This Lemon Elderflower Cake is my copycat version of the royal wedding cake! Elderflower infused lemon cake layers with lemon curd and elderflower buttercream.
I am so excited to share this cake with you today, as it’s my version of Prince Harry and Meghan’s wedding cake. This Lemon Elderflower Cake was heavily inspired by Claire Ptak at Violet Cakes in London, who made the actual royal wedding cake for the couple.
I found out about the flavors shortly before the wedding, and was inspired to create my own version of it. Any excuse to make a cake and try something different, right??
The cake consists of lemon infused cake layers, an elderflower syrup, lemon curd, and an elderflower Swiss meringue buttercream.
Maybe I’m living under a rock (likely) but I actually hadn’t heard of elderflower until recently. I was actually shocked to find elderflower cordial in the first grocery store I checked. Usually I’m traipsing all over the city and back to find certain ingredients, only to give up and order them online, so to see it right there on the grocery store shelf was nothing short of a miracle.
Elderflower cordial is very floral, with an almost citrusy aftertaste. It goes really well with lemon, and is just perfect for the spring/summer season.
For the lemon cake, I used the same recipe I used for my Lemon Blueberry Cake, but scaled it up for slightly thicker layers. For the lemon curd, I modified a recipe we used in pastry school (it’s SO good omg). Be sure to check out my tutorial for How to Make Lemon Curd. Those went off without a hitch, but I made a couple of mistakes working with the elderflower cordial.
Initially, I made an elderflower syrup by bringing 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup sugar to a boil before stirring 2 Tbsp of elderflower cordial into it. This tasted delicious, but once used on the cake, the elderflower was overpowered by the lemon flavors. The cordial itself is actually already a syrup (since you’d need to dilute it to use in drinks, etc.) so I should have just used it straight up. You can choose to do it either way though.
Speaking of drinks.. as I was working on this Lemon Elderflower Cake, I found out there’s actually an elderflower liqueur too! What to do?! You know I love to booze up my cakes here and there, so I was so tempted to try this instead. A quick Google search led me to a $50 price tag though… yikes.
Nevertheless, I set out to find it. I didn’t really try that hard though: I checked one liquor store and they didn’t have it, so I decided to move on. I already had the cordial, and I didn’t need to spend money on liqueur that will literally just sit in the cabinet after (I pretty much only use it for baking).
The second issue I had with the elderflower is that, in typical Olivia fashion, I forgot to put it in the buttercream!! Thankfully, I realized this after the crumb coat, so I added it in then. There’s lemon curd between the layers instead of buttercream, so it wasn’t too bad, but STILL. I need to be more organized. I always write down the recipe, but never actually refer to it while making the frosting!
How much elderflower you add to the buttercream is really to your taste. I found it to be quite subtle, but some can find it overpowering. However much you add, be sure to do it slowly (1 Tbsp at a time) and stop if it feels like you’re affecting the texture of the buttercream. I’ve been able to add up to 1/4 cup of liquid to buttercream without affecting it, but just something to be aware of.
I waited until after the wedding to make the cake, as I wanted to see how it was decorated so I could emulate that as much as possible.
There’s a lot of mixed feelings out there about the cake, but I think it looks beautiful. I love the rustic elegance to it — the juxtaposition of the ornate gold stands with the rustic flowers and frosting.
Decorating this cake was fairly simple. It was SUCH a relief to not have to worry about perfectly smooth frosting and sharp edges. It really was one of the easier cake frosting techniques I’ve tried. To be fair though, it’s possible I totally lucked out and it just worked on the first go around. I am super pleased with the results.
I was also lucky enough to find peonies in the exact color I was looking for. In the first flower shop I went into!! High fives all around. I ended up spending $60 on peonies though, which is sort of ridiculous. Good thing I passed on the liqueur!
Overall, this Lemon Elderflower Cake turned out better than I expected, both in flavor and aesthetic. It was easy to decorate, and I think it looks stunning. I can see why Harry and Meghan chose this style and flavor combo for their special day.
