Lemon Layer Cake
Lemon infuses this layered masterpiece in three ways: zested into the batter, in a tart syrup that gets drizzled over the cakes, and in a thick lemon curd frosting. This recipe first appeared in our March 2012 issue, with Ben Mims' story Sweet Southern Dreams.
Enlarge Image
Credit: Todd Coleman
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE AND SYRUP:16 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pans
2 1/2 cups cake flour, plus more for pans, sifted
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 tbsp. lemon zest
4 eggs
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
FOR THE FROSTING:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup lemon zest
1 tsp. kosher salt
10 egg yolks
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
1. Make the cake: Heat oven to 350°. Butter and flour two 9″ cake pans, and set aside. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl; set aside. Whisk together milk and vanilla in a bowl; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, cream butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and zest on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. On low speed, alternately add dry ingredients in 3 batches and wet ingredients in 2 batches. Increase speed to high and beat until batter is smooth, about 5 seconds. Divide batter between prepared pans, and smooth top with a rubber spatula; drop pans lightly on a counter to expel any large air bubbles. Bake cakes until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cakes cool for 20 minutes in pans; invert onto wire racks, and let cool. Using a serrated knife, halve each cake horizontally to produce four layers; set aside. Bring remaining sugar and juice to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Remove from heat, and set syrup aside.2. Make the frosting: Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, zest, and salt in a 4-qt. saucepan. Add yolks, and whisk until smooth; stir in juice. Stirring often, bring to a boil over medium heat; cook, stirring constantly, until very thick, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool, and transfer to a bowl; chill the lemon curd. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat butter and 1/4 of the curd on medium-high speed until fluffy and smooth, about 1 minute. Add half the remaining curd, beating until smooth, and then add remaining curd and vanilla. Increase speed to high; beat frosting until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. To assemble, place one cake layer on a cake stand, drizzle with 2 tbsp. syrup, and spread with 3/4 cup frosting; top with another cake, drizzle with 2 tbsp. syrup, and spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Place another cake over the frosting, drizzle with 2 tbsp. syrup, and spread with 3/4 cup frosting; top with remaining cake, and drizzle with remaining syrup. Cover top and sides with remaining frosting; chill cake to firm frosting. Serve at room temperature.
I baked mine in three 8" pans, but next time will do in the 9". I find that when dividing the layers the frosting flavor seems to 'absorb' into the cake a little better than just baking more layers. (It was a late night baking excursion so I was just being a little lazy)
Another interesting variation would be to cut the icing in half and do a true curd in between layers..... (Sarabeth Levine has the best recipe I've tried)
Great cake for the repetoire!
Hope you all give this lemon cake a try.
The cake came together easily and had a tender, moist crumb. The best part was the curd. A previous review mentioned the 1/4 cup of corn starch seeming like a lot, and when I read it I thought maybe it would be too much. I'm glad I didn't try to tweak it, though, because it turned out absolutely perfect. Fragrant, with the right density and thickness. I'll probably use that curd recipe again for other things. YUM.
When frosted, the cake has a really vivid lemon flavor. We loved it with espresso. It's going in the "to make again" file.
Now, on to the caramel cake!
First, be patient and really cook the curd through to make sure the cornstarch gels properly. If you mismeasured, didn't cook it hard it enough or long enough to activate the starch you will get ick. But OMG that frosting was out of this world. I did eat it from the bowl and it was just as good as on the cake, on cupcakes, and graham crakers, and toasted brioche (where it just melts on the warm bread), and on.....
I come from a region where tart lemon flavors are revered in desserts and this was absolutely divine, even the cake was tender and lemon infused. Scratch cakes are picky, you really have to have a gentle hand and a spot on oven to make them come out well.
If you don't like really tart, then use Meyer Lemons instead!
I'll definitely use the icing and syrup recipes again, though perhaps with a different cake (personal preference). Lemon curd between the layers would be delicious.
It came out great. Make this cake.
My only variations: I followed MegQ's advice and bake at 325F for 30 minutes. The cakes came out perfectly moist and perfectly level (no dome).
I bought a bag of lemons from Costco and zested the whole bag. (I use leftover lemon juice to make ice cubes to put in my water.) This gave me a little more zest than the recipe called for. 1/4 cup into the curd and the rest into the cake batter for the extra flavor.
With the curd, if your palate is sensitive enough to taste uncooked corn starch, your nose should be sensitive enough to smell when the corn starch is thoroughly cooked (i.e. you can't smell it anymore). I could smell a difference between the raw curd and the finished curd. Failing that, keep cooking until the whisk leaves visible trails that last a couple seconds before disappearing which, for me, was about 5 minutes after it came to a boil.
The only thing I'd do differently next time is to put the syrup in a bottle with a small nozzle. Apparently I can't drizzle well with a spoon. I had huge puddles on one side and barely anything on the other. The syrup has an intense flavor and needs to be evenly spread.
The recipe is detailed but shouldn't be a problem for a semi-experienced baker, and even first timers should do just fine if they take their time. The second and third go rounds should be a snap to whip up one of these lovely lemon beauties!
I'm now going to print out some of the other cakes in this collection and see which I'm going to try next. I posted this recipe along with my pictures of my cake (admittedly not as pretty as the cake pictured on the recipe) all over my facebook page, with many of my friends commenting that now they want to try it too.
For those whose attempt didn't work, I'd suggest trying again. There is not a single thing wrong with this recipe.
The cake was a little dense, I think it needs the additional lemon juice and simple syrup. Definitely use cake flour and not AP.