Lemon Buttercream Cake, a scrumptious 2-layer cake for Easter or any other celebration. The sponge is rich and moist and has a delicate lemon touch, and the buttercream is smooth and velvety, with yellow food colouring added to enhance the lemon hint. Decorate it with Easter chocolate eggs, and you have a spectacular dessert that will go down well with everyone.
We might still be in the middle of Winter, but as soon as the first spring flowers begin to pop out, I already start dreaming of the sunny warm days of Easter. And to me, lemon is the flavour that best describes Spring.
Its vibrant colour and tangy touch make the most spectacular desserts, and here I have a rather long list of lemon desserts that make their way onto our menu when Easter comes. The one I make more often than I can count is the one and only Lemon Drizzle Cake.
The two sponges are rather similar, there is no drizzle in this buttercream cake, but the frosting keeps it moist and gives it a smooth touch. But they are both as delicious, and certainly a great addition to your Easter dinner menu.
This lemon cake might look quite difficult to make, but it's far from it, and I promise you a failproof recipe that is super easy to make, with a few easy ingredients that won't break the bank. And it's as appetizing as a ready-made cake that costs way too much money.
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Go to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact quantities and detailed instructions!
Step-by-step photos and instructions
THE SPONGE
You can either bake the cake in one cake tin, but there are a few disadvantages to that: it will take longer to bake, and there is a risk of the middle still being unbaked well. Plus you have to half it yourself, and it can sometimes be tricky to get 2 perfectly-cut cakes out of one.
So the best way is to divide the batter into 2 equal-sized cake tins and bake them at the same time.
- in a large bowl, beat the soften butter with the sugar until creamy
- add the eggs one by one beating well after each addition
- sift in the flour, add the lemon zest and lemon juice, and beat to get a smooth batter
- divide it between the 2 cake tins that had been greased and floured, and bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for 20-25 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean
The lemon buttercream
To make the buttercream, we need 3 main ingredients: soften butter, icing sugar, lemon juice, and optionally yellow food colouring. The colouring is for aesthetic purposes only, hence why I wouldn't add it as a main ingredient.
- sift the flour and add it to a food processor together with the soften butter
- blitz well to get a smooth texture
- add the lemon juice and yellow food colouring, and beat again - if you don't have a food processor, a hand mixer can do a good job too
To assemble
Once the sponges have cooled down completely, add one to a cake stand and you can level it up with a sharp knife if it needs to, that will make it more balanced and easy to decorate.
Spread one quarter of the buttercream over, top with the second sponge, then decorate the top and sides with the remaining frosting.
It's a very easy cake to make, and it doesn't not need refrigerating, it can be stored at room temperature for a few good days. Make sure the sponges are completely cooled down before decorating with the lemon frosting, otherwise you will end up with a real mess.
Other buttercream cakes
I decorated mine with mini chocolate eggs, but that's entirely optional, as the cake is delicious all year round, not only at Easter. If you like this cake, but you'd like to try different flavours too, how about my Vanilla Buttercream Cake? Or Chocolate Cake with Easter Eggs?
If you’ve liked my LEMON CAKE WITH LEMON BUTTERCREAM or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
Lemon Buttercream Cake
Ingredients
For the sponge
- 225 g soften butter
- 225 g granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 225 g self-raising flour
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon lemon zest
For the buttercream
- 400 g icing sugar (confectioners' sugar)
- 200 g soften butter
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon yellow food colouring (optional)
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Instructions
- To make the sponge, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).
- In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together the butter and sugar until you get a creamy texture.
- Add the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition.
- Sift in the flour, add the lemon zest and juice, and beat again.
- Butter and flour 2 cake tins ( mine are 7.5 inches or 19 cm in diameter) and divide the batter evenly.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until the sponges are golden and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Leave the sponges to cool down completely.
- To make the buttercream, you can either use a hand mixer or a food processor.
- Sift the icing sugar, add the butter and lemon juice and beat well until smooth.
- Add the food colouring and beat again.
- Once the sponges are cooled down, arrange one sponge on a cake stand, spread a quarter of the buttercream over, then top with the second sponge and spread the remaining buttercream over the top and sides.
- Decorate with nicely piped buttercream swirls, mini chocolate eggs or any other decorations you like.
Notes
- Click on the US Customary link to see the measurements displayed in cups and ounces.
- The servings can be adjusted by clicking the number next to Servings.
Mandy Wright says
Great
Cole says
Can you use this recipe to make large batch of cupcakes?
Daniela Apostol says
Absolutely, it should work well!
Crystal says
This is really nice and inspirating (Easter 😊)
Daniela Apostol says
thank you!