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Square hero shot of a slice of dairy-free lemon curd cake on a white dessert plate.
5 from 5 votes

Lemon Curd Cake Recipe

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Decorating Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
Servings: 10 slices
Calories: 561kcal
Author: Ai Willis
Slice off a piece of sunshine with this light & airy Lemon Curd Cake recipe! Featuring two moist, fluffy layers of lemon cake, tart lemon curd, and a lusciously bright lemon buttercream frosting, this sweet treat is the food equivalent of the first real day of spring.
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Ingredients

Lemon Curd

Lemon Cake

Lemon Buttercream Frosting

Instructions

Lemon curd

  • In a bowl, beat together the butter, granulated sugar, salt, lemon zest. Add the eggs and egg yolks one at a time and mix until combined after each addition.
  • Stir in the lemon juice. Your mixture may look a little curdled, but don't worry, it'll come together once it's heated.
  • Pour the mixture into a small pot and heat it over medium low heat and stir continuously until it thickens and reaches 175°F (80°C), about 5 minutes.
  • Take it off the heat and pour it into a clean bowl or plate to cool. Cover it with plastic wrap, making sure that it's touching the surface of the lemon curd to prevent it from forming a "skin" and keep it in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Lemon Cake

  • Preheat your oven to 340°F (170°C). Grease and line two 6-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking soda, baking powder, granulated sugar, and lemon zest. Add the softened butter and work it into the flour until the mixture looks like sand.
  • In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, mayo, and vanilla extract until smooth. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the milk until a smooth batter forms, being sure not to overmix. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
  • Fill the cake pans evenly with the cake batter (about 300g per pan). Bake the cake layers in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center. If you see any crumbs, bake for another minute or two. Let the cakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes before taking them onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Lemon Buttercream Frosting

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the softened butter and shortening for 3 to 4 minutes until fluffy and light in color.
  • Add a third of the powdered sugar and continue beating. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula before each addition. After adding all of the sugar, taste to see if it's sweet to your liking. Add more sugar if you'd like.
  • Once the powdered sugar is all incorporated, add the salt, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest (if adding) and beat until incorporated. Put the buttercream into a piping bag with a large round tip.

Assembly

  • Take one cake layer and put it on a plate or cake stand. Using an offset spatula or knife, spread on a thin layer of buttercream (about 1-2 tablespoons). Pipe a border of buttercream on the edges, creating a well in the center. Fill the center with lemon curd (about ⅓ cup).
  • Add another cake layer on top and repeat.
  • Once the final cake layer is placed on top, crumb-coat the entire cake by adding a thin layer of buttercream to seal in all the crumbs and lock in the moisture. Put the cake in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
  • Take the cake out of the fridge and decorate with more buttercream if you like! I kept my cake as a "naked cake" and added little blobs of frosting on top with an extra layer of lemon curd, and some lemon slices for decoration. Any leftover lemon curd and frosting can be kept in the fridge or freezer.

Notes

Variations & Dietary Adaptations:
  • Gluten-Free: Substitute the all-purpose flour with 1⅓ cups (197g) of gluten-free measure for measure flour. (Make sure to use one that has xanthan gum!) Be sure to let the cake batter rest for 30 minutes before pouring it into the cake pans and baking them, to avoid a gritty texture.
  • Dairy: If you're able to tolerate dairy, feel free to substitute non-dairy milk with whole milk, and the mayonnaise with sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.
  • Different pan sizes: While I designed this recipe for a three-layer 6-inch round cake, you can also bake this as a two-layer 8-inch round cake.
Expert Tips:
  • Chill the cake entirely. Let the cake layers cool completely, or give it a couple of hours (wrapped in plastic wrap) in the fridge or freezer. Chilling will help to firm up the layers, making it much easier to achieve a cleaner look when frosting it.
  • Fill the cake pans evenly. Each cake pan will take about 10.5 oz (300g) of cake batter. Although it's most accurate to measure out the batter using a scale, you can also use a measuring cup or ice cream scoop to pour even amounts of batter into each pan. This ensures they’ll bake at the same rate and will ensure even layers.
  • Slice the cake layers. If your cakes come out of the oven domed, you can slice the domes off using a serrated knife after they've cooled completely.
  • Invest in the right tools. A kitchen scale, piping bag with piping tips, offset spatula, and cake turntable are all invaluable when making bakery-style cakes at home!
  • Use a piping bag to frost your cake. By piping your frosting, you can add even layers of frosting in between the cake layers. If you don’t have a proper pastry bag, you can always use a Ziploc bag with the corner cut off.
Nutrition:
Although I have the full batch of lemon curd and buttercream listed in this recipe (it's easier to make that way), I had about half of each leftover as a frosting minimalist. I have calculated the nutrition of each slice based on how much lemon curd and frosting I used, and this may be different depending on how much you use to decorate your cake.
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Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 561kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 91mg | Sodium: 565mg | Potassium: 57mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 46g | Vitamin A: 129IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 87mg | Iron: 1mg