Lemon Cake is the recipe that Maria makes every spring birthday and every most vibrantly anticipated individual lemon-loving gathering when she wants to create the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely definitive individual lemon celebration cake that delivers the most vibrantly bright and the most properly concentrated individual fresh lemon character at the most three most essential individual levels simultaneously — the most freshly grated individual lemon zest AND the most freshly squeezed individual lemon juice AND the most brilliantly tart individual lemon curd swirled through the most beautifully silky individual lemon cream cheese frosting.
For the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely triple-lemon individual celebration cake that every single individual lemon-loving guest immediately declares is the most magnificently vibrant and the most properly extraordinary individual lemon dessert they have encountered. The most moist individual buttermilk and sour cream individual cake base provides the most essentially tender and the most beautifully fine individual crumb foundation.
Lemon Cake is the most easy and deeply extraordinary 1-hour moist triple lemon buttermilk sour cream celebration cake made by creaming butter and sugar adding eggs lemon zest and juice vanilla alternating flour and buttermilk sour cream baking at 350°F for 28 to 32 minutes frosting with lemon cream cheese curd frosting. Come follow us on Pinterest where we share beautiful cake recipes and easy spring favorites from our kitchen every single week.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Lemon Cake Recipe
This Lemon Cake recipe is the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely definitive individual triple-lemon celebration cake that delivers the most vibrantly bright and the most properly concentrated individual lemon character through the most brilliantly comprehensive triple-lemon approach — fresh zest for the most essential aromatic individual oil character, freshly squeezed juice for the most properly tart and the most vibrantly bright individual acidity in both the most individual cake batter and the most individual frosting, and the most beautifully vibrant individual lemon curd swirled through the most individual cream cheese frosting for the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely third individual lemon flavor component that makes this the most definitively extraordinary and the most properly lemon-in-every-element individual celebration cake.
The most brilliantly designed individual dual-liquid base — both buttermilk and sour cream together — produces the most beautifully balanced individual moisture for the most moist and the most properly fine individual lemon cake crumb that most effectively showcases and the most beautifully complements the most vibrant individual triple-lemon individual flavor character throughout every individual crumb. Our Lemon Cookie Cake makes a beautifully equally bright lemon and equally individually extraordinary companion for a complete and wonderful lemon celebration collection.
Ingredients Needed for This Lemon Cake Recipe
For the Triple Lemon Buttermilk Cake Layers:
- 2½ cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter, softened
- 1¾ cups Granulated Sugar
- 4 large Eggs, room temperature
- 3 tsp Fresh Lemon Zest (approximately 2 large lemons)
- 3 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Buttermilk, room temperature
- ¼ cup Sour Cream, room temperature
For the Lemon Cream Cheese Curd Frosting:
- 16 oz Full-Fat Brick-Style Cream Cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 4 to 5 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
- 3 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Fresh Lemon Zest
- ¼ cup Lemon Curd (store-bought or homemade), plus extra for garnish
- Pinch of Salt
- Yellow Gel Food Coloring (optional for the most vibrant individual lemon-sunshine yellow)
For Decoration:
- Fresh Lemon Slices, thin rounds
- Lemon Zest Curls
- Additional Lemon Curd drizzle
How to Make This Lemon Cake Recipe
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and line two 9-inch round cake pans.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Beat the softened butter and sugar on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes until the most light and the most beautifully fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla, cara mia.
In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and sour cream. On low speed, alternate the flour mixture in three additions with the buttermilk-sour cream mixture in two additions, beginning and ending with flour. Mix just until combined.
Divide evenly between the two prepared pans and bake for 28 to 32 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
For the lemon cream cheese curd frosting, beat the room-temperature cream cheese and butter until the most silky smooth. Add sifted powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt. Beat until the most fluffy. Swirl in the individual lemon curd with only 3 to 4 the most deliberate individual fold motions for the most beautifully marbled individual lemon curd swirl rather than fully incorporating. Add optional yellow gel coloring.
Assemble with the most generous individual lemon cream cheese curd frosting layer between the most two individual layers and frost the exterior. Drizzle additional lemon curd over the frosted top. Decorate with thin individual lemon rounds and the most beautiful individual lemon zest curls.
