Lemon Cake with Lemon Curd & Lemon Buttercream Frosting
This Garden Party Lemon Layer cake is so much fun to make for a summer garden party, a bridal shower, or a summer afternoon tea. Simply frost the cake with your favorite buttercream frosting and then decorate with your favorite fruits, herbs, and edible flowers. My son asked me if I would eat these flowers, and I probably would not, even though they are edible. However, if you are so inclined, you certainly could eat them. Please read below about how to clean and use flowers as garnishes on your food. In this case, I actually covered the top of the cake with plastic wrap and covered it with fruit and flowers, because I am not serving this cake for another few weeks. So, after the photo shoot, off came the flowers, and the frosted cake went into the freezer.
The cake itself is based on a cake from Amy’s Breads in New York City. I just love her cakes and whenever I would visit my daughter during her Broadway years, we always stopped in for at least one big slice of Amy’s Black and White Cake. Somehow, I managed to find her vanilla cake recipe online (or a close enough version of it), and I have adapted this same recipe for my daughter’s chocolate wedding cake as well as this delicious lemon layer cake. The recipe makes a perfect eight-inch layer cake, with two thick layers and lemon curd in between.
For the flowers, you can look for prepackaged edible flowers, or you can pick them out of your own garden. Or, you can buy them from a flower shop, but be aware that you will have to clean them thoroughly before using them on your cake to get rid of any sprays or pesticides that were used on them. Or, just use my plastic wrap trick and pull the flowers off when serving.
Speaking of edible flowers, be sure to use only safe, pesticide-free edible flowers, and be sure to gently rinse of clean them, and dry them completely before using them in the cake. Also, never insert the raw stems directly into the cake. They have these very cool little plastic picks you can use to insert the stems into the cake. In the case of this cake, I didn’t insert anything at all, but rather just arranged the fruits and flowers on top.
What are the best flowers for decorating cakes …
Be sure to check whether any flowers you want to use are safe. Be sure they are cleaned of any toxins or pesticides that they may have been grown with.
The safe and commonly used flowers include:
Roses, Pansies, Violas, Nasturtiums, Lavender, Chamomile, Calendula, Marigolds, and Cornflowers. We also use mint leaves for green accents.
Flowers to avoid using in cake decorating
Avoid toxic flowers like:
Lily of the valley, Hydrangea, Oleander, Foxglove, Daffodils,
(Interestingly, hydrangeas are popular visually but are technically toxic if ingested.)
How to clean the flowers
Best Cleaning Method
Step 1: Inspect carefully and remove:
Wilted petals, bugs, dirt, damaged leaves,
Step 2: Give them a gentle wash
Give the flowers a gentle rinse under cool water or give them a gentle swish in a bowl of clean water. Do NOT blast flowers with high-pressure water.
Step 3: Vinegar Wash (Optional but extra-thorough)
For extra sanitation, mix 1-part white vinegar to 4 parts cool water and quickly dip or swish flowers for about 30 seconds. Then rinse lightly with cool water. This helps reduce surface bacteria and residue.
Step 4: Dry Thoroughly
Lay flowers on paper towels or clean kitchen towels. Let air dry completely becuase moisture on the flowers can damage the frosting on the cake.
Very important: protect the cake
Never stick untreated stems directly into cake because they can leak sap, carry bacteria or transfer chemicals.
Best Ways to Insert Flowers Safely:
- Just use the blossoms and cut off the stems – this is the easiest method – this works really well for pansies, violas, and roses.
- Use plastic floral picks or flower tubes to insert stems into the cake. or
- Wrap the stems in floral tape
- I like to cover the top of the cake with a layer of plastic wrap and arrange the flowers on top of that wrap, completely covering the wrap so it doesn’t show. This avoids any of the other problems.
Timing matters when you decorate the cake to keep flowers fresh
Decorate the cake as close to serving time as possible. Fresh flowers wilt under refrigeration, heat, or direct sunlight. For roses and sturdier flowers, lightly mist the blossoms with water and refrigerate them separately overnight before decorating.