Looking for more Lemon Desserts?
- Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Lemon Cake
- Mini Meyer Lemon Loaves
- Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake
- Meyer Lemon Bundt Cake
Tips for making this Lemon Cake with Elderflower:
- I recommend not diluting the elderflower cordial for the cake layers too much (or at all), or you’ll lose the flavor.
- The amount of cordial you use in the buttercream is up to you. Only add it 1 Tbsp at a time though, and add to taste.
- If you’d like to use St. Germain instead of the elderflower cordial, I recommend making a simple syrup and adding the liqueur to that:
- Bring 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup sugar to a boil, simmer 1 min. Remove from heat and add in 2Tbsp of St. Germain. Cool completely.
- Be sure to check out my tutorial for How to Make Lemon Curd
- Be careful about putting too much lemon curd in between the layers. This can make the cake more unstable.
- Regardless of the amount of lemon curd, you must do a dam of frosting around the perimeter of each layer to hold in the curd. This is not optional!
- You will have some curd left over which you can freeze if you like or use in another dessert.
- The buttercream recipe makes enough to fully frost the cake (if you weren’t using curd). You can freeze this as well if you have extra or just reduce the recipe slightly.
- If you use fresh (non-edible) flowers like I did, be sure to protect them from the cake (I used floral tape around the stems).
- Be sure to check my Swiss Meringue Buttercream post for tips and troubleshooting.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, check out my Flat Top Cakes post!
Lemon Elderflower Cake (Copycat Royal Wedding Cake)
Ingredients
Lemon Cake:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest from one large lemon
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup milk room temperature
- 1/3 cup lemon juice fresh squeezed, from one medium lemon
Lemon Curd:
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup lemon juice fresh squeezed, from one large lemon
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest from one large lemon
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter cubed
Elderflower Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- 6 large egg whites
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 2-4 Tbsp elderflower cordial to taste
Assembly:
- elderflower cordial/syrup
Instructions
Lemon Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 8″ 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 approx. 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 3 hours to set. Makes 2 cups.
Elderflower Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.*
- Place bowl over a pot with 1-2″ of simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture is hot and no longer grainy to the touch or reads 160F on a candy thermometer (approx. 3mins)
- Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).
- Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth.**
- Add 2-4 Tbsp elderflower cordial (to taste) one Tbsp at a time whip until smooth.
Assembly:
- Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Poke holes into the cake using a bamboo skewer. Brush with elderflower cordial.***
- 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 approx 3/4 cup 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 with remaining frosting in a rustic manner. I started by spreading a generous amount of buttercream on the top and letting it overhang on the sides. Then I used a flat spatula to add buttercream to the sides of the cake and to smooth the which created a top lip with the overlapping buttercream.
- Top with fresh peonies if desired, but be sure to wrap the stems in floral tape.
Notes
** The buttercream may look like it’s curdled at some point. Keep mixing until it is completely smooth.
*** You can dilute the cordial if you like, by adding it to some simple syrup.
Maria says
Just wanted to give some quick feedback I baked the cake part tonight. I first tested with a toothpick at 20 minutes and it pulled out clean but it was very achy looking and didn’t spring back it clearly wasn’t done. Kept checking and pulled it as soon as I possibly could even though it got browner than I wanted and dark around the edges.
I didn’t notice The fact that there’s a converter between volume/weight and there is a discrepancy. I weighed my flour which is 360 g, but the recipe Given in weight is actually 375. So the recipe states 3 cups of flour when it’s really 3 1/8 cup of flour. This may be the issue people are having.
I should not have skipped the parchment circles. Normally I don’t need to do that, but in this case you really do. The cake stuck to the bottom and tore apart. I think I can salvage it by freezing before icing. Won’t know till tomorrow if it’s dry or unsavagable. Thank goodness I don’t have to deliver till day after tomorrow.
Olivia says
Hi Maria! The mertic conversions are done by a tool automatically, I don’t verify these myself. I don’t think that amount of flour would have made much of a difference, but thank you for pointing that out, I’ll update it!
