Lemon Cream Cake

As far as summer cakes go, this is definitely top of the list for me. This Lemon Cream Cake is a soft, pillowy lemon cake with lemon curd and a dreamy whipped cream frosting and it’s really the perfect dessert if you love lemon.

I’m using a homemade lemon curd (you can get my recipe here), but you can easily grab a jar at the grocery store instead. From there, the cake is really simple to pull together and the whipped cream frosting only has five ingredients. Let me show you how to make it!

How to Make Lemon Cream Cake

We’re using lots of fresh lemon zest and juice for this recipe, plus some pretty standard pantry ingredients, although this cake does use cake flour. If you’re making your own lemon curd, you’ll want to do that first so it has plenty of time to chill before baking your cakes.

For the cakes, start by beating together the lemon zest, granulated sugar, and softened butter in a large bowl until well combined and slightly fluffy. Then add in the eggs, lemon juice, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract and give everything another mix. It will begin looking fairly thick at this stage, almost like softened butter.

From there you want to add in your dry ingredients and buttermilk in alternating additions, and be sure to start and finish with the dry mixture. This process helps ensure everything is well incorporated and mixed through without over-mixing.

You should end up with a light, silky looking batter. Divide it evenly between your prepared cake pans and pop them into the oven to bake until they are lightly golden and a cake tester comes out mostly clean.

This frosting is basically a whipped cream that gets stabilized by some cream cheese for a lightly tangy flavor and a stronger structure that makes it much better for frosting a layer cake. With a little bit of lemon curd whipped into the cream as well, you end up with a slightly lemony flavor that goes perfectly with this soft cake.

Frost your cake with the whipped cream frosting and fill with some additional lemon curd to make everything extra bright and tart, and then you’re ready to slice and serve!

Tips & Tricks for the Perfect Lemon Cream Cake

Here are my tips to help along the way for the perfect Lemon Cream Cake!

• Do I have to make my own lemon curd? No, you can use a jar of pre-made lemon curd from the grocery store and still have perfect results! If you want to make your own, here is my recipe.
• The cake batter will become thick after adding the eggs, oil, and lemon juice and it should have almost the texture of softened butter at this stage- this is normal!
• Do I have to use cake flour? You can use a substitute by adding two tablespoons of cornstarch to a 1 cup measure, and then filling the rest with all purpose flour to make one cup of cake flour. However, I think that this cake benefits greatly from using true cake flour and I highly recommend it.
• Do I have to use buttermilk? Yes, this cake gets great texture from the addition of buttermilk and you should not skip it.
• Do I have to use the cream cheese in the frosting? The whipped cream gets a much better texture for frosting a cake by using the cream cheese so I highly recommend it here.
• Do I have to level my cake layers? This is always optional, but I find it makes it much easier to stack and fill the cake so I recommend taking the time to level the cakes before frosting and filling.
• I’m at about 5,000 ft. above sea level and I find that most people who live between about 3,000-7,000 ft. above sea level do not need to make any adjustments to my recipes.

Enjoy!

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Lemon Cream Cake

Servings 12 slices

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 1 tbs. lemon zest
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 3 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda

For the frosting:

• 8 oz softened cream cheese
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup lemon curd
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Instructions

For the cake:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line two 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the lemon zest, granulated sugar, and softened butter until combined, or for about one minute.
3. Add in all three eggs and mix again for about 3-4 minutes, or until slightly lightened and fluffy. Add in the vegetable oil, lemon juice, and vanilla extract and whisk the mixture again for 3-4 minutes. The mixture will become thick at this stage, almost like softened butter.
4. In a medium bowl, stir together the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda until well combined.
5. Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to your batter and stir until just combined. Then add in about 1/2 of the buttermilk, again stirring until just combined. Repeat this process until all of the buttermilk and flour mixture has been added and mixed through. The batter should be light and silky looking at this stage.
6. Spread the batter evenly between your two cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it. Cool the cakes completely before frosting. I like to remove the cake layers from the pan while they are still warm (but you can let the cakes cool in the pan for about 10 minutes) and wrap each layer tightly in plastic wrap.

For the frosting:

1. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat your softened cream cheese until fluffy, about one minute. Add in your heavy cream and beat the mixture on medium speed for about 5-8 minutes, or until you have soft peaks.
2. Add in the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup lemon curd, and salt, and continue beating the mixture for another 1-2 minutes, or until you have stiff peaks.
3. To frost the cake, trim the tops of each cake layer to create flat, even layers. Place your first layer down onto your cake plate. Spread a thin layer of the frosting on top, and then pipe a dam of frosting around the edge of the layer to help hold in the lemon curd. Spread the remaining 1/4 cup lemon curd over the top, keeping it inside of the frosting dam. Then top with the second layer of cake and frost with the remaining frosting as desired. Slice and enjoy cold!

Nicole Hampton

Hello and welcome! My name is Nicole, and Dough-eyed is a food blog for people who want to bake for their family and friends in high-altitude areas. Think of me as a friendly voice there with you in the kitchen, here to give you confidence when you’re baking, and to help you with the struggles of baking at high-altitude. Come back every week for new recipes, tips, and advice on high-altitude baking!