Luscious lemon cake layers, homemade lemon curd, with light and fluffy frosting make this Lemon Cake an instant classic that you need in your repertoire!
Anyone else obsessed with lemon desserts?? Why are they SO good?? I swear they are better than any other flavour out there. Chocolate cake can’t even compete.
Today, I’m bringing you a Classic Lemon Cake recipe. It’s a slightly modified version of my Lemon Elderflower and Lemon Blueberry cakes. A scaled-down version that lets the pure lemon flavour shine through. I’ve paired it why my new favourite Ermine frosting.
My friend Crystal has been harassing encouraging me for weeks (months?) to making a Lemon Cake. I’ve been focussing on tutorials and cake components this year, but it was high time for a new cake recipe.
Bonus: I had a bunch of stuff in my freezer already (lemon curd, ermine frosting) from my tutorials, so this one was easy to whip together.
How to Make this Lemon Cake
As you know, I don’t like to use artificial flavouring or extracts if I can help it. This lemon cake recipe uses only fresh squeezed lemon juice and lemon zest for the flavour in the cake layers and the lemon curd. It’s really the only way to go!
You’ll need about 2-3 lemons total to make the cake & lemon curd.
This is a simple butter cake consisting of:
- all-purpose flour (cake flour is ok)
- baking powder
- salt
- unsalted butter
- granulated sugar
- lemon zest
- large eggs
- vanilla
- milk (any milk will work)
- lemon juice
You can use regular lemons or Meyer lemons (a fave). I couldn’t find any so regular lemons it was.
Make sure to zest your lemons before you juice them. It’s just easier. My favourite zester is from Microplane. It does an amazing job of zesting without getting any of the white pith. You definitely do not want that. It’s bitter and will give your cake and curd an off-putting taste.
This lemon cake uses a standard creaming method. Make sure to throw that zest right in there with the butter and sugar when you’re creaming them. It will help release all of that delicious flavour from the zest.
This cake batter is SO good. I can’t recommend eating cake batter because it’s not food-safe and could be dangerous but omg I couldn’t resist.
It’s just as delicious in baked form though!
Homemade Lemon Curd
Homemade lemon curd is one of the best things ever. Sure, you can just buy it instead, but it’s so easy and satisfying to make that you really don’t need to.
I have a detailed tutorial on How to Make Lemon Curd, but it really is very simple. You can actually make this with any citrus fruit or berries. There are lots of possibilities. Key lime curd is some of my favourite.
Ermine Frosting
For the buttercream, I chose to pair the cake with a simple, vanilla frosting so that the lemon would stand out (and I had a batch of ermine frosting sitting in my freezer from my post a couple of weeks ago).
This frosting is softer and more difficult to work with than a Swiss meringue buttercream or an American buttercream, but it’s very easy to make, and I find it easier to work with than a cream cheese frosting.
Any frosting you choose though will be a delicious accompaniment to this lemon cake.
I decorated the cake with some simple fresh lemon slices along the bottom, rosette dollops piped with a 1M piping tip, and some fresh lemon curd and zest.
Simple and delicious. The best combination. Ryan, who’s not a fan of fruit desserts, was less-than-thrilled that most of this cake went to Crystal and her family. And tbh, I regret giving so much away too. Hah. I see another lemon cake in my near future.
I hope you love this cake as much as we do. Let me know if you try it!
Looking for more citrus cakes?
- Orange Poppy Seed Cake
- Cranberry Orange Cake
- Lime & Coconut Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Lemon Elderflower Cake
Tips for this Lemon Cake Recipe
- The recipe as-is will work in two 8″ pans. For three 8″ pans, 1.5x the recipe.
- To make cupcakes, all you need to do is reduce the baking time — start checking at 15mins or so.
- Make sure to use fresh-squeezed lemon juice and zest for this recipe for best flavour.
- Cream the lemon zest with the butter and sugar to help release the lemon flavour and oils.
- Be sure to check my Ermine Frosting and Lemon Curd tutorials for tips and troubleshooting.
- If you prefer, you can use a Swiss meringue buttercream, an American buttercream, or a Cream Cheese Frosting instead.
- The cooled cake layers can be baked ahead of time, double wrapped in plastic wrap, and frozen for up to 3 months. Take out 2-3 hours before assembly.
- The frosting can be placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for 1 week for frozen for 3 months. Bring to room temp and rewhip before using.
- Learn how to keep your cakes moist using Simple Syrup.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, check out my How to Bake Flat Cake Layers post!