Maria says
As I mentioned I had trouble with the cake, so I remade it with a different recipe, but using your curd and Icing. It was for a theatre fundraiser And just wanted to let you know that it was the second highest auction bid save for a chocolate cake made by a professional Parisian bakery! The table head make a waiter bring her a box and said “when I get home I’m eating the rest of this cake with champagne!”
I did save your cake and doctored it with a little bit of lemon syrup as well as the elderflower syrup because I feared using too much elderflower. Filled it with more curd and iced it with the elderflower syrup for flavoring. Tomorrow the whole neighborhood is going to eat that one!
PS
I’m not sure what I could’ve done to save the cake as written. It was eggy and too soft to pull from the oven without collapsing before it dried out. I’m thinking maybe if you are overseas, I’m in the US, maybe the four there has more/less protein than ours? I don’t know.
Olivia says
Hi Maria! Awesome about the cake taking the second highest bid! I’m in Canada, so I think our flour would be similar. What kind of flour did you use? The cake being eggy and fragile leads me to believe it was overmixed. Is that possible? It really should not be eggy, or dry, or collapsing. Did you make any substitutions to the ingredients? It really sounds like something was way off.
Louise says
I made this cake for my friend’s 40th and it was a huge success! Delicious! The only thing I wasn’t completely happy with was that my buttercream was very yellow. I added a little blue colouring but that didn’t seem to help. I’m going to make it again for a baby shower – have you got any further tips about how I can make the buttercream white?
Olivia says
Hi Louise! The buttercream can be tricky to get lighter — is your butter more on the yellow side? That can make it harder to neutralize. As for tips — be sure to whip it for a good bit on med/high after you add the butter (about 5mins). That will help lighten it. Another route you can take is to whip the butter first in a separate bowl so it’s more pale, then add it by the Tbsp to the meringue. You’ll likely still need to add a bit of blue to get it whiter still, but that should help!
Brett says
I’m About to embark on this cake for our engagement next Saturday… I’m in Sydney. I’m planning on making the cakes today and freezing them then will defrost them in the fridge from Wednesday and start assembling and decorating to make it more time mabageble. Fingers crossed 🙂
Olivia says
Hi Brett! Sounds like a good plan, let me know how it goes!
TC says
Hello! I am new to baking but looking at making this for my daughters bday. Just a few questions:
* If I want to make a bigger cake, is it as simple as doubling the ingredients?
* I saw in your Swiss meringue butter cream recipe you can make that in advance. What about the lemon curd? How long does it last after making?
* I only have one cake pan, is it possible to bake one by one? Apart from the fact that it takes much longer time? How long does these cakes last?
Thank you!
Olivia says
Hi TC! Yes, you can double the ingredients — for ease you can adjust the Servings and it will automatically adjust them. Lemon curd can be made in advance as well. It freezes well or will keep in the fridge for a week or two. If you only have one pan, I would adjust the recipe and do it in batches — one at a time. It’s not good t let cake batter sit out.
Granny of 10 in Texas says
Hello!
I made this cake last night. Delicious flavors but the cake part is really dry. I didn’t want to add much more syrup and risk an overpowering flavor. Any suggestions for a moister cake?
Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi there! So glad you liked the cake! Is it possible it was overbaked? It should not be dry, especially with the syrup! Every oven bakes a bit differently, I suspect it just needed less baking time. Let me know if you try it again!
Linda says
I made this cake for my daughters birthday. It was just delicious. So easy to make. Turned out perfect. For the butter cream I did a combination of elderflower cordial and liquor. It worked a dream. The best part was I didn’t have to trim the cakes. They cake out beautiful and flat. I will be making this again.
Olivia says
Hi Linda! So glad you liked it! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
Aislyn says
This looks great! I’m hoping to alter it to be a lemon lavender cake instead – steeping the milk with dried lavender and opting out of the elderflower syrup. Without the syrup, will the cake still be moist enough? Any tips would be great. Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Aislyn! I think it would be fine, but you could also just do a simple syrup with just the sugar and water to add extra moisture.
