Lemon layer cake is a dreamy two-layer cake filled with tart lemon curd that's topped with cream cheese buttercream frosting. It's moist, buttery, and filled with fresh lemon flavor!
I love lemon desserts. I've made lemon cupcakes and lemon sheet cake already, so it was only a matter of time before I made a lemon layer cake!
The base of this recipe starts with a simple lemon cake. It's very similar to my vanilla layer cake recipe, but with the addition of plenty of fresh lemon zest and lemon juice. By using cake flour instead of all-purpose, the cake layers have a softer texture and a fine, tender crumb.
I've filled this cake with lemon curd, but additional cream cheese frosting (which you'll find on top!) will also do the trick. Lemon layer cake is perfect for spring or summer parties like Easter or baby showers.
Cake ingredients
- Unsalted butter - Adds moisture and buttery flavor to the cake batter. Unsalted butter (and the listed salt) can be substituted with salted butter if desired.
- Eggs - Add stability and moisture to the cake.
- Whole milk - Adds moisture to your cake. For best success, I suggest using whole milk, not skim or 1% milk. Your cake can turn out less moist (and may dry out faster) when using lower fat milks.
- Cake flour - Cake flour has a lower protein content than other flours, like all-purpose or bread flour, creating a smaller, more tender crumb. I highly recommend using cake flour rather than all-purpose flour.
- Baking powder - Cannot be substituted with baking soda. The two are not interchangeable.
- Salt - Enhances the flavor of your cake without making it "salty".
- Vanilla extract - Enhances the flavor of your cake.
- Lemon juice and zest - You'll need about two medium lemons for this recipe. I highly recommend using freshly squeezed lemon juice and zest for best flavor. Bottled juice concentrate often has a harsh flavor in comparison. Don't skip the zest! Lemon zest contains the most concentrated lemon flavor. If you'd like even more lemon flavor, add more zest (not juice). Adding extra juice can weigh down your cake batter, making it too wet and heavy to rise properly in the oven.
- Granulated sugar - Sweetens your cake and also helps it retain moisture. I do not recommend using sugar-free substitutes in this recipe because I haven't tested these alternatives and can't guarantee how they'll turn out. I suggest doing a Google search for a recipe that fits the ingredients you have on hand.
- Lemon curd (not shown) - I like to use lemon curd as a filling. If you don't like lemon curd or don't have any on hand, any flavor of jam could be used, like strawberry or raspberry. You can also fill your cake with additional buttercream frosting. This recipe makes enough frosting to thickly coat the top and outsides, or a thin layer all over including the middle.
Frosting ingredients
- Cream cheese - For this recipe, it's very important to use the correct type of cream cheese. You'll need one 8-ounce block of full-fat original cream cheese. Low-fat cream cheese or spreadable cream cheese in a tub will not work for this recipe. Using whipped or spreadable cream cheese will result in a runny frosting.
- Butter - I only recommend making this recipe with a stick of real butter, not margarine or vegetable oil spread (commonly found in a tub). I recommend unsalted butter so that you can control the amount of salt in your buttercream, but salted butter can be substituted (and the listed salt omitted) if desired.
- Vanilla extract - Adds flavor to the frosting.
- Confectioner's sugar - Sometimes called powdered sugar or icing sugar. Confectioner's sugar sweetens and stabilizes the frosting, making it thick and pipeable. I don't recommend blending granulated sugar to make confectioner's sugar because you often can't achieve the superfine texture of manufactured confectioner's sugar at home.
- Salt - Enhances the flavor of the frosting and helps balance with the sweetness. I don't recommend omitting the salt unless you're using salted butter.
Tips and tricks
Lemon preparation - Zest both of your lemons into a bowl, then slice them in half and juice the halves into a separate bowl.
Room temperature ingredients - Make sure your butter, eggs, and milk are all room temperature before beginning (not melted, not cold). Room temperature ingredients emulsify when mixed and create a creamy, even batter that bakes up fluffy in the oven.
Sift dry ingredients - Sift or whisk your dry ingredients together. This removes clumps and helps create a smooth, even batter.
Don't overmix the batter - Mix your dry ingredients just enough to incorporate them into the batter. Overmixing can overwork the gluten, causing your cake to turn out tough.
Filling your cake - Pipe a ring of frosting around the top edge of your bottom cake layer to create a barrier. Carefully spoon lemon curd (or your preferred filling) into the frosting circle and spread into an even layer. This ensures your lemon curd doesn't seep out after stacking the second layer of cake.
Storage
Homemade cakes are best served the same day they are baked. However, there are solutions if you need to make your cake a few days (or weeks) ahead of time.
Room temperature - Cake frosted with cream cheese frosting can be stored in a tightly sealed container at room temperature for up to two hours. After that, it needs to be refrigerated. Traditional buttercream frosted cake can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature for up to two days.
Refrigerating - Unfrosted or frosted cake can be refrigerated for 2 to 3 days. Wrap unfrosted cake in plastic and store in a sealed container. Optionally, brush your cake with simple syrup to help keep it moist for longer (see my section below on how to prevent dry cake). Bring to room temperature for an hour before serving.
Freezing - Unfrosted or frosted cake can be frozen for up to two months. For a frosted cake, first freeze for an hour, unwrapped, until firm. Gently wrap in plastic and store in a tightly sealed container for up to 2 months. Thaw your cake in the refrigerator overnight, then bring it to room temperature for an hour before serving.
Freezing frosting - Cream cheese frosting can be frozen in a tightly sealed container for 2 to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature and rewhip as needed to make it light and fluffy.
Frequently asked questions
This layer cake can be prepared in 9-inch or 8-inch round cake pans. This amount of batter can also be baked in a 13x18 or 9x13 sheet pan - see my recipe for lemon sheet cake for full details! It's the same exact recipe made as a sheet cake.
