As I mix and whip and bake to get ready for Easter weekend, I am excited about this year’s ‘piece de resistance’- a Triple Layer Lemon Cake with rich lemon curd sandwiched between its layers and clouds of lemon curd buttercream piled high on the top and sides. Perched atop its pedestal, it’s something to behold. It’s my favorite color, sunshine yellow. And I love it. I hope my efforts do Easter dinner proud. But more than that I hope my efforts will make my guests feel warm and special
With every stroke of the spoon, my guests are on my mind. I am mindful of what this holiday is all about. The sacrifice, the love, the restoration. And with each carefully measured cup, I know that I can share that love through the way that I open my home and the food that I share. I can use what I have to BE the Good News to each person who enters my house.
Because at the heart of hospitality is good stewardship- good stewardship of the things you have. Obviously being hospitable means being a good steward of your home by opening it up to and sharing it with others, by making it a welcoming and inviting place where your guests feel comfortable and loved.
But more to the point, true hospitality is only really possible through being a good steward of the love and acceptance you enjoy as a part of God’s family. As hostesses, what are we doing with the love and acceptance we receive from God? Do we walk in it daily so that we are full to the brim with it? Are we full enough so that spills over the top and reaches out to those around us?
Whatever is on your Easter menu this weekend, I hope that hospitality is the main ingredient!
Triple Layer Lemon Cake with Lemon Curd Buttercream
This recipe contains affiliate links.
What You’ll Need:
- lemon cake mix
- lemon pudding
- sour cream
- oil and water
- eggs
- butter
- confectioner’s sugar
- lemon juice
- lemon curd
- vanilla
- yellow food coloring
Let’s Get Started:
Isn’t always exciting at the beginning of any cake recipe? Sometimes, I get so excited to get started that I forget the basics. So, don’t forget to preheat your oven (I am terrible at this!) and grease your pans. And this lemon cake recipe doesn’t leave much time for preheating either! You just add all the ingredients at the same time and get to mixing. Make sure you use a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl.
It’s a good idea to use room temperature eggs in your cake mix. Room temp eggs tend to beat up higher and fuller, giving your cakes extra body.
After the batter is all mixed up, poured into 3- 9in cake pans, and popped into the oven, it’s time to get your butter out so that it can be softening to make icing!
After your cakes bake for 35-40 minutes, allow to cool ten minutes before turning them out onto a cooling rack. Running a knife around the edge before turning them over helps them come out cleanly. To speed up the cooling process, I usually put my cakes in the freezer for 30 minutes after I turn them out onto the cooling racks.
While the cakes are cooling, it’s time to get busy making the icing. This lemon curd buttercream is a simple recipe that provides a plenty of lemon kick. No lightly flavored anything here. So get ready to pucker, we like our lemon with a bite!
Now, lemon curd may sound… um, well, less than appetizing if your aren’t familiar with it. But believe me, if you love lemon, it’s definitely for you. Lemon curd is a soft custard that’s often used as a tart filling. It’s simply made from lemon juice, sugar, eggs and butter and has a flavor and texture similar to lemon pie filling.
You can make your own lemon curd, if you like. But I usually don’t have time for that. There are some amazing jarred lemon curds on the baking aisle of your local super market. I recommend a couple at the end of this post.
Now for our super lemony lemon cake, lemon curd is not only used in the icing, but it’s also spread on the top of the first two layers of this cake, then topped just a bit of our buttercream before another is layer stacked on.
I am no cake decorator for sure. For me the key is a good icing spatula, a cake icing turntable, and lots of patience. Creating a crumb layer first also helps. A crumb layer is just a thin layer of icing all around the sides and top of the cake. Put your cake with its crumb layer in the fridge for 5 minutes to set the layer. Then pull it out and continue icing. This will help keep cake crumbs out of your final layer of frosting.
To ice this cake, I decided on a smooth finish and large swirls of icing on the top. These swirls are easy to pipe on using a piping gun. Believe me, no talent required! Lemon slices and a light dusting of powdered sugar finish it off. And I will just level with you. Powdered sugar is our friend. My icing finish wasn’t so fab on the top of this cake. A light dusting covered a multitude of sins as well as just making the cake look even more light and refreshing!
Look at those layers! No dry cake here. These layers are ladened with moist lemony goodness. Just what you would want to finish off a special meal with friends and family.
*** Pin this Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Curd Buttercream Recipe here!***
Click the pics to shop the products I use to make this fluffy lemon layer cake and full-flavor lemon buttercream.
