Yields:
8 – 10 serving(s)
This lemon cake make look old-school and humble, but it’s truly next-level. The bright flavor is bold enough to wake you up, and the lemony cream cheese frosting is so good, you’ll want to eat it by the spoonful. The lemon curd is optional, but it adds a punch of tartness with each bite.
A few notes about this recipe:
- Instead of using cake flour, we combined all-purpose flour with cornstarch (the same technique we used in our perfect vanilla cupcakes.)
- Buttermilk, as opposed to whole milk, offsets the sweetness of the cake. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own!
- Egg whites make for a lighter cake, in both color and texture. You can use the yolks to make your own curd if you’d like. 😉
Once you try this recipe, rate it below and let us know what you think! Then make another one of our 90+ AMAZING layer cakes. Not really a cake person? Try our lemon meringue pie!
Made this? Let us know how it went in the comment section below!
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Ingredients
For the cakes
-
Cooking spray, for pan
- 2 cups
plus 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup
plus 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp.
baking powder
- 1/2 tsp.
kosher salt
- 1 cup
(2 sticks) butter, softened
- 2 tsp.
lemon zest
- 1 1/2 cups
granulated sugar
- 1 cup
buttermilk
- 4
large egg whites
- 1 tsp.
pure vanilla extract
For the frosting + filling
- 1
(8-oz.) block cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup
(1 stick) butter, softened
- 5 cups
powdered sugar
- 1 tsp.
pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup
lemon juice
- 1
(11-oz.) jar lemon curd
-
Lemon zest, for garnish
-
- Step 1Make cakes: Preheat oven to 350°. Line the bottoms of two 8” pans with parchment paper then grease with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.
- Step 2In another bowl using a hand mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer), beat together butter, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add half of the flour mixture and beat until just combined, then pour in buttermilk and mix until fully incorporated. Add remaining dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Step 3In another large bowl using a hand mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add about a quarter of whipped egg whites to batter and gently fold using a rubber spatula. Add remaining egg whites and fold until just combined.
- Step 4Divide batter evenly between pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cool in pans on a rack for 10 minutes, then run a knife around inside of the pans and carefully invert cakes onto rack to cool completely.
- Step 5Make frosting: In a large using a hand mixer, beat together cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth, then add vanilla and lemon juice.
- Step 6Decorate cake: On a serving plate, spread about a third of the frosting on one cake layer, then spread a thin layer of lemon curd on top. (Don’t spread the lemon curd all the way to the edges or it’ll be messy to frost the sides later!) Place second cake layer on top, then cover the entire cake with remaining frosting. Garnish top of cake with lemon zest.
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