Lemon Celebration Cake!
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This Lemon Celebration Cake combines a light, citrus-infused sponge with a warm lemon drizzle, pockets of tangy lemon curd, and a beautifully whipped lemon buttercream frosting. With a 15-minute prep time and 35 minutes in the oven, it’s a foolproof, elegant crowd-pleaser perfect for any summer gathering or tea party.
Notes from The Patisserie
After posting the recipe for my Victoria sponge celebration cake, I figured it would be so much fun if I experimented on this and produced different flavours. When I asked on my Facebook and Instagram page recently if anyone had any suggestions, and to my joy many of you suggested a lemon celebration cake!
I feel a lemon flavour for a celebration cake is always a safe flavour as (usually) everyone likes lemon. I also find its perfect for after dinner as the zesty and fresh lemon cleanses your mouth leaving a refreshing aftertaste.
The secret to a truly moist citrus sponge is all in the timing of that drizzle. Pouring a warm liquid sugar mixture over the cake layers the second they come out of the oven ensures it sinks deep into the centre. If you wait until the cake cools, the surface seals up, and the drizzle will simply pool on top, leaving you with a sticky exterior and a dry middle.
Lemon drizzle sponge
While a massive multi-layered cake looks stunning, a reliable two-layer sandwich cake is much easier to bake, handle, and slice. It allows you to simply slather a thick, luxurious layer of buttercream and tangy lemon curd right in the centre without worrying about the cake shifting, collapsing, or leaning on display. For the perfect sponge I use:
- Butter – unsalted butter at room temperature or baking spread works perfectly
- Sugar – I use caster sugar here to create the smooth creamy texture with the butter
- Eggs – as usual I am using medium eggs
- Flour – self raising flour provides the perfect lift to your sponge
- Zest of lemons – natural lemon zest provides that non-synthetic flavouring along with the juice
- Lemon juice – enhances the flavour even more
How to keep your lemon buttercream from splitting
Adding real fruit juice to a fat-based buttercream can be intimidating, and many comments are souly around the fact that their buttercream is splitting. But, with a little patience this will prove to be the saving method for perfect buttercream.
Always start by whipping your real block butter completely on its own for a few minutes until it is perfectly smooth and pale. Sifting and adding your icing sugar slowly builds a sturdy structure that can easily lock in the liquid lemon juice at the end without curdling or weeping. Take your time.
FAQs
Absolutely! While homemade lemon curd is simple to whip up, a high-quality, luxury shop-bought lemon curd works beautifully and saves you extra prep time.
If you don’t have enough fresh lemon juice left to finish the buttercream frosting, you can easily substitute it with 2 teaspoons of high-quality lemon extract instead.
Yes, easily! Because these 8-inch sponge layers bake up thick and sturdy, you can carefully slice each cooled sponge horizontally in half using a long serrated bread knife to create a gorgeous, towering four-layer showstopper.
Caster sugar has a fine grain that dissolves perfectly into warm lemon juice without making it overly thick or gummy, allowing the liquid to run deeply into the baked cake crumbs.
Lemon Celebration Cake!
Ingredients
Cake
- 350 g unsalted butter
- 350 g caster sugar
- 7 medium eggs
- 350 g self raising flour
- zest of 2 lemons
- 75 ml lemon juice
Drizzle
- 75 ml lemon juice
- 75 g caster sugar
Decoration
- 2-3 tbsp lemon curd
- 200 g unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 400 g icing sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- spare lemon curd
Instructions
Cake
- Grease & line two 8"/20cm deep cake tins and preheat your oven to 180ºc/160ºc fan.
- Beat together the unsalted butter & caster sugar until smooth – this will take a couples of minutes!
- Once combined add the self raising flour, eggs, lemon zest and lemon juice and beat until combined – try not to over beat!
- Pour the mixture evenly into the two tins and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Drizzle
- Towards the end of baking – in a bowl, mix together your 75ml lemon juice and 75g caster sugar together.
- Once the cake is baked, drizzle this over the cakes, whilst still in the tin. Let the cakes cool fully.
Decoration
- Beat the unsalted butter for a couple of minutes using the whisk attachment with a stand mixer – doing this will make it nice and smooth!
- Once smooth, start gradually adding the icing sugar until it’s all fully mixed in.
- Add the lemon juice, and beat for about 5 minutes on a medium-high speed until super light and whipped.