Other Light or Lemon Desserts You’ll Love
- Lemon Basil Squares: A Classic with a Twist
- Classic Lemon Drop Crinkle Cookies
- Mason Jar Blueberry Lemon Lushes
- Dreamy Coconut Pineapple Trifle
- Old Fashioned Ice Box Coconut Cake
IF YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE, BE SURE TO LET ME KNOW!
RATE IT, LEAVE A COMMENT OR SNAP A PHOTO.
Triple Layer Lemon Cake with Lemon Curd Buttercream
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 boxes lemon cake mix
- 2- 3.4 oz. boxes lemon pudding
- 16 oz. sour cream
- 1 1/2 C water
- 2/3 C canola oil
- 8 large eggs
Icing
- 1 C butter softened
- 6 C confectioner's sugar
- 1/4 C lemon curd
- 1/4 C lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
- yellow food coloring gel
Filling
- 2 10 oz. jars lemon curd
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3- 9 inch cake pans.
Cake
- Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Pour equal amounts into the cake pans and bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from cake pans, and cool on a cooling rack before icing.
Icing
- Cream softened butter and 1 C of sugar together. Slowly add the rest of the sugar. Add lemon curd, juice, vanilla. Add food coloring to get desired color. Beat until fluffy.
- Place first cake layer on icing turntable. Top with 1 jar lemon curd. Top lemon curd with just enough buttercream to cover it. Add second layer and repeat.
- Add third layer. Spread a thin layer of buttercream over top and sides as a crumb layer. Refrigerate 5 minutes to set. Remove from fridge and use almost all of buttercream to completely ice the cake. Use the rest of the buttercream to decorate. Make more icing if necessary.
This post is delightful. I think of just how appropriate your cake represents the perfect blend of the tart taste life can leave, but it is sweetened by his daily mercies! #balance
Calithea,
I would love to see your sweet face sometime! Yes, balance! He works all things together for our good. He takes those tart lemons of life, sweetens with His mercies and makes something beautiful! Romans 8:28 I wish I had thought to write the post about that! You are such a blessing!
I love anything lemon! This looks amazing and so so prettty!
Andrea,
I do too! Lemon is just so bright and delicious! This cake could be a sheet cake too. Whatever works best for you!
This is one gorgeous cake! I bet it is sooooo delicious. I love lemon! Shared on Facebook and Pinned it!
Thanks, Julie! I LOVE pins!! Isn’t lemon just the best?
We sure enjoyed featuring your awesome post at Full Plate Thursday, and thanks so much for sharing it with us!
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
This cake is STUNNING! I can’t wait to make it!
Yea! I love to hear all about when someone makes a recipe! Let me know how it turns out. Perfect for Mother’s Day!
I don’t see a print button to print the recipe
Hi, Cathy!
It’s at the top left of the recipe card right above the prep and cook time.
there is not a print button
Hi, Cathy!
You have to be on a laptop or desktop computer.
Ok made this today. Layers couple nights ago and assembled today. Cake layers are gorgeous. I did reduce the cooking temp to 325 and cooked longer, about 60 min, to prevent the cake from doming. Assembly is not as easy as you might think. The lemon curd should really soak in the cake and set up a bit before adding the buttercream. Spreading buttercream on a liquid curd is a nightmare. I have yet to taste it tonight when we celebrate a BDay, but I can already taste it in my head. So suggestions for anyone that wants to try this: Cook lower and longer will help get more of a flat top cake; Maybe doing buttercream layer and then curd would help; Trust me you need 1-1/2 times the recipe for the buttercream.
Hi, Derek!
I am glad your layers turned out lovely!
Reducing cook time is up to you. If there is a little bit of doming (it can still happen), just cut the cake level with a knife.
Lemon curd punches up the flavor in this cake and makes a great filling! It does need to go on the cake before the buttercream so that it can soak in the cake as much as possible. The lemon curd that I work with has a loose jam consistency, so not a liquid. And since it is a filling just between the first and second layers, it’s ok if it is a little messy and the buttercream and curd mix together a bit (see the example photo above). The top layer has no curd. Just a crumb layer and a final layer for a smooth finish!
And yes, you will probably need more icing, if you like a lot of icing like I do. But just how much depends on how heavy you like to frost a cake. The recipe card includes that in the Recipe Notes.
Thanks for your suggestions! I hope you had a wonderful birthday party. This is a wonderful lemon cake for any lemon lover!
Help! the recipe calls for 2 cake mixes, etc. but now I have cake oozing out of the pans all over my oven. What did I miss?
Did you use 3- 9 inch cake pans?
Can I half the cake ingredients and use two 9″pans?
Hi, Horace! If you would like to use 2 pans instead of three, you will need to need to use 2/3 of the ingredients because you are eliminating 1/3 of the cake! Each layer = 1/3.