Mean Chef's Triple Lemon Layer Cake

photo by lilsweetie

- Ready In:
- 1hr 15mins
- Ingredients:
- 15
- Yields:
-
1 8inch layer cake
ingredients
-
Cake
- 9 1⁄4 ounces cake flour (2 1/3 cups)
- 2 3⁄4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 1 3⁄4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest, lightly packed and finely grated
- 6 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 5 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1⁄4 teaspoon cream of tartar
-
Filling
- 1 - 1 1⁄2 cup lemon curd (see Lemon Curd Filling)
-
Frosting
- 8 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 cup)
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest, lightly packed and finely grated
- 3 1⁄2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
-
Garnish
- 2 lemons, zest of, with zester
directions
- Preheat oven to 350F; position rack in middle of oven.
- Crease and flour two 8x2-inch round cake pans.
- Sift flour, baking powder and salt together.
- Pulse 1/4 cup of the sugar with the zest in a food processor until well combined.
- Beat the butter and lemon sugar in a mixer until light and fluffy-1 to 2 minutes.
- Add remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and beat until smooth.
- Beat in 1/4 of the milk until just blended.
- On low speed, add flour mixture alternating with remaining milk in 3 batches, scraping as needed.
- Beat until just blended.
- In a clean bowl, whip egg whites on medium speed until foamy, add cream of tartar, increase speed to high, beat until whites just hold stiff peaks.
- Add 1/4 of the whites to batter and fold in with a whisk or spatula.
- Fold in remaining white 1/4 at a time.
- Divide batter evenly between cake pans and smooth tops.
- Bake until tester in center comes out clean- about 35-40 minutes.
- Let cool for 10 minutes, remove from pans and cool completely on rack.
- Cut each cake in half horizontally using a long serrated knife.
- Place one layer on a serving plate, cut side up.
- Spread with 1/3 cup of chilled lemon curd.
- Lay another cake layer on top, spread with lemon curd and repeat with 3rd layer.
- Top with fourth cake layer.
- Up to a few hours before serving, spread a thin layer of frosting on cake, filling gaps as you go.
- Chill to firm crumb coat for about 30 minutes.
- Spread remaining frosting decoratively over sides and top of cake.
- Scatter top with lemon zest as garnish.
- TO MAKE FROSTING: In an electric mixer, beat butter and lemon zest until light and fluffy.
- Add confectioners sugar in batches and beat until light and fluffy.
- Add lemon juice and beat for 1 minute.
- Can be made a couple of hours ahead and kept covered at cool room temperature.
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Reviews
-
I've been making this exact cake since Jan 2004 when the recipe was published in the Feb issue of Fine Cooking magazine. I made it again last week, and found that the recipe was posted on Zaar, so I thought I should post a review. It is an excellent, moist cake with a wonderful flavor and texture. The texture makes it easy to tort (cut the layers in half horizontally) the cakes, making a lovely 4-layer cake. I use my own lemon curd recipe for the filling, and the original frosting recipe as posted here. This cake is a much requested favorite among family and friends, and always gets rave reviews! (PS: I've never had a problem baking this cake in two 8 x 2-inch pans. The cakes have never overflowed the pans.)
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Made this at my son's request for his 10th birthday. It was a bit more complicated than your average cake but the flavor was phenomenal. Used a LOT of organic lemons between this and Mean Chef's recipe #37890 which I doubled. Light but firm cake layers that were easy to work with. Loved the lemon buttercream frosting! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
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