Have you ever noticed that the best thing to pair with lemon seems to be . . . lemon? Every time I make a lemon cake or cupcake, aside from my occasional frolic with lavender and lemon or blueberry and lemon, all I want to do is add more lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon extract, lemon filling, lemon topping, lemon curd, lemon frosting and lemon buttercream. Lemon!
During some of my recent baking in preparation for my sister-in-law’s baby shower, I did some lemon cupcakes filled with lemon curd and topped with lemon frosting, and I realized that I haven’t made a completely lemony layer cake in a long time. It was definitely time. And wait! Before you scroll down and read the recipe, just know that there are a few components in this cake that do take some time, but don’t let that scare you away — most of this cake can be made up to a few weeks ahead of time, so the actual assembly of the cake really is pretty quick and simple.
So what is a Lemon Meringue Delight Cake? It’s three layers of moist, lemony sponge cake filled with homemade lemon curd, lemon curd Swiss meringue buttercream and baked meringue discs, and frosted in more lemon curd Swiss meringue buttercream, topped with more lemon curd, swirls of buttercream, baked meringue swirls and lemon drop candy. In other words, a lotta lemony loveliness.
A lemon party of sorts.
Remember these Lemon Meringue Milkshake & Mini Swirl Meringues? I make those little swirl meringues often, and I thought they’d make perfect little lemon cake decorations, so I just made them a bit bigger and a tad more swirly for this cake. In this particular recipe I did the meringues with a Swiss meringue method (heating the sugar and egg whites over a pot of simmering water until they reach 140-160°F and then whipping them in the mixer), but you can also do them with a traditional French meringue method (whisking the room temperature/warm egg whites in the mixer until they become foamy, then adding the sugar gradually, beating until stiff peaks form). I found, though, that the Swiss version seems to bake very glossy and the French meringue bakes a little more matte. The ones I used on the cake ended up being the French version, but I made some last night using the Swiss method and they were so nice and glossy. (They seem to taste the same either way.)
Baked meringues have my heart because, aside from their addictive sweet, light and crispy-ness, you can make a big batch and keep them airtight for weeks, making them ideal for topping cakes or cupcakes. And, of course, for random snacking. I thought it would be fun to make a few larger discs and put them right on top of the lemon curd filling in the cake, so when you’re taking lemony cake bites you hit little bursts of lemon meringue surprises along the way.
Lemon = Happy.
Again, I know the recipe looks a little daunting because of all of the components, but if you do a bit ahead of time, it really is a joy to make. Keep remaining lemon curd in an airtight container in the freezer for a zippy addition to pancakes, muffins, scones and more — you’ll thank me! ♥
- 3 egg whites 90 g
- 3/4 cup 150 g sugar
- A drop soft gel paste color yellow
- You will also need:
- A large pastry bag
- Decorating tip #1A
- A small paintbrush
- 4 lemons or 6 Meyer lemons, preferably organic
- 2 whole eggs plus 4 egg yolks set whites aside for buttercream
- 1 cup sugar 200 g
- 4 tablespoons 60 g unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into small even cubes
- 7 egg whites 210 g
- 1-1/2 cups 300 g sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 2 cups 454 g unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
- 1/4 cup 60 ml lemon curd
- 1 teaspoon 5 ml pure vanilla extract
- Few drops of soft gel paste colour yellow (I used electric yellow)
- 3/4 cup 170 g unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups 400 g sugar
- 6 eggs separated
- 2 cups 270 g all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon 4 g baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon 4 g salt
- 2 tablespoons 30 ml lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons 10 ml pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon 2.75 ml lemon extract
- 2 tablespoons 30 ml lemon zest
- 3/4 cup 180 ml plain yogurt, at room temperature
- baked meringue swirls for decorating
- lemon drop candy for decorating
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Preheat oven to 200°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer and the whisk attachment with paper towel and lemon juice, to remove any trace of grease.
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Add egg whites and sugar to the mixer bowl and fit onto the top of a medium saucepan filled with about 1-inch of simmering (not boiling) water. (Be sure the bottom of your bowl is not touching the water.) Whisk constantly but gently, until temperature reaches 140°F, or if you don’t have a candy thermometer, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot.
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Dry the underside of the mixer bowl and transfer to your stand mixer. Whip using the whisk attachment until the meringue is thick and glossy and has reached the stiff peak stage.
