Lemon Celebration Cake!
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A delicious, light & lemony sponge filled with a dash of lemon curd and a luscious lemon buttercream! The perfect lemon celebration cake!
Lemon celebration cake!
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.
Lemon
I adore lemon drizzle cake – but I decided to do a variation on this for a bit more show! (Don’t worry though, I still have my lemon drizzle loaf cake recipe also!) I also used my homemade lemon curd recipe for the filling – feel free to use shop bought, but making your own is so surprisingly easy!
This cake ended up being a hybrid of a Victoria sponge into something super lemony and heavenly – and its delicious. I posted my recipe for my lemon & poppyseed cake a while ago and had a big success with that one, so I hope you guys like this too!
Two layer cake
Unlike my Victoria sponge I decided to keep this as a 2 layer cake so that its easier for others to make if they only have two tins, and its easier to bake two anyway! Two layer cake, normal cake, sandwich cake – whatever you want to call it, its still delicious regardless!
I tend to think some people prefer a two layer cake as you can simply slather buttercream in the middle and on top and you are done – its the perfect cup of tea pairing! I love using these tins for my sponge cakes and also this angled spatula for spreading buttercream. On this occasion I piped the buttercream but the choice is yours!
Drizzle
The drizzle aspect of this cake makes the sponge SO moist and scrummy, and the buttercream gives it the light sweetness that is often craved with cake – delicious. You simply mix the lemon juice and caster sugar together to make a yummy drizzle, and drizzle over the sponges whilst they are still hot.
This on top of the zesty buttercream and curd drizzle topping, you get the lemon taste in every bite of cake and it is just DELICIOUS! Of course I had to add some themed yellow sprinkles to the bake but they dont have to be yellow and they completely optional anyway!
Lemon 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!
I love baking with lemon – as you can tell! I find that lemon bakes along or with a combination of another flavour is the perfect alternative if someone doesn’t want a chocolate themed bake. Its also a preference of mine in the middle of summer as it hits the sweet craving perfectly! ENJOY!
Recipe updated May 2017
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
- I updated this recipe in May 2017 - the original recipe was 250g of each ingredient, and 5 medium eggs, and the cake was baked for about 25 minutes.
- This cake will last in an airtight container for 3-4 days - probably longer as it has so much moisture.
- Or you can freeze it for up to 3 months
- The layers are thick so if you wanted a more raised cake simply slice the two sponges in to two and have a 4 layer cake!
- If you dont 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
ENJOY!
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J x
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I’m going to make this at the weekend for my mums birthday, I’m going to slice the cakes in half to create four layers and would like to buttercream the whole thing to create a drip cake. What quantity of buttercream would I need to cover and fill it?
Thanks x
Hey! At a guess, at least double if not double and a half. You can always freeze the left overs!xx
Perfect! Thanks for your quick response x
Hi Jane I love and always use your recipes when baking 😋😋 , I’m making a piggy bank cake and wondered if this recipe would work in a 8 inch sphere tin ? Or should I do a smaller amount , If so would I still cook it for 30 – 40 minutes , thank you for sharing your amazing recipes with us all x
Hello! Unfortunately I have never made a sphere cake so I am unsure of this! x
Hi Jane,
Just wondering what measurement I would use for a 9″ cake just 2 layers.
Thank you x
Hiya! Increase the recipe by a third and this should work!x
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?