lemon layer cakes
Weird as Easter was this year, we decided to still have a nice dinner and I wanted to make something bright and cheery to eat for dessert, aka lemon and berries. The flavor combo always makes me think of Spring. I wasn’t feeling super up to baking, since I’ve been eating so many sweets lately, but I had been wanting to try something different. This recipe is a little bit more involved than my usual, so if you’re in the mood for a baking project, have at it! What I came up with is rich but light, and it checks all of my boxes- fruity, lemony, fluffy, creamy. I should add that this sheet cake would be lovely on its own, with a mascarpone frosting or something of the like.
lemon layer cakes
yield: 6 mini cakes
Cake
1 ½ cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
¼ cup softened butter
¼ cup neutral oil (canola, veg, coconut- I used coconut)
¾ cup granulated sugar
zest of one lemon
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
⅔ cup milk + 1 Tb vinegar, mixed
Filling
½ cup lemon curd
1 cup heavy cream, divided
1 Tb granulated sugar
vanilla extract
6-8 small strawberries, sliced thinly (about ⅛”)
Supplies
Acetate liner, 3 1/2” high
Tape
Two piping bags, one star tip
Preheat oven to 350. Butter and line a quarter sheet pan (9x13”) with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a stand mixer, add butter, oil, sugar and zest. Mix with the paddle attachment on low for 4-5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, scraping bowl after each addition. Add vanilla and mix until combined. Add flour mixture to the mixer one third at a time, alternating with the milk in two additions, ending with the flour mixture. Be sure to only mix until just combined.
Spread the batter evenly into your sheet pan. Bake for 15 minutes, until edges start to color and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
In a clean bowl, whip ⅔ cup of the heavy cream until thick and aerated. Fold ½ cup lemon curd into the whipped cream until no streaks of yellow remain. Transfer to an open ended piping bag or large zip top bag with the tip cut off, about ½” across. Set aside.
Once the cake is cool, run a knife around the edges of the pan, invert the cake onto a large cutting board and remove the parchment paper. Use a 2 ¾” round cutter to cut 12 rounds out of the cake. Cake scraps can be set aside and saved for another use/snacking. On the same sheet pan and used parchment, place 6 of the rounds well spaced apart. Wrap the acetate liner around the base of each cake, making sure it lays flat on the pan and it’s not wrapped too tightly. If it’s too tight, you won’t be able to fit the next cake layer in. Using tape, secure the acetate cylinders. Next, place 4 strawberry slices against the inside of the liner of each cake, spaced evenly (think north-south-east-west). This can be a little tricky. You may need to angle them slightly inward in order to keep them standing upright.
Next, pipe an even amount of the curd mixture into each cylinder. Be sure you fill them up to the tops of the strawberries. Once you’ve finished this step, take the remaining cake rounds and place them on top of your cream layer, pushing down very gently. If you need to adjust your acetate liners in order to fit the cake on top, carefully untape the liner, being careful not to disturb the cream/strawberry layer.
In a clean mixing bowl, whip the remaining ⅓ cup heavy cream with 1 Tb. sugar and a splash of vanilla extract until thick and aerated. Transfer whipped cream into a piping bag fitted with a star tip of your choice. I use the Wilton 1M tip- it’s big and makes nice stars. Feel free to use whatever you have. Pipe stars onto the tops of the cake layers. You can do stars, swirls, whatever you want! If you have any leftover curd filling, you can fill in the gaps on top of the cakes like I did- waste nothing! Top each cake with 1 slice of strawberry. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Cakes are best the day of, but will keep for 2-3 days.
