Lemon Scented Cake with Lemon Curd Filling
Here it is my friends! My new favorite cake. I came across this recipe from Shugary Sweets.com a while back and couldn’t wait to try it. I LOOooooooooove lemon desserts, especially if lemon curd is involved, oh how I love lemon curd. So when I got an email about a bridal shower for a gal at church I immediately emailed back to ask if I could PLEASE provide the cake for the shower. I just felt like making a cake and it’s always nice when I can find people to eat it so I don’t have to…
Then it turned out nicely that the Bride-to-Be likes lemon flavored cake – total score!
So I tried the recipe out and I knew it would be a hit so I went ahead with it for the shower. This cake has the perfect crumb to it, light but not too light, dense but not to dense, lightly lemon flavored but not overwhelming when matched with the lemon curd, which can sometimes be overpowering AND it did dome up when baking – at least it didn’t for me. It just rose perfectly flat on top, so no trimming the top! The first time I made it I did not use Wilton’s Bake Even Strips, because I didn’t have them and the cake still did not dome.
Then I got the strips and they worked wonderfully. I don’t know if they were necessary for this recipe but I am excited to use them in the future and am anticipating them being helpful with my high altitude cakes 🙂 Have you heard of these strips? I think they’re so cool, I think they did help with the texture quite a bit, the texture of the cake was fabulous without them, but with them I think it was slightly moister and more even. But if you don’t have them, you will not be disappointed with this recipe.
This was also my first time attempting to make a fondant flower! I think it turned out pretty well. If I do say so myself! Fondant is such a fun medium to work just don’t like eating it. At all. But this I can handle. 
- FOR THE CAKE
- 5 egg whites, room temperature
- ¾ cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 lemons, zested
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2½ cup cake flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
FOR THE LEMON CURD FILLING - ½ cup butter, cut up
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice (do NOT use the bottled stuff!!!)
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- 5 whole eggs, lightly beaten
FOR THE SWISS MERENGUE BUTTERCREAM - 5 egg whites, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- TO MAKE THE CAKE
- Preheat the oven to 350˚ (unless at high altitude, see notes above). Butter and place a circle of parchment paper in two 9" cake pans (to make the cake pictured I doubled this recipe and used 3 - 8" pans and two 6") set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl combine the egg whites, ¼ cup of the buttermilk and the lemon zest, set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
- In another medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Alternating between the flour mixture in 3 additions and the buttermilk in 2, add to the butter. Let each addition mix in a little before adding more.
- Add the egg white mixture.
- Divide between the prepared cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
TO MAKE THE LEMON CURD - In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.
- Once the butter has melted, all the lemon zest, juice and sugar. Cook and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat.
- Whisking constantly, slowly add the beaten eggs.
- Return to heat and cook until thick and bubbly, about 10-15 minutes.
- Cool to room temperature and store covered in the fridge.
TO MAKE THE BUTTERCREAM - Place the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl (I always use my kitchenaid bowl) and place over a pot of boiling water, whisk until the sugar has melted, you can test this by rubbing a little of the mixture between your fingers, if it feels smooth you're good to go.
- Then place the bowl on your mixer and fit with the whisk attachment and beat at high speed for about 10 minutes or until you have a nice merengue and it is cooled to room temperature.
- Once the merengue is cooled, put the mixer on low and add the butter little bits at a time.
- Once all the butter has been added, switch to the paddle attachment and beat on medium high until the buttercream becomes smooth and creamy, then add the vanilla extract.
TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE - Place the bottom cake layer on a cake board or serving tray, put a thin layer of buttercream over the top, then pipe an edge around the outside of the cake to make a well to keep the lemon curd from oozing out.
- Fill the well with lemon curd and then top with the second cake layer.
- Cover the whole cake with a thin layer of buttercream and then pop the whole thing in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes remove from the freezer and proceed to finish icing the cake.
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