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Lemon Ombre Layer Cake with Lemon Curd Filling
I'm currently working a photo shoot for a French brand around lemons, so I'm obsessed with the theme!
Needless to say, I've also been baking quite a bit of lemon flavored treats, hence today's Lemon Ombre Cake with Lemon Curd Filling. You're welcome! 😁
This lemon ombre layer cake is perfect for so many summer parties. Think themed birthdays, bridal or baby showers, or a simple summer dessert to wow your family and friends with!
Lemon Ombre Layer Cake with Lemon Curd Filling
This lemon cake is a culmination of my personal quest to find the whitest, mots delicious, but easy to make cake frosting.
If you follow the blog for a while, you'll know how much I'm also obsessed with layer cakes lately?
Well, as much as I like the quickest-of-them-all frosting, the American buttercream; I always find it a tad too sweet for my liking, and I have a really hard time achieving a really white frosting. Even with the trick of adding a little purple food coloring to the mix...
So I've been trying a few Swiss meringue Buttercream frosting recipes, and this one's a winner!
It gives you the most wonderful, fluffy white frosting (which is a great base for adding your own color), but it also is as smooth as silk and eats soooo well (tried and tasted!).
I also like the simpler technique for making this frostings as opposed to the Italian Meringue Buttercream, which is another silky smooth frosting.
The sponge cake recipe is my own twist of the classic Victoria sponge, with added lemon flavor.
I really wanted to add lemon curd to the filling, which totally elevated the cake to the next lemon taste level!
It was also really fortunate, because I had plenty of egg yolks left over from making the buttercream, so you can call it a win win recipe!
You can also make this cake a few days ahead of your party, as it keeps beautifully in the fridge.
Before serving, take the cake out and let it rest at room temperature (not too hot a place though!) before serving.
The frosting and decor of this cake was inspired by John at Preppy Kitchen, who is a master baker extraordinaire! I love his precise recipes in both metric and imperial units, and often check out his site for learning new techniques on cake decorating.
But as always, I like to add my own flair, like the lemon curd filling, which is to die for!
Okay, let's get baking now!
Lemon Ombre Layer Cake with Lemon Curd Filling
Yield: 6 inch three layer cake
Lemon Ombre Layer Cake with Lemon Curd Filling - a delicious lemon sponge with a silky smooth Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting!
ingredients:
Lemon Sponge Cake - 3 six-inch layers
- 263 g butter at room temp
- 263 g caster sugar
- 4 room temperature eggs
- 263 g flour
- 22 g baking powder
- zest of 1 lemon
- 6 tablespoons lemon curd for filling
Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting - for filling, frosting and swirls
- 5 room temperature egg whites
- 300 g caster sugar
- 452 g room temperature butter
- 1 teaspoon of lemon extract
- Yellow gel food coloring for candy (I used Wilton)
Lemon Curd Filling - 2 cups
- 4 egg yolks
- 2/3 cup castor sugar
- 60 g unsalted butter
- 2 tsp grated lemon zest
- 100 ml lemon juice
instructions:
How to cook Lemon Ombre Layer Cake with Lemon Curd Filling
Lemon Sponge Cake
- In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add one egg at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add lemon zest and mix to combine.
- In a separate bowl sift flour and baking powder.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar bowl and mix with a large metal spoon until combined.
- Divide the batter equally between 3 six inch round cake pans lined with parchment paper and greased (about 315 g in each pan)
- Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 25-30 minutes until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Take cakes out of the oven, and let them rest in the pan for about 5 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, add sugar and egg whites and heat over a pan of water on medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
- Rub with fingers to test if the sugar has dissolved.
- Beat using the whisk attachment on your standing mixer, for about 15-20 minutes until the mixture comes to room temperature and the bowl is completely cool to the touch.
- Add the butter in cubes, piece by piece, on medium speed with mixer on until all the butter has been incorporated.
- Add lemon extract and beat to combine.
Lemon Curd
- Whisk egg yolks and sugar until well combined but not frothy.
- Tip into a heavy-based non-reactive saucepan and add butter, zest and juice.
- Stirring constantly, bring to simmering point over a medium-high heat (about five minutes).
- As soon as bubbles appear, remove from heat, still stirring. Allow to cool.
- Transfer to sterilized jars and seal. refrigerate for at least 1 day before using to fill your cake to allow it to firm up.
Frosting and Decorating Your Cake
- Place a layer of the cooled cake onto a 6 inch cardboard disc.
- Add a dam of buttercream around the edges of the cake about 1 inch tall.
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of lemon curd in the center and smooth it out with a spatula.
- Place another cake layer on top and repeat the buttercream dam and lemon curd filling.
- Finish with the third cake layer on top, flattest side up.
- Crumb coat your cake with a thin layer of buttercream. Chill the cake in the freezer for about 10 minutes to seal in the crumbs.
- Meanwhile, color half of your remaining buttercream with yellow gel food coloring.
- Add yellow buttercream to the bottom half of your cake, and white buttercream to the top and top half of the cake.
- Smooth it out with a bench scraper or cake smoother.
- Add dollops of yellow and white along the center to help blend the colors of frosting and create an ombre effect.
- Smooth the frosting as before.
- ***If using acrylic discs, place the cake in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
- Take cake out of the freezer and remove the acrylic disc using a sharp knife, then touch up the top with more white buttercream.
- Fit a piping bag with an open star tip 1M Wilton.
- Fill the piping bag with remaining frosting (You can use a combination of yellow + white to achieve a color swirl)
- Pipe dollops of frosting on top of the cake.
NOTES:
Use candy gel food coloring or powder to color your Swiss Meringue buttercream. But if you're not sure if your food coloring is compatible with the Swiss Meringue buttercream, test a small amount in a small bowl to see if it colors and mixes evenly.
(c) Bird's Party - BirdsParty.com
Check out how to decorate and frost your lemon ombre cake in the video below!
Hope you like the recipe and feel inspired to have a go! If you do, tag us on social media #BirdsParty so we can see and share your creativity! 😍
This post Lemon Ombre Layer Cake with Lemon Curd Filling appeared first on Bird's Party Blog
Popping over from the Artsy Fartsy Link Party. Your cakes are always so beautifully done! Pinned 😊
ReplyDeleteOhmygosh! That looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, your post is featured on Full Plate Thursday,441 this week. Thanks so much for sharing it with us and I am pinning it to our Features Board. Hope you have a very special day!
ReplyDeleteMiz Helen
Absolutely beautiful, and looks so delicious. It would look perfect a brunch table. Thanks for sharing on Sunday's Best. I'll be featuring it!
ReplyDeleteSo pretty! I absolutely love this cake!
ReplyDelete