Lemon Cream Cake
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.
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