Anita says
hi Olivia,
do you think i could use homemade edelblower syrup instead cordial? plan to make this cake for my friends wedding and am bit anxious!
thanks and greetings from Amsterdam,
Anita
Olivia says
Hi Anita! I think that would work totally fine! Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Susie says
I’ve made this cake 4 times and EVERBODY who tastes it loves it. My sister calls it the”Heaven Cake” my oldest daughter who doesn’t even like cake LOVES it! Even my 3 small Grandsons ages 5, 4 and 2 go crazy over it. A busting British friend asked me to send the recipe to his daughter in England. This cake is worth all the time and effort to make.
What I would like to know is if I halve the recipe could I make a smaller version? A smaller version would make a wonderful little hostess gift.
Olivia says
Hi Susie! Seriously high praise here! So glad everyone loved it 🙂 You can totally halve the recipe — just change the servings to 8 see the proper amounts. That would work as a three layer 6″ cake.
Susie says
Thanks! That’s what I’ll do!
Emad says
I have baked cakes and breads from scratch … never have I had a recipe so disappointing… maybe it was me …. Worst epique fail in 20 years… cake was tough, butter cream wasn’t stiff enough, lemon curd was tasty but not stiff enough to support the layers (which is expected)… ended up having to run to the store in the last minute in a snow storm to buy box mix and frostings…
Maybe it’s me! Thank you Betty Crocker!
Olivia says
Hi Emad! Sorry to hear you had trouble with this recipe. Did you make any substitutions to the ingredients? If the cake came out tough that could be due to too much flour and/or overmixing the cake batter. If the buttercream was too soft you should refer to my tips here to see why and troubleshoot. For the curd, it’s possible it needed to be cooked longer if it was too runny. Regardless though, you’d need a buttercream dam (per my instructions) as the curd would never be strong enough to support the layers.
ML says
I made this wonderful cake for a birthday party…it was lovely and everyone enjoyed it. I served it on a silver tray.
Olivia says
Hi there! So glad to hear everyone loved it! It’s a fave of mine 🙂
Jean says
Hi
Thank you for a fantastic, light and flavoursome cake. I just have one question about the milk and lemon juice! Do you add them together and them alternate them eith the flour, or alternate all three ingredients?
Jean
Olivia says
Hi Jean! I alternate all 3. If you add them together the milk and lemon juice will essentially make buttermilk, so I like to keep them separate.
Angela says
I’ve tried making this cake twice and it’s flopped both times! The batter is beautiful – and tastes delicious – but the cake is dry and so delicate that I cannot turn it out despite well greasing the pans and using bake-right strips. I used a spoon to place the flour in the measuring cups. Any thoughts on what I could be doing wrong?
Olivia says
Hi Angela! The cake should not be dry, especially with the syrup and lemon curd. Is it possible that it’s overbaked? Or is there a chance you overmixed the batter?
Peigi says
Hello, Olivia! Thank you for posting this recipe. The cake looks really gorgeous and the flavors suit each other really well.
I just had a couple questions:
Do you recommend making the cake, lemon curd and buttercream all the same day or an amount of days before? If so, how many days before?
And also, do you have to necessarily use a stand mixer with a paddle to mix some of the ingredients together? (I have a hand mixer at my disposal) And perhaps a wooden spoon would suffice for the stand mixer’s paddling? Would it make a difference?
Thank you!
Olivia says
Hi Peigi! You can make everything in advance and freeze each component.
For the Cake: Cool the layers, double wrap in plastic wrap, freeze for up to 3 mos. Take out 2-3 hours before assembly.
For the Curd: Cool completely and place in an airtight container with plastic wrap directly on top. Refrigerate for a week or freeze for up to 3 mos.
For the Frosting: Place in an airtight container and refrigerate for 1 week for freeze for 3 mos. Bring to room temp and rewhip before using.