- Pipe some buttercream in a circle round the edge of the top of your first sponge, and then add the lemon curd into the middle.
- Place the other cake on top, and pipe on the rest of the buttercream however you wish.
- Drizzle on some spare lemon curd, and add some sprinkles and enjoy!
Notes
- This cake will last in an airtight container for 3-4 days – probably longer as it has so much moisture.
You can freeze it for up to 3 months. - If you don’t have any lemon juice for the decoration, use 2 tsp lemon extract instead.
- I use these 8″ cake tins
- I use this medium 2D closed star piping tip
- I use these piping bags
Storage and freezing
Because of the incredible moisture from the fresh lemon drizzle, this celebration cake stays remarkably fresh and soft. Store it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 to 4 days. Avoid putting it in the fridge, as the cold temperature will firm up the butter in the sponges and make them taste dry.
To freeze ahead, wrap the un-iced, fully cooled and drizzled sponge layers tightly in a double layer of cling film and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Simply defrost them on your counter overnight before whipping up fresh buttercream and assembling.
Related recipes
I love a lemon recipe and have a fair few of them on my blog, and I can tell you guys do too – for example my lemon drizzle cheesecake, lemon drizzle cupcakes, lemon bars, even my lemon and blueberry blondies.
Hi Jane,
This recipe looks incredible!
When using the 400g/8 egg method for 3 tiers, how much zest and lemon juice will I need?
I would double it personally because I love it super lemony!
Hello
I’ve been asked to make a lemon drizzle celebration cake with fondant icing as well as buttercream, do you think this receipe would work if I had a thin layer of buttercream and then fondant icing? Thanks!! X
It should do – I would chill the sponge well before topping with fondant!
Hi Jane,
I was looking at your lemon drizzle cupcakes and seeing if I could make a celebration cake version, then I found this recipe which is perfect! Do you think it would still be yummy/lemony without the lemon curd and I just used the buttercream?
Yeah definitely still be delicious without!
You probably won’t see this Jane but thank you so much!!! I made this cake for my dads birthday alongside your cream cheese frosting recipe and it turned out so beautiful. The sponges were lovely, soft, fluffy and beautifully flavoured and the cream cheese frosting was a dream to make and eat. If anyone is considering making this cake. Do it! I can always count on you Jane 💓💓
Hello, please can you tell me what ingredients I need to use to make the same cake but gluten free. Thanks x
You can swap the flour to gluten free alternative, and add xantham gum if the flour doesn’t already have some in it! x
Hi Jane!
I’m thinking of making this for a friends birthday and was considering using a white chocolate ganache to cover and fill instead of buttercream. Do you perhaps have a rough idea of how much I would need to make? I was thinking of doing 1.5x the weight of the buttercream?
Thanks 😊 xx
Hiya! Oh that sounds lovely. Yes I would say at least 1.5x!
Made this for my sons birthday last week and found the cake quite dense and heavy (still tasted nice!!). What am I doing wrong?!
It could be a few things – how did you mix it? Sometimes dense cakes are because they are under baked as well!
Hi Jane, what would the baking time be if I was to split the same amount of mix into 3 tins instead?
Honestly I am not sure – but I would say 25-30 minutes! x
Hi Jane. Your recipes are great and I have loved everything I have baked thanks to you. I would like to make this cake but I have 2 20cm sandwich tins. Would this recipe still work? Also I would like to cover the cake with lemon buttercream. What quantities would I need?
I would say the tins could be a bit thin as some sandwich tins are REALLY thin, but it’s hard to say! I would reduce down to 250g butter/sugar/flour and 5 medium eggs. If you are worried you could reduce the ingredients slightly! Buttercream wise I would use 1.5x x
Hi Jane, I love your recipes! I was wondering if it was possible to use the same measurements but split it into 3 8″ cake tins instead? So it would make a 3 tier cake. If so, what would the cooking time be?
This is the best lemon cake I’ve ever made! I’ve made it twice as it was so amazing! Lovely thick sponges and so moist. Definitely a favourite of mine now!
Hi Jane
I want to make this in x3 8inch sandwich tins, would you be able to tell me the quantities and how long they need in the oven please?
I usually use a 400g/8 egg mix and split between three tins, and bake for about 30 minutes!
Hiya, sorry to be a pain but,
What is the 400g/8 egg recipe?