Mar 26, 2023, Updated May 22, 2024 The meringue-like 7-minute frosting give lemon meringue pie vibes to a delicious, tender lemon cake filled with creamy lemon curd. If you’re a fan of my Lemon Curd Cookies, Moist Vanilla Cake, Easy Lemon Tart, Portuguese Orange Cake or delicious dark chocolatey Chocolate Orange Cake, you’re going to love this easy, moist layer cake, too.
Why This is the Best Lemon Curd Cake Recipe
You’ll adore the light, refreshing lemon flavor in the fluffy cake layers paired with a hint of vanilla. If you’ve ever loved a creamsicle or an orange julius, you know how delicious vanilla and citrus are together and it’s so evident in this soft lemon cake with lemon curd recipe. Special occasion worthy: Perfect for a birthday, baby shower, or dinner party. The combination of 3 fats ensures a super-tender, soft and moist crumb without being too fussy with a traditional cake method. Want a shortcut? Make it with storebought lemon curd. That makes this a super easy lemon curd cake, too, yay! Generous cake: This lemony cake with curd yields 16 small slices or 12 large slices.
Lemon Curd Cake Ingredients
For the lemon cake:
Salted butter. Ensure your butter has softened before you begin the process so that it can whip up and aerate. Cream cheese. It should be soft and at room temperature to mix well evenly with the butter in the creaming process. Avocado oil or canola oil; any neutral-tasting oil is fine. Lemon zest. Don’t skip this ingredient – it brings so much to the taste of the cake. Granulated sugar. Regular white sugar is perfect in this cake. Eggs. They should be large and at room temperature. Buttermilk. True buttermilk gives so much more than “sour dairy” – it is chock full of phospholipids that make a batter fluffier and give the cake a softer, smoother crumb. However, if it isn’t something you keep on hand, please use the lemon juice swap (outlined in my substitutions for buttermilk article). Vanilla extract. It brings a lovely dessert tone to the cake; I love to use pure vanilla extract. All-purpose flour. Use a fresh pack of regular all-purpose flour. Baking soda and baking powder: the two raising agents in this recipe. Bake sure they are fresh and ready to rise up! Kosher salt. Balances out this rich and bold cake.
For Lemon Curd Cake Filling:
Zest of lemon. Give your large lemon a good wash before zesting it. Lemon juice. Likely to be the juice from the lemon you zested. Choose a glossy lemon – I want to keep the brightest, most vibrant lemon flavor for the creamy curd. Sugar. Regular white sure will do. Egg yolks. From large eggs – make sure they are super fresh for your curd. I love that my recipe uses yolks for the lemon curd and whites for the frosting. Butter. It needs to be cut into small pieces that are easy to add. 1 ⅓ cups + 1 tbsp = 22 tbsp butter or 11 oz by weight (weighing it is my recommendation)
For the 7-minute Frosting:
Granulated sugar. As per the rest of the cake. Egg whites. Have them at room temperature. Lemon juice. It adds so much goodness to this light frosting. Vanilla extract. Use a pure extract if you can get your hands on some.
Wanna Make The Best Lemon Curd Cake Ever? Here’s What To Do.
For the cake:
To make lemon curd filling:
To make the frosting:
To Fill the Cake with Curd and Assemble:
Make Ahead Instructions
You can make the lemon curd ahead of time and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the cake. The frosting can also be made a few hours before and left to cool until you’re ready to frost your cake. The cake layers can be baked a day in advance, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature. For any longer than that, store in the freezer to keep it as fresh as possible. Cakes will stale quicker in the refrigerator than on the counter, so never make ahead and store in the fridge.
Storage
Unless you’re serving your cake within 4 hours of assembling it, store it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve it. Homemade lemon curd needs to be kept refrigerated for food safety. For best texture, bring the cake back to room temperature by letting it sit out for 30 minute before serving it. If you have leftover lemon curd, it can be refrigerated for about a week or stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Pro Tips and Tricks
I like to use an ice cream scoop to measure cake batter between pans. I do an equal scoop for one, then the other, and continue until the batter is gone. This ensures the cake layers are equal and will take the same time to bake. When making the frosting: add the sugar and lemon juice, whisk them, then add the egg whites. If you add the egg whites to the double boiler first, they will likely start cooking (curdling) before adding the other ingredients. Also, make sure no sugar crystals are clinging to the sides of the bowl, as this will make the icing go grainy. If you see undissolved sugar in the bowl after a couple of minutes of beating, wash it down into the icing using a wet pastry brush.
Other Cake Recipes You’ll Love
Best-Ever Moist Chocolate Cake Moist Vanilla Cake with Easy Vanilla Frosting Peach Cobbler Pound Cake Blueberry Pound Cake Easy Philadelphia Cheesecake
Other Citrus Recipes You’ll Love
Start with this collection of drool-worthy orange dessert recipes.
This Portuguese Orange Cake recipe is moist, fluffy, and an all-time fan favorite. Easy Lemon Tart Lemon Curd Cookies Love citrus, love chocolate? This Chocolate Orange Cake is for you. This Cranberry Lemon Cake is a long-standing favorite. Of course, can’t forget this Orange Pound Cake with orange glaze, baked in a pretty bundt pan.
Next Reading: How to Make a Cake from Scratch and How Long Does Cake Last in the Fridge?