Lemon Cake
Ingredients
Lemon Cake:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest from one large lemon or 2 medium
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 cup milk room temperature
- 1/4 cup lemon juice fresh squeezed, from one large lemon
Lemon Curd:
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup lemon juice fresh squeezed, from one large lemon
- 2 tsp lemon zest from one large lemon
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter cubed
Vanilla Ermine Frosting:
- 8 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- pinch salt
- 2 cups milk
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
Assembly:
- lemon slices
Instructions
Lemon Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 6" cake rounds and line with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and lemon zest until smooth. Add sugar and beat on med-high until pale and fluffy (approx 3mins).
- Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
- Alternate adding flour mixture with milk & lemon juice, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk & lemon juice). Fully incorporating after each addition.
- Spread batter evenly between the prepared pans and smooth the tops.
- Bake for about 30-35mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.
Lemon Curd:
- Place eggs and sugar into a small pot, whisk to combine. Add lemon juice, zest, and butter. Cook over medium-low heat whisking constantly until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon.
- Transfer to a glass bowl and lay plastic wrap directly on surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill for 2 hours to set.
Vanilla Ermine Frosting
- Place sugar, flour, and salt into a medium saucepan. Whisk to combine.
- Add milk and vanilla, stir to combine. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils. Continue cooking while stirring constantly for 1-2 more minutes until the mixture thickens to a pudding-like consistency. Remove from heat.
- Pour into a bowl and place plastic wrap directly on top of to prevent a skin from forming.
- Cool to room temperature.*
- Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the (room temperature) butter on high until pale and fluffy (3 mins).
- Add the (room temperature) flour mixture 1 Tbsp at a time, incorporating well after each addition. Beat for 2-3mins until smooth and fluffy.
Assembly:
- Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Poke holes into the cake using a bamboo skewer and drizzle with simple syrup if desired.
- Spread a thin layer of buttercream on top of the layer and pipe a border around the outside to hold the lemon curd in. Fill with about 1/3 of lemon curd. Repeat with next layer.
- Place final layer on top and do a thin crumb coat on the cake. Chill for 20mins.
- Frost the top and sides of the cake. Smooth with an icing scraper.
- Pipe rosette dollops using a 1M tip with remainder of frosting. Chill for 20mins. Fill the top with the remaining lemon curd.
- Decorate the bottom with thin sliced of lemon and sprinkle the top with lemon zest if desired.
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Notes
Kim says
Made this last week and it was a huge hit. So delicious! The cake was flavorful, lemon curd simply perfect and the ermine frosting devine. This was my first attempt at ermine frosting and am determined to master it! I think I let the butter get too soft. Thanks for the troubleshooting tips in the tutorial. I can’t wait to make this again.
Olivia says
Hi Kim! SO happy you loved it. Thanks for the great feedback!
Alain says
The icing is amazing. The curd is absolutely awesome and so simple to make! The cake is very dense, and I will admit to not having read the long writeup on this recipe (still don’t get this style of recipe sharing) but I did not expect something so dense. That being said, it works and the taste is incredible! I may have been a little liberal with the zest but can you have too much lemon??? Can’t wait to try some of the other cakes!
Olivia says
Hi Alain! I do like my cakes more on the dense side vs light & fluffy, but they should not be *too* dense. Overly dense cakes can be from overmixing the cake batter once the flour is added — it develops too much gluten. Otherwise, how do you measure your flour? I always recommend spooning flour into the cup and leveling it off rather than using the cup to scoop it. The latter can add too much flour to a recipe.
Joy says
Hi Liv! The recipe is perfect – all turned out great (except my frosting/decorating skill!) Thankfully my daughter helped me with that. Thank you for your great recipes – this is the 2nd one I’ve tried. I like this ermine frosting – much easier to make than the SMB but tastes as good.
Olivia says
Hi Joy! So happy you loved it. I can’t wait to hear what you try next!
Cece Sky says
My roommate told me to bake a lemon cake for her birthday 2 days ago. I immediately came to your page because I trust you. Made the cake and it was a hit as always! People kept asking for more 😁 I’m so happy. Your recipes always make me come out looking like a professional baker😂😂
Olivia says
Thanks so much for the amazing feedback Cece! I’m so happy everyone loved it 🙂
Amreen Bhoodoo says
Hey😊 this recipe looks delicious would love to try it. Is it the same texture as your coconut cake which is really soft and moist? Thank you
Olivia says
Hi Amreen! The texture is a little different. I’d say this one is slightly more dense, but both are equally delicious 🙂
judy says
I reviewed all the comments and was looking forward to a moist lemony cake. I made this over the weekend and it was a disaster. I followed the recipe to the T. The cake was dense. I was suspecting such as the batter was very thick. The lemon curd would not stay in the cake. It firmed up appropriately and was chilled overnight. It was gone when I cut into the cake. The frosting piping around the cake would not firm up and all the lemon curd came out. The frosting looked gray and would not set. Needless to say, it was not a pretty picture.