It will be difficult to make the frosting without a stand mixer. It’s doable, but you’d be whipping for a LONG time by hand first to cool the meringue and then once the butter is incorporated. The cake will be fine with a hand mixer though. Let me know how it turns out!
Peigi says
Thanks again! This cake came out perfect! I made for a special birthday and it was a hit! I did variate a couple things though.
I kept a watchful eye on the cakes while they were baking and instead of cooking them for 35 minutes, I ended up cooking the cakes for 25 and they came out moist and perfect. I guess that is because everybody’s oven bakes differently.
When I was whisking the egg whites and sugar on the double boiler, it took longer than 3 minutes to be “no longer grainy to the touch”. I estimate it took about 12 mins.
Otherwise, I followed everything else in the recipe.
I love it!!!
Olivia says
Hi Peigi! Yay! I’m so happy you liked it! I’ve clarified the instructions for the egg whites & sugar. You place the bowl directly over a pot of simmering water, not over a pot on a pot. Sorry that wasn’t clear. I’m so glad it worked out for you though!
Shabeen says
Hi Olivia.
Just a quick question about freezing this cake..
Do u freeze after the cake is coated with elderflower cordial?
I am looking forward to making this cake soon. It looks and sounds yum 🙂
Thanks
Olivia says
Hi Shabeen! I soak with syrup after the cake is thawed. I hope you like it!
Fran says
Hi Liv, thanks for the delicious recipe! I want to use it for a 3 teir wedding cake, do you think the texture would be allow it to be stacked into 3 teirs as it is is so lovely and light and fluffy I don’t want to ruin it and make it sink!!
Thanks a lot!
Fran
Olivia says
Hi Fran! As long as the tiers are properly supported with dowels or similar, it should be fine!
fran says
Thanks Liv, can’t wait to try!
Beth English says
I used your lemon cake recipe to make cupcakes today. O.M. G. The batter was so good I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough left to actually make the cupcakes. I can’t wait to do the icing tomorrow!
Olivia says
Hi Beth! So glad you liked it!
Nishanthi says
Hi Olivia, going to make this cake for my daughter s 21 st. just. Wondering wether I can use “Wilton white white icing colour ” to make butter cream white?
I’m from Melbourne .
Olivia says
Hi Nishanthi! You can try that for sure, but I would actually start with adding the tiniest bit of violet color gel to the buttercream first. The violet will counteract the yellow, but be sure to add it little by little with a toothpick.
Nishanthi says
Hi Olivia ,
Finally I did the lemon elder flower cake for my daughter s 21st. and came out very well. Super yummy. Everyone went for the second serve.
Thank you so much for your recipe. Nothing went wrong and big relief for me who is not a professional cake maker .
Didn’t add any colour to make butter icing white. Just added extra 4 egg whites.
Olivia says
So happy to hear that!! Glad it all went well and that everyone loved it.
Lu says
I made it for a wedding shower at work. The cake did not rise much so I was nervous if it turned out okay. This cake was a big hit at the office! One of the guys said it tasted as good as it looks actually even better than it looks. I double the recipe and made a 2 tier 8”(4layers) & 6”(3layers) cake and added fresh blooms. I made cake 2 days before the shower. Wrapped with Saran Wrap and put in frig, then frosted the next day.This recipe is a keeper!
Olivia says
Hi Lu! So happy to hear that you liked it. Thanks for your tips!
Emily says
Hi Olivia I would really like to add some poppy seeds to the sponge and was just wondering if that would change anything in the recipe and how many grams of popy seeds i should add in.
Olivia says
Hi Emily! I think poppy seeds would be a delicious addition. I would try maybe 1/4 cup (or 25g), but you could add more/less if you like!
Emily says
Thanks
Alelia says
Hi Olivia! this looks amazing and I can’t wait to make it. Can the recipe be doubled? I saw your Joy of Baking link about sizes but it doesn’t talk about actually doubling recipes.
Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Alelia! Doubling this recipe should be fine!