Yummy lemon cake - filled with delicious, homemade lemon curd! I had a little bowl of leftover lemon curd that kept having spoonfuls disappear from it each day after making this cake. The cake is small, only 6" in diameter, but with three layers and packed with flavor, a little goes a long way. We'll definitely be making this again! Enjoy!
I recommend making the lemon curd filling first, since it seems to take the longest time to chill. However, you can speed up the chilling of the curd. I'll explain how after the recipe.
Lemon Curd:
In a medium saucepan, whisk together:
zest from 2 lemons
juice from 2 lemons (~1/2 cup, make sure to strain for seeds)
2/3 cup water
3/4 cup white sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch
Heat over medium heat, stirring regularly with a whisk. Once mixture comes to a boil and has thickened a bit, let boil 1 minute. Then add and boil 1 additional minute:
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 Tbsp salted butter
Pour the curd into a large bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. You can chill in the refrigerator OR, place your bowl into a bowl of ice. You can fill a freezer ziploc with ice to place on top of the plastic wrap, too, to speed up the chilling. I use this method when I'm short on time.
You can spread with a knife or place curd in a ziploc, snip the corner, and pipe onto your cake. I prefer this method for even and easy spreading.
Lemon Cakes:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Butter and line three 6" round pans with parchment paper.
Whisk together in a large bowl:
1/4 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Add and whisk until smooth:
1/2 cup milk (or milk substitute)
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla extract OR vanilla bean paste
3 eggs
5 drops lemon essential oil (I like the DoTerra lemon oil for cooking) (OR 2-3 drops oil + zest of 1 lemon)
Divide batter between the three 6" lined pans. Bake 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Let cakes rest 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Quick & Easy Buttercream Icing:
In a mixer with whisk attachment, combine and whisk until light and fluffy:
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp vanilla extract OR vanilla bean paste
milk, add 1-2 tsp at a time until desired consistency.
I usually find ~2-3 Tbsp of milk works great for a light and fluffy frosting.
Layer your cakes as desired. Ideally, pipe a circle of frosting around the edge of the bottom and middle circle of cake. Pipe the lemon curd in the middle and gently layer the cakes. It's best to chill now for an hour to help keep lemon curd from getting squished or leaking out at all. Make a thin crumb coat of frosting on the sides and top of the cake. Chill again for an hour or so. Cover the cake with frosting. I don't like to have too much frosting on a cake, so I try to keep the frosting to a minimum.
Keep the cake refrigerated until about an hour before serving. Slice and serve! We served it with homemade strawberry ice cream! Yum!
A slice of yummy lemon cake filled with lemon curd!
Packed with flavor, this 6" cake is perfect for a summer birthday party! I slapped the icing on as fast as humanly possible with the help of a five year old. Still delicious!
Lemon Cake with Homemade Lemon Curd Filling (Gluten Free)
Makes three 6" round layered cake.I recommend making the lemon curd filling first, since it seems to take the longest time to chill. However, you can speed up the chilling of the curd. I'll explain how after the recipe.
Lemon Curd:
In a medium saucepan, whisk together:
zest from 2 lemons
juice from 2 lemons (~1/2 cup, make sure to strain for seeds)
2/3 cup water
3/4 cup white sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch
Heat over medium heat, stirring regularly with a whisk. Once mixture comes to a boil and has thickened a bit, let boil 1 minute. Then add and boil 1 additional minute:
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 Tbsp salted butter
Pour the curd into a large bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. You can chill in the refrigerator OR, place your bowl into a bowl of ice. You can fill a freezer ziploc with ice to place on top of the plastic wrap, too, to speed up the chilling. I use this method when I'm short on time.
You can spread with a knife or place curd in a ziploc, snip the corner, and pipe onto your cake. I prefer this method for even and easy spreading.
Homemade lemon curd after chilling, ready to place in a ziploc and pipe.
Lemon Cakes:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Butter and line three 6" round pans with parchment paper.
Whisk together in a large bowl:
1/4 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Add and whisk until smooth:
1/2 cup milk (or milk substitute)
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla extract OR vanilla bean paste
3 eggs
5 drops lemon essential oil (I like the DoTerra lemon oil for cooking) (OR 2-3 drops oil + zest of 1 lemon)
Divide batter between the three 6" lined pans. Bake 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Let cakes rest 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Quick & Easy Buttercream Icing:
In a mixer with whisk attachment, combine and whisk until light and fluffy:
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp vanilla extract OR vanilla bean paste
milk, add 1-2 tsp at a time until desired consistency.
I usually find ~2-3 Tbsp of milk works great for a light and fluffy frosting.
Layer your cakes as desired. Ideally, pipe a circle of frosting around the edge of the bottom and middle circle of cake. Pipe the lemon curd in the middle and gently layer the cakes. It's best to chill now for an hour to help keep lemon curd from getting squished or leaking out at all. Make a thin crumb coat of frosting on the sides and top of the cake. Chill again for an hour or so. Cover the cake with frosting. I don't like to have too much frosting on a cake, so I try to keep the frosting to a minimum.
I tend to go for flavor over function sometimes. I love the lemon curd, and so pipe a circle of frosting and fill with lemon curd on both layers. To avoid curd squishing out from the bottom layer, you could flavor your frosting with a little lemon zest and lemon oil and then fill the bottom layer with a lemon frosting and the top layer with the curd.
Keep the cake refrigerated until about an hour before serving. Slice and serve! We served it with homemade strawberry ice cream! Yum!
Lemon cake with Lemon Curd served with homemade strawberry ice cream. We had a quadruple birthday party with extended family, so I used the sunshine muffin batter cooked as cakes, then filled with a cream cheese frosting for the second cake. Everyone got slivers of each. A delicious summer treat! Yum!
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