Over 4th of July week we drove down to Dallas and rode some coasters at Six Flags, then the next day moved on to Waco to check out the Magnolia empire. Who’s been to the Silos before? I was not quite so into it as most of the people there, but I did wait in line for 30 minutes to snag a couple of cupcakes, got lunch at a food truck, and bought a cute t-shirt in the store. It’s a fun place to visit, but would be a lot more fun when it’s not 1000 degrees >.<
On the actual holiday I just stayed in the whole day baking up this cake! Our town celebrated with fireworks the Sunday before, so we were homebodies all day. I baked up a storm, and hubby spent his day researching woodwork projects and playing computer games. So you could say it was a great 4th celebrating our American freedoms ? What did you all get up to?
Hubby suggested lemon for my next cake, which is one of my personal favorite flavors as well. I love my lemon desserts to be as tart and lemon-y as possible, and I succeeded with this recipe. It’s literally bursting with flavor, so if you love lemon as much as I do then this cake will satisfy you. Really, you can even forgo the raspberry jam if you’d like – it was more for color than for flavor ?
I’m still working hard practicing my buttercream flowers, as you can see. Here I did almost all of the flowers/leaves I was taught in my class: roses, wax flowers, lamb’s ear, and peonies. I honestly couldn’t remember how to do the peonies so I did some improv. They probably just look like really big roses, but I’m proud of this practice round. Hopefully as time goes on I’ll keep improving!
Lemon Cake with Lemon Curd and Raspberry Jam
Ingredients
Lemon Cake
- 2 sticks unsalted butter room temp.
- 2½ cups granulated sugar divided
- 4 XL eggs
- 1/3 cups lemon zest about 8 lemons
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 cups fresh lemon juice divided
- 3/4 cups buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- raspberry jam
Lemon Curd
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice 2-3 lemons
- 2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large egg yolks
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter room temp. and cut into cubes
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup egg whites
- 3 sticks + 2 Tbsp unsalted butter softened
- 1¼ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Lemon Cake
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Preheat oven to 350F. Prep 3 six-inch pans by spraying with oil, then lining the bottoms with circles cut out of parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and 2 cups of sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. On medium speed, add the eggs one at a time until incorporated, then add the zest. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a different bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, vanilla extract, and 1/4 cup lemon juice. With your mixer on med-low, add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Fill each pan halfway, and bake about 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for about 30 minutes before removing. In a small saucepan, combine the leftover 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup lemon juice. Place over low heat, and stir until sugar is dissolved. Slice the rounded tops off of each cake layer to make them level, and brush the lemon syrup onto each layer. Let cool completely.
Lemon Curd
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In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk together the juice, zest, sugar and egg yolks. Place over med-low heat, and add the butter. Whisk frequently until the mixture is thick enough to leave a trail when the whisk is run through it (10-15 minutes). Remove to a clean container, and chill for at least an hour.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
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Fill a saucepan with 1-2 inches of water and bring to a simmer. Combine the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl, and place the bowl on top of the simmering saucepan. Whisk until the sugar is dissolved completely. Transfer the egg whites to the bowl of an electric mixer (make sure the bowl is squeaky clean). Whip the egg whites until they double in size. Add vanilla and beat to combine. Then, on low speed, add the butter one stick at a time. Continue beating until the frosting is smooth.
Assembly
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On two cake layers, spread a thin layer of raspberry jam, stopping about half an inch from the edge of the cake. On top of that, spread a thin layer of lemon curd. Layer the two cakes on top of each other, then turn your last layer upside down and place it on the top. Use an offset spatula to cover the cake with buttercream, and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Lemon Cake recipe adapted from Ina // Swiss Meringue Buttercream adapted recipe from Smitten Kitchen
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