Description
Deliciously tangy lemon layer cake with lemon curd!
Ingredients
- 1 cup white sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- ⅔ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
- 2 ⅓ cups cake flour
- 2 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¾ cups white sugar, divided
- 2 tablespoons lightly packed finely grated lemon zest
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 5 egg whites, at room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons lightly packed finely grated lemon zest
- 3 ½ cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Beat sugar and butter for curd in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and yolks slowly until well combined. Beat for 1 minute more; stir in lemon juice. The mixture will look curdled; do not panic.
- Pour mixture into a saucepan and cook over low heat until it becomes smooth
- about 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium and cook
- stirring constantly without letting it boil
- until it thickens enough to leave a path on the back of a spoon when you drag a finger through it and reaches 170 degrees F (77 degrees C)
- about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest.
- Let cool to room temperature
- 20 to 30 minutes. Press plastic wrap on the surface to prevent a skin from forming and chill in the refrigerator.
- While filling cools
- place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter and flour two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans.
- Sift cake flour
- baking powder
- and salt together in a medium bowl. Pulse 1/4 cup sugar and lemon zest together in a food processor until well combined.
- Beat butter and lemon sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy
- about 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining sugar and beat until smooth
- about 1 1/2 minutes. Beat in 1/4 of the milk until just blended. Add flour mixture alternately with remaining milk on low speed in 3 batches
- scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed; beat until just blended.
- Beat egg whites in another bowl on medium speed just until foamy. Add cream of tartar. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until stiff peaks form. Add 1/4 of the egg whites to the cake batter and gently fold in. Continue to gently fold in egg whites
- being careful not to deflate the mixture. Divide batter between the prepared pans.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake layer comes out clean
- 35 to 40 minutes. Flip right side-up and let cool on a wire rack
- 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Cut cooled layers in half and layer with curd.
- Beat butter and lemon zest for frosting in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Add confectioners’ sugar and beat. Add lemon juice and beat for 1 minute. Frost the assembled cake as desired.
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 2 hrs 5 mins
Servings: 12