How to Serve This Lemon Cake Recipe
Serve chilled or at room temperature — allow 20 minutes out of the refrigerator for the most properly softened individual lemon cream cheese curd frosting. The most vibrant individual lemon slice and the most lemon zest curl garnish should be added within 2 hours of serving for the most freshly vibrant individual appearance and the most properly aromatic individual presentation.
For the most completely extraordinary individual spring or summer birthday presentation, arrange the most beautifully thin individual lemon rounds in the most elegant overlapping individual fan pattern over the most entire frosted top surface of the most individual assembled cake for the most completely show-stopping and the most genuinely extraordinary individual lemon cake centerpiece. Our Strawberry Lemon Cake makes a beautifully equally vibrant lemon and equally spring-celebration companion for a complete and wonderful lemon celebration collection.
How to Store This Lemon Cake Recipe
Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Allow 20 minutes at room temperature before serving for the most properly softened individual lemon cream cheese curd frosting. The individual lemon flavor deepens and becomes the most extraordinarily vibrant on day two as the most individual triple-lemon character the most fully develops throughout every individual crumb.
Tips to Make This Lemon Cake Recipe
Use only freshly squeezed individual lemon juice and the most freshly grated individual lemon zest for the most vibrantly bright and the most properly aromatic individual triple-lemon character throughout every individual component. Bottled individual lemon juice lacks the most essential volatile aromatic oils that provide the most genuinely extraordinary individual fresh citrus brightness that defines the most extraordinary individual lemon cake.
Swirl the individual lemon curd into the individual cream cheese frosting with only 3 to 4 the most deliberate individual fold motions rather than fully incorporating for the most beautifully defined and the most properly visible individual lemon curd swirl ribbons throughout the most individual frosting.
Helpful Notes for This Lemon Cake Recipe
For the most dramatically vibrant individual sunshine-yellow individual lemon cake presentation, add one to two most minimal drops of the most yellow gel food coloring to the individual lemon cream cheese curd frosting alongside the most individual lemon juice — the most natural individual cream cheese frosting is the most beautifully pale but the most gel-colored individual version produces the most dramatically vibrant and the most properly sunshine-yellow individual presentation that makes the most immediately obvious individual lemon character visual statement.
This most individual lemon cake tastes the most completely extraordinary when made one full day before the most individual serving occasion — the most overnight individual refrigerator rest allows the most vibrant individual triple-lemon character to the most fully permeate every individual crumb layer and the most individual lemon curd swirl flavor to the most completely and the most beautifully develop throughout the most entire individual frosting.
Variation of This Lemon Cake Recipe
Maria made a version adding half a cup of fresh blueberries through the individual batter for the most completely extraordinary and the most beautifully vibrant individual lemon blueberry layer cake with the same most gorgeous individual lemon cream cheese curd frosting. Teresa tried a poppy seed version — adding two tablespoons of poppy seeds to the individual batter — for the most completely extraordinary and the most classically beloved individual lemon poppy seed cake with lemon cream cheese frosting.
For a lime version, substitute all individual lemon components with fresh individual lime juice and zest for the most completely extraordinary and the most properly tropical individual lime cake with lime cream cheese curd frosting. Our Strawberry Lemon Cake makes a beautifully equally bright citrus and equally spring-celebration companion for a complete and wonderful citrus celebration cake collection.
FAQs About This Lemon Cake Recipe
What makes this a triple lemon cake?
This individual lemon cake delivers the most vibrant and the most properly concentrated individual lemon character at the most three most essential individual levels — fresh lemon zest for the most aromatic individual citrus oil character folded through the most individual cake batter, fresh lemon juice for the most properly tart individual acidity in both the most individual batter and the most individual frosting, and the most beautifully vibrant individual lemon curd swirled through the most individual cream cheese frosting for the most third most concentrated individual lemon flavor component that makes this so genuinely extraordinary.
Why use both buttermilk and sour cream?
The most dual individual liquid combination — half a cup of individual buttermilk plus a quarter cup of individual sour cream — is the most precisely calibrated individual pairing that produces the most beautifully balanced individual moisture for the most properly moist and the most tender individual lemon cake crumb. The most individual buttermilk’s individual acidity the most gently activates the most individual baking powder for the most properly fine individual crumb while the most individual sour cream’s the most higher individual fat content adds the most essential individual richness for the most beautifully moist individual layer.
Can I use lemon extract instead of fresh lemon?
