Lemon Cream Cake

Today is my birthday! And I couldn’t let it pass without a cake, amiright?  This year’s is this lemon cream cake.

Now, I actually have two OG birthday cakes. One is my grandma’s peach upside down cake, which we would eat to celebrate Brother and my’s birthdays together, using the best fresh-from-the-roadside farm stand peaches of the season (IYKYK).  The second is a good old Carvel ice cream cake to celebrate when we got back to Florida with friends at the end of the summer. Yay for the best of summer foods!

This year’s cake pulls inspo from the dessert that my friends served at their wedding in Spain this summer. Not a traditional wedding cake at all, but rather layers of thin, crispy crepes layered with vanilla pastry cream. It was TO DIE FOR. I wanted to lick my plate then and there but…propriety.

Because I didn’t have the energy to figure out how to get my own crepes to be so gloriously and perfectly paper-like, I adapted my interpretation by making my sponge (this egg-based cake is the one I used) in five thin layers using special cake pans (you can totally use regular 8″ or 9″ rounds). In any case, this still has all of my favourite dessert things: pastry cream – because I love anything vanilla and custard- like, whipped cream – no explanation needed and hint of lemon, just because.

What do I need to make this lemon cream cake?

• Basic cake things:
  • dry goods:cake flour, baking powder and salt.
  • wet goods: eggs, lemon juice + zest, water and vanilla
• Basic pastry cream things:
  • milk
  • cornstarch
  • sugar
  • a whole egg + a few yolks
  • salt 
  • butter and lemon
• whipping cream and coconut to finish

This cake is so light and airy I could eat the entire thing myself in one sitting. But I didn’t. I may or may not have licked the plate though.

Let’s bake!

Lemon Cream Cake

Chrissy

This lemon cream cake layers soft, lemon scented sponge with sweet pastry cream and is topped with whipped cream and toasted coconut for a delicious treat.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

resting time 4 hours hrs

Total Time 4 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

For the pastry cream

• 1 cup milk whole or 2%
• 1 lemon peel from one lemon
• 1 large egg
• 1 large yolk
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 ½ TB cornstarch
• pinch salt
• 1 TB unsalted butter cubed
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ TB limoncello optional

For the cake

• 3 large eggs separated
• 6 TB sugar
• 6 TB water
• 6 TB cake flour
• pinch salt
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ½ tsp baking powder

For the rest

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• ½ cup toasted coconut flakes optional

Instructions

 

Make the pastry cream

• In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the milk and lemon. Bring to temperature where the milk has scalded- just before boiling. Remove from heat and let sit 10 minutes.
• While the milk sits, in a separate bowl, add the egg, yolk and sugar. Beat together one minute. Add the cornstarch and salt and beat another 4.
• After the milk has set for 10 minutes, remove the peel. Temper the eggs by adding approximately 1/4 cup of the hot milk to the egg mixture, beating the entire time- this will bring the eggs up to temperature and avoid having them scramble. Slowly add the rest of the milk and mix well.
• Return the mixture to the milk saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until pastry cream begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Once it thickens begins to bubble, whisk for one more minute.
• Remove from heat and add in the butter and vanilla and beat constantly until the butter has melted and all is smooth. Add in the limoncello. Transfer mixture to a cool bowl and cover with plastic wrap- letting the plastic touch the top of the cream (to avoid a skin). Refrigerate 3-4 hours.

Make the cake

• Spray and line 5 6" or 2 6" cake pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In the bowl of your mixer using the whisk attachment, beat the whites until stiff. Transfer to another bowl and set aside.
• Back in the mixer bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale yellow. Add the vanilla, salt and baking powder. Slowly add the flour, alternating with the water, and beat until just incorporated.
• Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the sugar/flour mixture. Divide the batter evenly into the cake pans.
• Bake the shallow cake pans about 7-9 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. If you're using thicker pans, you will need to cook the cake longer, approximately 20-25 minutes. Let cool in the pans for about 15 minutes and invert onto cooling racks to finish cooling.

Make the whipped cream

• In a mixing bowl, beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Sprinkle in the sugar and beat until well combined. Set aside until the cake is ready to assemble.

Assemble the cake

• For a five layer cake, place one cake layer on a plate. Fill with 1/4 of the pastry cream. Repeat with the remaining layers. Cover the entire cake in the whipped cream and, if desired, press toasted coconut on the sides. Enjoy!

Notes

Makes 1, 5-layer 6" cake or 1 2 layer-6" cake

Keyword cake, dessert