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While the meringue is whipping in the mixer, fit your decorating bag with a plain round pastry tip. Fold over a cuff at the top of the pastry bag and paint 3, equally-spaced, thin lines of yellow gel colour using your fine paint brush (you can use any paint brush, but it should only be one you designate for food) from the pastry tip up toward the cuff.
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Fill the bag with your meringue (no more than 2/3 full) and pipe 1-1/2-inch swirls onto one of the lined baking sheets, spacing them about 1-inch apart. (These will be used to decorate top of cake). On the second baking sheet, pipe the remaining meringue into flat discs, about 2-inches in diameter, spacing them about 1" apart. (These will be used on top of the filling inside the assembled cake.)
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Bake for 60 minutes, rotating the trays after 30 minutes. Lower the oven to 175°F and bake until dry, about 40 minutes more. Keep in an airtight container until needed.
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Wash lemons really well (with a bristled brush under cold water) and using a zester, remove all of the coloured portion of the peel from the fruit (not the white pith–it’s bitter!) into a bowl or onto a piece of wax paper. Rotate fruit as necessary to get as much of the zest off. Repeat until you have 2 teaspoons (30 ml) of the zest, and set aside.
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Slice the lemons in half crosswise (I find room temperature citrus is best for juicing) using a sharp knife, and extract as much of the juice as you can using a citrus reamer, or I use a small, manual citrus juicer. (Just be sure to catch all of the juice in a bowl and to completely strain the seeds before using.) Repeat the juicing until you have 2/3 cup (160 ml) of the strained juice.
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Get your double boiler ready by filling a saucepan with 1″ of water, then placing a metal bowl on top of the saucepan. You will need to ensure the bowl fits snugly into the top of the saucepan and that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water (important, or your eggs will cook). You can now remove the bowl and continue with making the curd.
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Whisk the juice, whole eggs, egg yolks and sugar in the bowl until smooth. Add the butter cubes to the bowl, but don’t stir.
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Heat the water in the saucepan over low heat until it simmers (not boils) and place the bowl atop the rim. Stirring gently, but constantly, using heatproof spatula or wooden spoon, cook until the curd has thickened and all of the butter has melted and is incorporated, about 10 minutes (this can vary). To test if the curd is thick enough, remove the spatula or spoon from the curd and check that it’s coated.
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Strain the curd over a bowl using a fine-mesh sieve and then stir in the zest. Cover with plastic wrap pressed directly against the curd (to prevent a skin from forming) and chill for at least 3 hours (I like to chill it overnight). It also thickens up a bit more while chilling. Keep refrigerated.
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Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer with paper towel and lemon juice, to remove any trace of grease. Add egg whites, sugar and salt, and simmer over a pot of water (not boiling), whisking constantly but gently, until temperature reaches 160°F, or if you don't have a candy thermometer, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot.
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With whisk attachment of mixer, begin to whip until the meringue is thick, glossy, and the bottom of the bowl feels neutral to the touch (this can take up to 10 minutes or so). *Don't begin adding butter until the bottom of the bowl feels neutral, and not warm.
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Switch over to paddle attachment and, with mixer on low speed, add butter cubes, one at a time, until incorporated. Increase mixer speed to medium and whip until it has reached a silky smooth texture (if curdles, keep mixing and it will come back to smooth). *If mixture is too runny, refrigerate for about 15 minutes and continue mixing with paddle attachment until it comes together. Add lemon curd and vanilla, continuing to beat on medium speed until well combined. Add yellow soft gel paste colour until desired shade of yellow is achieved.
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Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease, line with parchment and flour three round 8-inch pans. I use Parchment Paper Circles for ease. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and 1 cup (200 g) of the sugar on medium high speed until very pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
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Lower mixer speed to medium low and add the egg yolks, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition. Add lemon juice, vanilla, lemon extract and lemon zest and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. With mixer running, add dry ingredients. Add yogurt, scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is well incorporated.
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In another grease-free bowl, (or if you're lucky enough to have another mixer bowl) whip egg whites and remaining cup of sugar until they reach stiff peak stage. Fold meringue into batter until just combined, and divide batter evenly among the three prepared pans. Use a digital kitchen scale to weigh pans to ensure even layers, if possible (425 g of batter for each layer).
