with an electric hand mixer for a few minutes until the buttercream is light in color and creamy.

Assembly

  • Pipe a small dollop of the buttercream on the surface that you will frost on. Lay the first cake layer over the frosting dot.
  • Pipe a circle around the edges of the cake. Then fill the circle with the lemon curd. Top with the second cake layer.
  • Frost the cake with a very thin layer of buttercream, and place the cake in the freezer to set for 15 minutes. (this is the crumb coat)
  • Remove the cake from the freezer and frost it with the remaining frosting and place it in the freezer for another 10 minutes to set.
  • Decorate the cake with slices of lemon and mint or edible flowers. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

  • Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
  • Constantly whisk while making the curd! It is really important if you want to get a smooth and silky curd.
  • Dont let the lemon curd come to a boil! This will cook the eggs and leave you with scrambled eggs. Make sure that the lemon curd mixture cooks over medium-low heat.
  • Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
  • Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have a moist cake and not a dense and dry cake.
  • Line your baking pan with parchment paper! This step helps the cake to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your loaf cake will release easily from the pan.
  • Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making these cookies, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the dough.
  • Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to flip this cake as soon as it's ready. Allow the cake to cool to room temperature before flipping the cake. This step prevents the cake to fall apart.

Nutrition

Calories: 548kcalCarbohydrates: 103gProtein: 7gFat: 33gSaturated Fat: 20gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 195mgSodium: 560mgPotassium: 116mgFiber: 1gSugar: 38gVitamin A: 1086IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 107mgIron: 2mg
Keyword lemon curd cake
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