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.
How would you make this cake vegan please
The best Lemon cake I have ever made. I made it for Mother’s day last year and I am making it again this year. This was the only dessert I have made that caused my Mother to ask if I bought it or made it (My mediocre icing work always gives it away 🙂 but this time – it was as close to perfect as I will get it and everyone loved it). Thank you!!!
Hi Jane. The cake sounds delicious. Can you skip the lemon drizzle part or does the cake really need it. I’m wanting to make the cake for my mam but if the drizzle is crunchy or makes the cake too sweet with the extra sugar she won’t eat it. Many thanks
It’s a bit of a personal taste thing – I would say it makes it taste more lemony, but she may still find it too much. You could definitely be fine without, or even half the amount of the drizzle x
I’d like to make this as 3 thick layers and will cover completely with the lemon buttercream. Please could you suggest quantity of ingredients? Also, would lemon curd heated be any good for a drip? Thanks.
Hi, did you make this in the end ? I would like to do the same but unsure of quantities? Thanks xx
Hi,
Did you make this in the end? I would also like to do this way and make as a drip cake but unsure of quantities as well. Thank you in advance xx
You say these are deep layers. I only have 2 inch tall tins. Would this amount be ok in those tins or should I do it in 3 tins and make it 3 layer?
You say that these are quite deep sponges – could I split the amount between 3 tins for a 3 layer cake or would I need to increase the quantities?
I’m wanting to make a 3 layer too, but not sure what recipe I should follow, whether to work it out as 3 x ingredients, or whether the original recipe would be able to be split in 3 tins.
Hi is the lemon juice from fresh squeezed lemons or the lemon juice you buy in a bottle??? Thanks, making tonight!
Hiya! Either will be fine, enjoy! x
Hi Jane, I really want to try this recipe in square tins. Could you tell me which size I would need and would the baking time remain the same?
Many thanks.
Hi Jane,
I’ve just made this and it smells amazing!
I don’t have a stand mixer and tried making the icing by hand and I’m assuming that that is what has made it go wrong…my icing is more of a yellow colour than yours and a lot more wet therefore it it isn’t holding up the top layer and it’s falling 🙁
I was practicing it to make it for my mums 70th as she loves lemon… is it not an icing I can do without a mixer or is there anything I can do next time to make it stiff?
Thanks so much!
Hiya! What butter did you use? It should be fine without a stand mixer, just add the ingredients slower to compensate! Hope this helps! x
What am I doing wrong?
I am lining the tins with paper.
Changed the temp to cook longer at lower temp
Shortened the time.
The cake keeps coming out nice but when it cools it hardens a lot on the edges. Any advice?
Hiya! It may be worth investing in an oven thermometer. Hope this helps! x
The same thing happened to mine!
They were perfect when they came out of the oven but
Then just flopped
Could I make this in 2×8 inch square tins?
I appreciate it won’t be as deep
If so how long would I bake it for? X
Hi Jane looking to use this recipe for my sons 2nd birthday Peppa pig cake , was going to cover in fondant and make alittle taller ( 400g method) . Can I ask is it strong enough to cover in fondant ?and if I’m having 3-4 layers would you buttercream round the outside of the first cake and fill with lemon curd then maybe just buttercream the second with a few dollops of curd .
Hiya! Yes absolutely, this should be fine! Enjoy! x
Hi Jane I was hoping to make a 10inch celebration cake with a Swiss meringue butter cream . I really like this recipie but was wondering could I use one 10 inch cake tin instead of two 8 inch . Thank you