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Bake first two layers 2" apart in center of oven on top of a baking sheet until a cake tester comes clean when inserted into the center, about 25 minutes. Be careful to not over-bake -- check cake at 20 minutes, but not before, and once you feel it’s almost ready, set the timer for 2 minute intervals. Repeat with final cake layer. Let cool on racks for 10 minutes before loosening the sides with a small metal spatula, and invert onto greased wire racks. Gently turn cakes back up, so the tops are up and cool completely.
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Wrap tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days, refrigerator for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 2 months. Best enjoyed day 1 or 2.
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Trim any doming or top crust and side crust from cake layers using a very sharp serrated knife (I use the Mac Bread Knife for all of my cake trimming, splitting, etc.).
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Use a cake turntable for filling, frosting and decorating, if a possible. Place a small dollop of frosting in the center of a cake plate or 8″ round thin foil-covered cake board, and place the bottom cake layer on top, trimmed side up (face up).
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Pipe a dam (a rim around the top perimeter of the cake layer) of lemon curd buttercream around the cake layer using a large round Pastry Tip fitted inside a Decorating Bag. Then pipe another smaller circle of buttercream a few inches toward the center. Spoon lemon curd into the open spaces and spread evenly with a small offset palette knife, taking care to keep the curd within the dam (otherwise it will ooze out of the sides of the cake). Gently place cover the filling with a layer of the flat baked meringue discs, breaking them into smaller pieces if necessary to cover most of the layer.
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Repeat with second cake layer and more buttercream, lemon curd and meringue discs. Place final cake layer, trimmed side down. Look straight down from above cake and be sure the layers are all lined up, shifting gently if necessary. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
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Remove from fridge and put a generous scoop of buttercream on top, spreading evenly with a small offset palette knife and working your way down the sides until you have a thin layer of frosting over the entire cake (crumb-coat). Chill until set, another 30 minutes.
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Remove from refrigerator and covering the cake in another layer of buttercream, but this time using a thicker layer of buttercream and creating a smooth finish.
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For the top of the cake, using your decorating bag fitted with the large round tip , 2/3 full with buttercream, pipe 8 small swirls, evenly spaced. Top each swirl with a baked meringue swirls, and fill the spaces in between with lemon drop candy. Gently spoon a layer of lemon curd on top of the cake, using a toothpick to pull the curd to the inside edges of the candy and swirls.
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Store finished cake covered in refrigerator (due to the lemon curd filling), but serve at room temperature (you can remove from refrigerator several hours ahead of serving).
*You can make the baked meringues up to a few weeks in advance, keeping them in an airtight container at room temperature.
**You can make the lemon curd up to a month ahead, keeping it in an airtight container in freezer.
***You can make the Swiss meringue buttercream up to a month ahead, storing it in an airtight container in freezer, bringing to room temperature on counter the night before needed.
Sweetapolita’s Notes:
- Because Swiss Meringue Buttercream and Lemon Curd both take a little longer to make than some other fillings/frosting, I recommend making both ahead of time, if possible. They freeze well, and the buttercream can be simply brought to room temperature the night before you need it. The curd can basically be used straight from the freezer. If you go ahead and make all of the components in one day, there’s a good chance you will be cursing my name at random throughout the day. But even if you do go this route, it will still be worth it.
- You can make the baked meringues up to two weeks before you need the cake, just keep them in an airtight container at room temperature.
- You can bake the cake layers the day before you need to assemble the cake and keep them at room temperature wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.
- I use my the MAC Carving Knife
for all of my cake trimming and slicing — it’s amazing.
- For the Swirl Meringues and the Lemon Swiss Buttercream I used Americolor Electric Yellow Soft Gel Paste
to achieve that particular shade of happy.
- For the lemon drop decorations I used Claeys Lemon Sanded Candy Drops
.
- You can watch me frost a cake with smooth edges here.
Good luck & enjoy!
Lemon does equal happiness… and you know what else does? This post. Everything is so vibrant. Your daughter’s dress… adorable. I love everything about this.
Wow, that cake looks so good!! I wish I could eat a piece right now. I have been craving lemon lately…maybe this would cure the craving.
Perfectly frosted cake and so much lemony goodness in one cake, I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle it!!
Fantasic timing Rosie for Easter! Love, love lemon and it is a wonderful way to celebrate spring. Thank you for including the different versions of how to make the meringues – I will definitely be trying the Swiss Method. Beautiful photos as always! Happy Easter!
Thanks so much, Jo-Ann! Happy Easter to you as well!
I am fairly certain this cake couldn’t be any more perfect!