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Garden Party Lemon Layer Cake
Equipment
- 2 8-inch round cake tins (2 inches tall)
- 1 revolving cake turntable (for frosting and decorating the cake)
Ingredients
Lemon Cake
- 11 oz. unsalted butter (softened to room temp)
- 2 7/8 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 5 large eggs (at room temp)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tsp. baking powder
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
Lemon Curd
- 2 large eggs
- 6 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tsp. lemon zest
- 1 tbsp. butter
Lemon Buttercream Frosting
- 12 oz. unsalted butter (softened to room temp)
- 2 tsp. vanilla powder (we use Cook’s Vanilla Powder)
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 8 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- cup milk +/-
Flower Garnishes
- 3 dozen assorted edible flowers, herbs, leaves
- 1 cup assorted berries: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries
- 1 medium peach, cut into bite-sized pieces
Instructions
Lemon Cake
- Line two 8-inch layer cakes with parchment paper. Spray with cooking spray. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Blend flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in sugar and beat until well-integrated. Blend in vanilla extract.
- Add eggs to butter mixture, one at a time, beating very well after each addition.
- Add flour mixture and liquids to butter mixture alternately, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Beat until well blended. Stir in yogurt.
- Distribute batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake pan comes out clean. Remove cakes from oven and cool on a rack for about 20 minutes.
- When cool, remove cakes from pans and continue to cool. Cakes can be made several days ahead of time and refrigerated, or several weeks ahead of time and frozen. Before wrapping and freezing or refrigerating the cake layers, cut off any rounded tops so that the two layers are the same height and flat on both the top and the bottom of each layer.
- Be sure to completely wrap each layer separately in plastic wrap before freezing. I usually put the wrapped layers into a ziploc baggie as well, to keep them extra moist.
Lemon Curd
- Blend eggs, sugar and lemon juice with a wire whisk in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat and continue to stir until mixtures thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest and butter. Cool for about 10 minutes and transfer the lemon curd to a small bowl. Cover with plastic wrap directly on top of the lemon curd. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Lemon Buttercream Frosting
- Place butter in a large bowl or the bowl of your standing mixer. Beat until light in color and very creamy. Add vanilla powder and beat well.
- Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and beat well. Add lemon juice and beat again.
- From this point on, add remaining powdered sugar and milk alternately, adding just a tablespoon of milk at a time, and continue to beat until you reach your desired spreading consistency.
Assembling the Cake
- I really love to work with a frozen cake, so I usually make the cake ahead of time and freeze it before filling and frosting it.
- Place one layer on your cake platter, right side up. Spread lemon curd over the top of this layer. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes so that the lemon curds stiffens up a bit. Then, spread a layer of buttercream frosting right over the lemon curd. Place the second layer, this time with the bottom side up, right over the filling. Press down on the top layer slightly to flatten and even out the cake.
- It’s now time to frost the entire cake with a crumb coat of frosting. To do this and not get crumbs into your frosting, separate out about 1/3 of the frosting into a separate bowl. Use this for the crumb coat. This coat doesn't have to be perfect, but should cover the cake. To make this frosting smooth, use a bench scraper along the sides of the cake. Refrigerate crumb-coated cake for at least 30 minutes, or put it into the freezer for about 15 minutes before spreading your final coat of frosting. This just makes it so much easier to spread the frosting.
- Now, spread the entire cake with the final coat of buttercream frosting using an off-set spatula. Once the cake is completely frosted you can either refrigerate it or go about decorating it, depending upon when you want to serve it. You can frost this cake a few days ahead of time and keep it in an air-tight cake carrier, or you can frost, decorate it and serve it all at one time. Be sure to add the flowers just before serving so they stay fresh and won’t wilt.
- Using the fruit, edible flowers, and herbs you've selecte, (we like to use mint for the green leaves), arrange them on top of the cake and along the bottom edges of the cake platter, making a beautiful English garden effect. When ready to serve, your guests can decide if they want to eat any of the flowers. I usually don’t, but some people may like to!