Fresh individual lemon juice and the most freshly grated individual lemon zest produce the most vibrantly aromatic and the most properly bright individual lemon character that individual lemon extract cannot replicate with the most same most genuinely fresh and the most properly complex individual citrus individual brightness. Individual lemon extract produces the most artificial-tasting and the most one-dimensional individual lemon flavor compared to the most beautifully complex and the most multi-layered individual triple-fresh-lemon individual flavor.
Conclusion
This Lemon Cake is the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely definitive triple-lemon moist buttermilk celebration cake that makes every spring birthday and every lemon-loving gathering feel genuinely and completely special through the most vibrantly fresh triple lemon zest juice and curd character and the most beautifully silky lemon cream cheese curd frosting in every single vibrantly individual and completely irresistible lemon cake slice.
We hope it brings the same deeply joyful triple-lemon celebration magnificence and the same completely delighted spring table to your kitchen that it has always brought to ours. Make it, share it, and come back to tell us all about it. With all our love, Maria, Lucia, and Teresa.
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Lemon Cake The Most Easy Moist Buttermilk Triple Lemon Zest Juice Sour Cream Lemon Cream Cheese Curd Frosting Celebration Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes including cooling
- Yield: 12 to 14 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The most extraordinary moist triple-lemon Lemon Cake made by preheating oven to 350°F greasing and lining two 9-inch pans whisking 2 1/2 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt beating 1 cup softened butter and 1 3/4 cups sugar medium-high 2 to 3 minutes light and fluffy adding 4 room temperature eggs one at a time then 3 tsp lemon zest 3 tbsp lemon juice and vanilla whisking 1/2 cup room temperature buttermilk and 1/4 cup room temperature sour cream on low alternating flour in 3 additions with buttermilk sour cream in 2 additions beginning and ending with flour just combined dividing between pans baking 28 to 32 minutes until toothpick clean cooling 10 minutes then on racks then beating 16 oz room temperature cream cheese and 1/2 cup room temperature butter silky smooth adding 4 to 5 cups sifted powdered sugar 3 tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp lemon zest and salt beating fluffy swirling in 1/4 cup lemon curd in 3 to 4 deliberate motions for visible swirl adding optional yellow coloring assembling with frosting between and over layers drizzling lemon curd over top decorating with lemon rounds and zest curls. A completely perfect moist buttermilk sour cream triple lemon zest juice cream cheese lemon curd frosting celebration cake recipe.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Unsalted Butter softened
1 3/4 cups Granulated Sugar
4 large Eggs room temperature
3 tsp Fresh Lemon Zest approximately 2 large lemons
3 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Buttermilk room temperature
1/4 cup Sour Cream room temperature
16 oz Full-Fat Brick-Style Cream Cheese room temperature
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter room temperature for frosting
4 to 5 cups Powdered Sugar sifted
3 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice for frosting
1 tsp Fresh Lemon Zest for frosting
1/4 cup Lemon Curd plus extra for garnish
Pinch of Salt
Yellow Gel Food Coloring optional
Fresh Lemon Slices thin rounds for garnish
Lemon Zest Curls for garnish
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F 175°C. Grease and line two 9-inch pans.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. Beat softened butter and sugar medium-high 2 to 3 minutes light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add lemon zest, juice, and vanilla.
4. Whisk buttermilk and sour cream. On low alternate flour in 3 additions with buttermilk sour cream in 2 additions beginning and ending with flour. Mix just combined.
5. Divide between pans. Bake 28 to 32 minutes until toothpick clean.
6. Cool 10 minutes. Transfer to racks. Cool completely.
7. Beat cream cheese and butter silky smooth. Add powdered sugar, lemon juice, zest, and salt. Beat fluffy.
8. Swirl in lemon curd in 3 to 4 deliberate motions for visible swirl. Add optional coloring.
9. Assemble with frosting between and over layers. Drizzle lemon curd over top. Decorate with lemon rounds and zest curls.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 32 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Cake, Spring, Lemon, Birthday
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 525
- Sugar: 52g
- Sodium: 275mg
- Fat: 27g
- Saturated Fat: 17g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 66g
- Fiber: 0.5g
- Protein: 7g
- Cholesterol: 125mg
Keywords: lemon cake, easy moist lemon cake recipe buttermilk sour cream triple lemon zest juice cream cheese lemon curd frosting, best triple lemon celebration cake, moist buttermilk sour cream triple lemon zest juice curd cream cheese frosting cake
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