Thank you, Shelly!
This is a phenomenal cake. Your swirled meringue on the top is the finishing Pièce de résistance :)
Amazing! sure is delicious. Kisses.
This cake looks fantastic! Much as I love chocolate, I’m a massive sucker for lemon. And I happen to love cakes with a lot of components, they make me feel vaguely competent at something when it all comes together! Very tempting to make this our Easter dessert. Thanks so much for the recipe :) Happy Easter! x
Oh…MY! WOW! That cake is GEE-OR-JOUS! And it looks soooo yummy! Hope I csn make it when I get the right materials!
I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to have too much lemon in a cake as this so perfectly illustrates!
This looks so, so, lovely!! You rock my world!
This looks absolutely delicious and it would be a nice zesty change to the usual “heavy sweetness” of most cakes ;) Your cake-making creativity shines on this one!
YUMMMM this looks amazing! So deliciously yellow, it makes me so happy! xxxx
http://andgeesaid.blogspot.com.au/
Truly amazing for spring! I’m in love with these bright and crisp shots. The more lemon, the better!
Rosie you have done it again! Your set up is stunning! I have always been enamored by lemon curd since I first heard of it on your blog! I have some in freezer waiting to be turned into something delicious! Also I found an awesome and super easy way to make lemon curd in the microwave! The recipe is on my blog if you want to check it out! Again, what a gorgeous lemon confection!
xoxo M
How about lemon and lime?! Mmm I could see myself topping this cake with the cookies I just posted about. Perfect pairing~
The Occasional Indulgence
This cake is wonderful! Simply happiness!♥ I also love the bunch of pics of the cake, it makes me feel like it’s already summer! Lovely work, Rosie!
Have a very nice week, filled with cake & sweetness!
xo
We had a lemon cake at our wedding that melted my heart – and I have no doubt that this would blow my mind. There is no such thing as too much lemon. I’m all blissed out here.
This is absolute gorgeous perfection!!! Love love LOVE the meringue swirls on top. You are magical!!
This looks fabulous! I was going to make your lemon blueberry cake for Easter but now you’ve confused me. I already have the curd waiting in the freezer (delicious by the way)! Of the two cakes, which do you prefer (I’d probably leave out the meringue discs)? What about the frostings? I love SMBC but have never tried a lemon version so it’s very tempting. Thanks for all your delicious recipes…I have tried and loved so many!
I just made the triple Lemon Blueberry cake and the frosting was DELICIOUS. The little bit of cream and the lemon juice made it fantastic.
I love SMB but the frosting for the TLB cake was really divine.
Gosh, this looks so very yummy!! I want to make, but I’m a little afraid of the meringues–I live in a hot humid place and they never seem to work for me…OY! Will attempt–have you any words of wisdom for someone ,making these in a veritable rain forest?
Rosie—-be still my lemony heart! I am salivating at the thought of this divine cake. I think I shall declare it my faux birthday to have a reason to make it and not share! I was just telling my co-workers about how excited I was to use the Meyer lemons I found at the store, but then I saw this. Oh joy! Thank you@
Looks absolutely yummy, I love lemon. :)
Wow – so beautiful! Your photos are gorgeous.
Amazing, lovely, as is all your work! Thank you and Happy Easter!
Your cakelet is too cute as the lemony delight ;) You are a genius!
—Omygoodness,
what a lemony feast for the eyes. Absolutley LUSH!
Rosie, you have outdone yourself again!!!! I absolutely love your posts – they are always so colourful, vibrant, enticing, and *delicious*! I am gonna have to make this beautiful, eye-popping cake – I luurrrvve lemon! Gorgeous!
=’.’=
Love lemons and lemon curd and lemony cake! Beautiful and sunshiny!
About how many discs total should you pipe, so there are enough for each layer and the top? How many should you plan on for each layer? And, under cake assembly, you say for the final or third layer to repeat step 4. What does that mean exactly? Just frost the cake after the crumb coat firms up? Thanks for clarifying.
What a great sunshiney treat! Pucker up deliciousness!
Looks yum!
Es espectacular, unas fotos preciosas. Cada vez que veo un post tuyo me quedo con la boca abierta. Te admiro mucho.
Un Beso.
Mercè.
