Get ready for a taste bud tango with this incredible lemon cake! Imagine layers of soft, moist cake infused with zesty lemon goodness, embracing a silky lemon curd, and crowned with a sweet cream cheese frosting that’ll make you weak in the knees.
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Best Layered Lemon Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 14 1x
- Category: Dessert
Ingredients
Scale
*For the Lemon Cake:*
- 1 â…“ cups sugar (290g)
- Zest of 2 lemons
- ½ cup melted unsalted butter (113g)
- ¼ cup oil (50g)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 â…“ cups cake flour (305g, or a mix of 275g all-purpose flour with 30g cornstarch)
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 cup sour cream (240g)
- ¼ cup lemon juice (55g)
*For the Lemon Curd:*
- ½ cup lemon juice (110g)
- ¼ cup water (60g)
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- â…” cup sugar (145g)
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter (28g)
- Pinch of salt
*For the Simple Syrup:*
- ¼ cup water (60g)
- ¼ cup sugar (55g)
*For the Cream Cheese Frosting:*
- 2 blocks cream cheese (16 oz or 453g, room temperature)
- 2 sticks butter (226g or ½ cup, room temperature)
- 3 cups sifted icing sugar (360g)
- ½ tsp vanilla
Instructions
*For the Lemon Cake:*
- Preheat the oven to 350F and prep 2 pans with parchment paper and butter.
- Massage lemon zest into sugar, add melted butter and oil, whisk for 2 minutes.
- Add eggs and vanilla, whisk for another 1-2 minutes.
- Sift in dry ingredients, fold to combine.
- Lastly, fold in sour cream and lemon juice.
- Divide batter between pans and bake for 25-28 minutes.
- Cool in pans for 10-15 min, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
*For the Lemon Curd:*
- Mix water, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, salt, eggs, and egg yolks in a pan.
- Stir and cook on low heat until thick.
- Remove from heat, mix in butter until combined.
- Strain, cover, and refrigerate until fully cooled.
*For the Simple Syrup:*
- Heat water and sugar until sugar dissolves. Let it cool fully.
*For the Cream Cheese Frosting:*
- Whisk butter until light and fluffy (5-7 minutes).
- Add sugar and vanilla, whisk for ~5 minutes.
- Gradually add cream cheese, whisk until just combined.
*Assembly:*
- Trim cake domes, cut each cake into 2 layers.
- Brush layers with simple syrup, add cream cheese frosting, pipe around edges, and fill with lemon curd.
- Repeat for all layers. Coat with a thin layer of cream cheese frosting as a crumb coat, let it cool until stiff.
- Frost the cake with the remaining cream cheese frosting, decorate with lemon curd, and candied lemon slices if desired.
Notes
For the best experience, enjoy the cake slightly colder than room temp. Let it sit for 15-20 minutes out of the fridge before indulging. Get ready to savor the magic!