Olivia says
Hi Judy! Sorry to hear you had trouble with this one. It sounds like a whole lot of things went wrong! I do like my cakes on the denser side vs light and fluffy, but it should not be too dense. It should have a delicious, tender, and moist crumb. Dense cakes could be caused by overmixing the cake batter once the flour is added or improperly measured flour — I recommend spooning and leveling into the cup rather than using the cup as a scoop.
For the curd, it sounds like maybe it wasn’t cooked long enough. It should be thick, especially when chilled. It sounds like the frosting was maybe too soft as well, and should not have been gray unless you used less butter than the recipe calls for. The pudding itself has a grey tint to it but you can’t see that at all once it’s incorporated into the butter.
Annie prabha says
Perfect one
Olivia says
Thanks so much Annie!
Jessica says
Hi Liv!
First time using your recipes and I’m excited to try them. I’m baking the cakes today to frost tomorrow but I was wondering how easy/difficult is Ermine frosting to work with?
Did you chill it for any length of time, besides the crumb coat portion?
Thank you!
Olivia says
Hi Jessica! I chilled the frosting a bit before the crumb coat too because I had left it out overnight and it was a bit soft. Otherwise, I chilled it again while the crumb-coated cake was chilling. It’s definitely softer to use than an American or Swiss meringue, but not as soft as a cream cheese frosting. So excited that you’re trying my recipes for the first time! I hope you love them 🙂
Jessica says
I’ll definitely chill it, then. I’d like to get the sides as smooth as possible, but it not, I’ll have fun trying.
Thank you!!
Olivia says
Let me know what you think! 😀
Wendy says
Liv, this cake is beautiful! I wanted to make an orange cake for my friend who loves oranges. Would it work if I replaced the lemon for oranges in this recipe do you think??
Olivia says
Hi Wendy! Yes for sure, any citrus would work well and be delicious 🙂
Wendy says
I just noticed that this is for 6 inch pans but I have 9 inch pans. Should the recipe be double for a two layer 9 inch cake?
Thanks!!
Olivia says
Hi Wendy! For two 9″ pans I would change the Servings amount to 16 and use those amounts.
Dee says
My mouth started salivating when I saw the slice of cake with that sweet-tart lemon curd and knew it was the cake for me middle brother’s birthday this year! He loves lemon desserts. I’m so excited about this one. I’ve made your lemon curd and it’s addictive! I’ll make it for our family first….you know, to try it out😋. My brothers birthday is the first week in September…no way I can wait till then 😁
I love your wonderfully delicious and equally beautiful cakes! Thanks for all your hard work!
Dee
Olivia says
Haha! Definitely make it for your family first as a trial run 😉 And I agree on the addictive lemon curd! I have to freeze any leftovers or I’ll be eating them with a spoon. Thanks so much for the sweet comment 🙂 <3
Jennifer says
I have never made cakes until I found you! Now I’ve made 3! Excited to make this one for a Birthday in August. Perfect timing, lemon is her favorite!
Olivia says
Hi Jennifer! I am so happy to hear that! I hope there are many more cakes in your future and I hope you love this one as much as I do 🙂
Gina Cernuschi says
Do u have the imperial version please as I do. To use cups
Olivia says
Hi Gina! There is a metric converter below the list of ingredients.
Elizabeth Vlug says
Definitely going to make this cake. And try your Ermine frosting. I must say I have been making your Lemon Curd about every 2-3 weeks. My 94 year old mom loves it, so she gets 3/4 of the recipe and I keep the rest. She puts it on toast, small pre-baked tart shells and just out of the bowl She says a good Macedonian is never without lemons in the house. lol. . I make the larger amount and you are right, it is so easy, so thank you for the recipe. This cake should be a hit with my family.
Olivia says
Hi Elizabeth! So nice to hear from you 🙂 So happy you and your mom love the curd. I hope a slice of this cake makes it to her as well! xo <3
Paulin says
Hey liv 😊 I’ve been religiously following all your recipes….can I scale any or all of them up or down
Olivia says
Hi Paulin! You can totally do that by adjusting the Servings up or down 🙂