This looks so refreshing and zesty! Lemon is such a great flavour with cakes. Kind regards, Juniper Cakery
This looks and sounds amazing! Love-love-love lemon! It’s so bright and cheerful. Perfect for spring! Thank you.
killing me with lemony cuteness!!! and what a genius little idea, those perfect meringue swirly puffs as decoratives – sooo cute!!
gorgeous styling and photos as always, too, rosie!
xo
As soon as I saw your photo of this cake on insta, I just knew it had to be filled with lemon curd! Love this one, Rosie!!
That cake is pure lemon goodness! It looks so happy and sunshine-y! I love all of the components and together they must be bliss.
This cake is just gorgeous! Love love lemons and can’t wait to use my Meyer lemons now. Thank you!!
love lemon! Perfect for Easter! Just a quick question: i dont have a large mixer will the swiss butter cream frosting turn out if i use an electric hand mixer with only beater attachments?
So bright and cheery. Makes me smile!
Yum! Lemon is one of my favorites, especially lemon curd! This cake sounds amazing.
I have tried sooooo many times to pipe meringues this way with a 3 way stripe on the side, but everytime I add my buttercream to the piping bag after I paint on the stripes- no matter how careful I am, the lines smudge. What is a trick to getting them to stay so straight??
A quick question…my meringues turned out chewy instead of crisp…any idea what I did wrong?
The cake looks amazing, with the meringues and the yellow color! Wow! But, to something else: do you have any idea what the name of the font you have in you’re blog is called? I would like to have it on mine, though.
What an incredibly beautiful cake and it sounds divine!
What a gorgeous and divine looking cake as always Rosie! Absolutely love lemons too!
Oh, Rosie, This cake = happy. All you do = happy. Your lemon meringue cake puts a smile on my face. Gorgeous, as always. xo
Lemon heaven!!! If I have a bad day, I’m coming back to this post—it makes me so happy! Thank you!
Love all your posts~and everything looks so heavenly GOOD :)
I’m dying to make this for a baby shower but the mom to be can’t eat dairy. The butter is ok, but what can I sub for the yogurt? Would a soy or coconut milk yogurt work?
Gorgeous cake! I made this for a baby shower yesterday and it had rave reviews, great recipe thanks!
I made this cake this weekend for my lemon living girlfriend ‘s birthday and it was fabulous. I only eliminated the merengue dics in the middle because I have a tiny European oven and had to choose between that and the swirls. Time was of essence. Gorgeous and tasty!
Hi I was just wondering if your meringue swirls stayed crisp? Mines became very soft & squiddgy….
Thanks L x
Thy did not. The extras stayed crisp in a ziplock bag, but the ones on the cake lost their crispness after a couple hours.
thanks so much for replying – that’s great at least I didn’t do something wrong :)
I want to thank you for this amazing recipe. I made this cake this last weekend for my husbands 40th birthday party and everybody just raved. The directions were so easy to follow and I did one component each evening and then just assembled in a day. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
LOVE all things lemon! This is one mouth-watering post, thanks to your awesome photography.
I adore this cake. You are absolutely right: lemon = happy. Can’t wait to make this for a special occasion. :)
I tried this recipie over the weekend and it is a big hit! (among the other big hits created because of you). Though I’m curious what happens to the merigunes in the layers, are they meant to soak up the lemon curd or are they going to hold their fine crispness? Just wondering how they were supposed to be placed into the layers and wondering if that makes a difference?
I made the frosting for my son’s communion and everyone just loved it. I made a vanilla cake and filled and frosted it with the lemon SMBC. I put a very thin layer of lemon curd on each cake and put some SMBC on top of it..
I will def be making this again!
Mmm…you are speaking my language! I just *love* lemony desserts. I pinned this and will try it as soon as possible!
I made this for Easter and it was a huge hit. It was the first desert finished on the table and so pretty and yellow. The Lemon Swiss Meringue buttercream was phenomenal. I love lemon curd and this was the perfect combination.
These are perfect for this beautiful spring weather we’ve been getting. You can’t go wrong with lemon.
Hi – I made this lovely cake last weekend & I was just wondering if I maybe did something wrong because my meringue didn’t stay crispy once it was on & in the cake….
Ps I love your blog :)
I made this cake yesτerday and I can’t rave enough about it. The texture is amazing. It has a light, fluffy, melt-in-the-mouth quality and the flavor is so rich.I have a question though. The cake shrank a bit once I took it out of the oven, it sort of slid off the cake tin and the height was affected too.Could it be because I baked two cakes simulteneously and the one was considerably taller than the other – I used a collar on this one- and so opened the oven early for the tall one? Is this supposed to happen?