Check your cake for doneness by jiggling the pan - if it moves, it's not done yet. If your cake isn't jiggly in the center, gently press onto the top with a finger. If an indent is left, it needs more time. If it pops right back, your cake is done.
The toothpick method is another popular way to check for doneness. Insert a toothpick into the center of your cake. If the toothpick comes back dry or with crumbs (not wet batter), your cake is done.
This recipe can be sliced to serve as many as 30-40 people with small slices (think wedding cake slices). Slicing large wedges will yield about 12-16 servings.
I recommend adding more lemon zest or some lemon extract, not lemon juice. Lemon zest contains more concentrated lemon flavor and doesn't add extra moisture to the cake. Adding more lemon juice can make the batter too heavy and wet to rise properly in the oven.
Troubleshooting
One of the most common complaints I see in baking is that the recipe is followed "to a T" and the cake/cookies still turn out dry. Dry baked goods can happen for several reasons:
- Ingredients were substituted/omitted/reduced - The fats and sugar (butter, whole milk, eggs, and granulated sugar) help keep your cake moist. Using lower fat substitutions, reducing the sugar, or omitting an ingredient entirely will cause your cake to turn out dry.
- Too much flour was added to the recipe - Either use a kitchen scale to weigh your flour accurately (which is how I measure flour and highly recommend to others), or spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level off with a knife. Scooping with the measuring cup directly from a bin of flour compacts it into the cup, adding up to 25% extra flour to the recipe.
- Cake was overbaked - Baking a cake for too long will dry it out in the oven. Ovens are inconsistent and can run hotter or colder than the next oven. The time that worked for me may not work for you, so I recommend using other cues to tell when your cake is done.
This is a baker's secret that's optional but effective! Brush simple syrup over your cake before frosting. A layer of simple syrup helps keep the cake moist for longer. Simple syrup is a 1:1 ratio of water and granulated sugar, brought to a boil on the stove top until dissolved, then cooled to room temperature. I'd suggest about ¼ cup or more for this size cake.
Cake can turn out dense from expired leavening, overmixing the wet and dry ingredients (this overworks the gluten), not whipping the butter and sugar long enough, or adding extra wet ingredients (like adding sour cream or applesauce to make cake "extra moist"). If the balance of wet and dry ingredients is off, this can cause a change in texture, preventing your cake from rising properly in the oven.
All cakes, even lemon cake, will brown on the outside edges due to a chemical reaction that happens when sugar is heated up. This is called a Maillard reaction and is completely normal. The insides will remain light and fluffy and the tops will be covered by frosting.
Sinking can happen for many reasons. Overmixing the batter (which adds extra air that's released during baking), underbaking, using expired leavening, using the wrong leavening, or accidentally doubling the leavening can all cause your cake to sink in the middle.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Lemon Layer Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups (346 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 3 cups (336 g) cake flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (227 g) whole milk, room temperature
- ¼ cup (57 g) lemon juice
Frosting
- 8 ounces (227 g) block-style cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 ½ cups (400 g) confectioner's sugar
Filling (optional)
- 1 cup (340 g) lemon curd
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Generously grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans, optionally add parchment rounds to the bottom, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add room temperature butter and granulated sugar. Beat until creamed and fluffy. Add vanilla extract, lemon zest, and eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated and smooth.
- In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients: cake flour, baking powder, and salt. In a liquid measuring cup, add lemon juice to milk.
- Add half of the dry ingredients to your butter mixture. Mix until just combined. Add half of the milk mixture, again mixing until just combined. Repeat once more to add remaining dry ingredients and milk until just combined.
- Pour batter evenly into two prepared round cake pans and spread into an even layer.
- Two 9 inch round cake pans: 24-27 minutesTwo 8 inch round cake pans: 26-30 minutesBake your cake using the times listed above as an estimate, or until cake is baked through in the center. If your cake jiggles in the middle, it needs more time. If cake is not jiggly, gently press into the center with a finger. If an indent is left, your cake is not done. If cake springs back, it's done. Ovens can run hot, so I suggest using visual cues and not relying on time alone.
- Remove cake from oven and allow to cool completely in the pans on a wire cooling rack.
Frosting
- In a large bowl, add room temperature cream cheese and butter and beat with a hand mixer (or stand mixer) until creamy, about 1 minute.
- Add vanilla extract and salt and mix until incorporated.
- Add confectioner's sugar, half at a time, and mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated. Switch to high speed and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Cake assembly
- Gently flip and remove cakes from their pans. Trim the rounded tops with a serrated knife to make flat layers. Place one layer, cut side down, onto a cake stand or plate.
- Using a pastry bag or a plastic bag with the corner snipped, pipe a small amount of frosting around the top perimeter of the cake. This prevents the lemon curd from seeping out of the edges. Fill the center with lemon curd and spread into an even layer. Place other cake layer, cut side down, on top.
- If not filling with lemon curd, spread a thin layer of frosting across bottom layer, then top with second cake layer, cut side down.
- Frost the top and sides of your layer cake with prepared frosting. Slice and serve.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Baking is an exact science. I do not recommend substituting any ingredients. The butter, milk, eggs, and sugar keep your cake moist - substituting any of these ingredients with a lower fat alternative can change the texture and make your cake dry.
- Frosted cake will keep in a sealed container at room temperature for 2 hours, in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, or frozen for up to 2 months. If refrigerating or freezing unfrosted cake layers, wrap tightly in plastic and place in a tightly sealed container. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature for an hour before serving.
- Cream cheese frosting needs to be refrigerated if it sits out for longer than 2 hours. Store frosted baked goods in the refrigerator in a tightly sealed container. Remove and bring to room temperature 1 hour before serving.
- Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking cake, based on reader comments and questions!
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