Congrats again for the inspiring work
This cake was phenomenal. I am now a whiz at the meringue technique. (quite a bit of practice in this recipe) Also, I took each suggestion you made in regards to constructing the cake. It really helped. No cutting corners or rushing anymore! My boyfriend probably though I was a loon when I kept raving about how beautiful it turned out. Hopefully, one day my cakes will look beautiful like yours! The lemon flavor is my new favorite. (I did make the lemon blueberry for my birthday last year though.) I had the separation factor with the butter cream, but will try the expensive butter next time. (figured it was the lemon causing issues with other ingredients) Thank you again for inspiring me :)
Hi I’m really fan of your cakes I made a fluffy vanilla cake is the best recipe ever, I have a quick question about this cake, if I need a 10 ” cake I have just do double the recipe? Thank you
Hi, Rosie…im a big fan of yours! Now I’ve fallen in love with SMBC too. It’s almost summertime…im making a cake this Saturday for an outdoor party. Im scared that the buttercream will melt on a high 80s temperature. Any inputs on this? thanks.
Hi Rosie! This seems to be the perfect lemon cake, I will try it this weekend. I was just wondering, what will happen if i bake the whole cake at one pan and not three? (i’m just asking because i don’t have 3!) thanks for sharing, your blog is amazing! (i really love all your recipes and photos!)
This looks so yummy and what gorgeous photos of a pretty cake.
Wow, amazing presentation! The cake looks great too.
This looks wonderful! Any advice for doing this as a layered rectangular/sheet cake? I have to make a cake for 30 people! Thanks!!
Rosie! I’m in AWE of your many talents and I’ve learned so much from you. I’m attempting to make this cake and well, I’m struggling a bit with the meringue disks and swirls. I have made them twice now, but both times my spirals spread too much and wouldn’t hold a tight spiral. I even tried adding a little cream of tarter with the hopes that it would help to stabilize the batter. No luck. I was still able to pipe them but they were no where near as pretty as yours. I’m just curious what I’m doing wrong. I make your buttercream all the time and I wonder if the meringue that is produced for that recipe would work better since it’s more stable? Any thoughts?
Thank you again for all your helpful recipes and gorgeous photography. I appreciate all your guidance.
Hi there! I’m in a bit of a pinch and would really appreciate your opinion on something!
I will be making cupcakes in a few weeks for a wedding shower, and then later on November for the wedding day. Do you think the quality of a lemon cake recipe like this one would be compromised if frozen? I will not have a lot of time right before each event, so if I could freeze the cupcakes without completely destroying the texture that would be great!
Let me know what you think :)
-Donna
Hi Rosie, I’ve been following your blog and really lurrrrve the pictures of your beautiful cakes. I’ve recently even tried one of your recipes, the lemon cake and I am just ssssooo addicted to it. The difference is I made them into cupcakes, not regular cakes. My family adored it! =)
I just have a problem with the lemon swiss meringue buttercream. I really have no idea why my buttercream will “break” as I pipe. After all the whisking and stuff done in the mixing bowl, I had a bowl of BEAUTIFUL smooth glossy buttercream to die for. But disaster struck when I start piping!
The first few swirls I did turned out great! Very smooth clear lines but as I continue piping, I realised that the buttercream starts to turn “watery” and the swirls are not as pretty as they should be anymore! Why is this happening? Is it because of the addition of lemon curd which contains some lemon juice, thereby causing the splitting of the fat and water content? Can you please help? This is causing me a lot of distress, as I’m trying to really perfect my icing.
Hi Vanessa, I wonder if this is happening because your buttercream/curd mixture is just on the cusp of breaking and could use a bit more mixing before you start to pipe it. You can’t really over mix it so be sure you’re being thorough and also make sure your curd is really cold too. It’s possible that the heat from your hands and the friction of piping it could be just enough heat to cause it to break. Make sure that after you combine your buttercream and lemon curd that you get your buttercream cold again by returning it to your refrigerator for several minutes. Just an idea. I hope it helps.
Perhaps the egg whites need to be beaten a bit more? This is usually the cause of runny mixtures whenever egg whites are incorporated; I tried beating the egg whites until stiff peaks began to form, and increased the speed of my mixer by about two levels when beating the butter in, and I did not encounter any problems when piping. I do not think that the addition of the lemon curd with its lemon juice is causing this problem.
Since lemon is my most favorite thing in the world, all I can say is, YES! This looks incredible!
Thanks for sharing this detailed recipe. I made this cake without the meringue, but still delicious and earned me much praise! Love it that the sponge cake is not some airy tasteless cake but just slightly dense, with a strong lemon taste and moist enough.
For those who prefer to have the cake less sweet, you may wish to know that I reduced the sugar in the cake to 300g and it still turned out fine. I also reduced the sugar and butter in the smbc with no problems. The smbc turned out so smooth and silky, even when it was my first time making it (it went through the soupy and curdling stage)!
My only regret was in heating the curd in an aluminium bowl, this gave it a metallic taste. I’ve come to learn that lemon curd should be heated in a stainless steel bowl.
Hola!! Perdona antes mi facebook me traducía tus recetas,pero desde k lo actualize dejó de traducir y me encantan tus recetas pero mi inglés es demasiado básico,lo podrías por favor poner en español?? Gracias
I made this cake for a family brunch today and everyone loved it, thanks a lot :)
The lemon frosting is to die for!
Only on this site would it ever be possible to pucker up, and drool at the same time. Lemon love. LOL
do u have actual video
OMG!!! I made this for a friends birthday. Devine. So moist and lemony. The cake tasted better two days later and was still moist. Did not include the meringue discs and it was the first time making SMBC. Can’t wait to make again.
This is incredibly stunning!!!
Not only does this cake look gorgeous, it looks sensationally delicious!
I don’t think that I whipped my meringues enough! They had peaks, but I guess they weren’t stiff enough… When I piped them onto the sheet they weren’t all perky like yours :(
Can I use gluten-free flour?
I made this for my daughter “Bay-bee” shower yesterday. They don’t know what they are having so we used BEE theme. I made this into cupcakes. I will NEVER use another lemon recipe. This was such a huge hit. It was time consuming and I was so mad that I waited until Friday night to make it all, but it was so worth it. I did the whole sweet bar and I am so glad that I hid a few of the cupcakes for me to eat later. Thank you for this recipe.
mmm love it!
Made this cake as a possible trial for my friends wedding (will be doing her cake).. it was awesome! Great recipe. So lemony and worth all the work.
I used a cream cheese buttercream curd icing which was delish, only because I didn’t feel like whipping more meringue. However, I’d make this again in a heartbeat – that cake is fab.
Made this cake for my husband’s birthday. It was quite a challenge but made parts of it over a few days which helped. It tasted absolutely lovely, it was light and lemony – everyone loved it and my husband doesn’t want it to ever finish. Cake didn’t look as beautiful as on the photo but it was my first attempt at making a nice looking cake ;)
Love lemon and there is no better way to eat lemon curd than from scratch. It is so worth the effort. This cake looks like a dream and I’m going to have to try it! thanks for sharing!
this looks amazing! cant wait to try it. Just a question, can I also make the cake ahead and freeze it or will it compromise the taste and texture?
Hi!
Just a wee comment from me for any other bakers who are curious if this can be easily converted to gluten-free; the answer is YES. I simply used a gluten-free plain flour blend (Dove’s Farm), and for every 1 cup of flour in the recipe, I substituted for 140g of GF-flour. I also added 1/4 tsp of xantham gum. It resulted in THE lightest, super-fluffy cake WITHOUT the typically “gummy” texture associated with gluten-free cakes.
I did also add a lemon glaze drizzle over the cake when it was still warm in the tin – caster sugar & lemon juice – but that’s because I’m a bonafide Lemon Addict (with a capital A).
Thank you for such a gorgeous lemony recipe, and for having such clear step-by-step instructions. Your blog is in my top-three baking blogs I’ve bookmarked; your baking books are on my Christmas list this year.
Hi,
I want to try this recipe but instead of swiss meringue buttercream, I want to try frosting the cake with meringue and blow torching it. Once I frost the cake and blow torch it, can it be left overnight?
I made the lemon curd and frosting. The lemon curd is to die for. So extremely awesome. The frosting was great. It was my first time with swiss meringue. The curd and frosting are both time consuming. I made the lemon curd a week in advance and the frosting the day before. Next time I will try the cake as well.
Can i omit all lemon stuffs from the cake batter…wanna make the cake without lemon with lemon curd filling n simole swiss meringue buttercream..will it work?