Lemon Velvet Cake Recipe

Super soft and velvety lemon cake with homemade lemon curd, lemon ganache drip, and a truly delicious lemon cream cheese frosting! This lemon cake literally melts in your mouth it is so soft and tender. You won't ever need another lemon cake recipe after trying this one!

 

This lemon cake is a reader favorite and always gets rave reviews! If you're not familiar with making a layer cake, then you should check out my video on how to make your first cake to get the basics and terminology down.

When I make this cake, I make my curd one day in advance so that it has time to cool down in the fridge. You can also bake your cakes in advance if you want, and then wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze them until you are ready to decorate.

Lemon cake ingredients

This lemon cake has tons of natural lemon flavor thanks to lemon juice, lemon zest, and some pure lemon extract. If you plan on making the lemon curd (which you TOTALLY should,) make sure you have at least 8 large lemons for the cake and curd combined or you can buy lemon juice to use in the curd if you don't want to juice a bunch of lemons.

We will also be making a lemon ganache drip but instead of cream, we are using lemon juice! Did you know you can make ganache with lemon juice? Mind blown!

You will also need cream cheese and unsalted butter for the frosting. See the full list of ingredients in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

What makes this lemon cake so moist?

This lemon cake recipe, much like my vanilla cake and white velvet buttermilk cake recipes, has some key ingredients for maximum moistness and melt-in-your-mouth velvet texture. 

• Buttermilk - breaks down the gluten in cake flour and reacts with acidic ingredients to create a very light and fluffy cake that is extremely tender! No buttermilk? No problem, you can make your own buttermilk substitute.
• Cake flour - cake flour has less gluten in it than AP flour, resulting in a very tender cake crumb. **Note, you can't do that trick where you replace AP flour with cornstarch or you'll end up with cornbread. If you live in the UK, try searching for Shipton Mills soft cake and pastry flour, or any flour that has a protein content of 9% or less.
• Reverse mixing method - The reverse creaming method is the process of coating your dry ingredients with butter before you add the liquids. This butter "shortens" the gluten strands and gives the cake its velvet crumb.
• Oil - Very important in butter cakes to keep your cakes from drying out. When a cake is cold, the butter in the cake get's hard and can make the cake taste dry. Cakes should always be consumed at room temperature for the best results. 

Lemon curd step by step

Once you make your own lemon curd, it's hard to ever go back to buying it. Nothing compares to that pure, bright, fresh lemon flavor. I prefer to make my lemon curd one day in advance and then have it ready to go the next day.

1. Zest your lemons then slice then juice them. Make sure you strain out any seeds or lemon bits.
2. Place the egg yolks, cornstarch, and salt in a medium-sized heatproof bowl and whisk together until smooth.
3. Add your lemon juice, sugar, and lemon zest to a saucepan and bring to a simmer while whisking occasionally.
4. When your lemon mixture reaches a simmer, scoop out one cup of the hot liquid (carefully) and pour it into the egg mixture while whisking at the same time so you don't curdle your eggs.
5. Now add the tempered egg mixture back into the lemon mixture in a slow stream while whisking constantly to prevent over-heating the eggs.
6. Continue cooking over medium heat while mixing constantly until it thickens or reaches 170 - 180ºF on a thermometer.
7. Remove the lemon curd from the heat and add your butter. Whisk until smooth.
8. Pour the finished lemon curd into a heatproof container and cover it with plastic wrap (make sure the wrap is touching the surface of the curd) and refrigerate. Let it cool down completely before you use it.

Lemon cake step by step

1. Bring all your ingredients to room temperature or even a little warm (eggs, buttermilk, butter, etc) to ensure your batter does not break or curdle. 
2. Use a scale to weigh your ingredients (including liquids) unless otherwise instructed (Tablespoons, teaspoons, pinch etc). Metric measurements are available in the recipe card. Scaled ingredients are much more accurate than using cups and help ensure the success of your recipe. 
3. Preheat your oven to 335º F/168º C Prepare your cake pans with cake goop or another pan release. For square pans or cakes over 12", I also use parchment paper.
4. Combine the 4oz of buttermilk with the oil and set aside.
5. To the remaining 6oz of buttermilk, add your eggs, lemon zest, lemon extract, and lemon juice. Whisk lightly to break up the eggs and set it aside.
6. Place the cake flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda into the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment attached.
7. Turn the mixer onto the lowest speed. Add in your softened butter in small chunks and mix on medium until the flour mixture resembles coarse sand. About 1 minute.
8. Add your oil/milk mixture all at once to the dry ingredients and mix on medium (speed 2 on a bosch, speed 4 on your KitchenAid) for two full minutes to develop the cake's structure.
9. Slowly add in the milk/egg mixture in 3 parts, letting the batter mix for 10 seconds between additions. Stop to scrape the bowl once more halfway through. Your batter should be thick and not separated. If it is separated, some of your ingredients could have been too cold or you added your liquids too quickly.
10. Fill your cake pans ¾ full with cake batter. You can also weigh your cake pans to ensure that each pan has the same amount of cake batter.
11. Bake your cakes for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out from the center cleanly.
12. After removing your cakes from the oven, I give them a quick tap on the countertop to release air and prevent shrinking.
13. After cakes have cooled for 10 minutes or the pans are cool enough to touch, flip the cakes over onto a cooling rack and let cool until barely warm. Wrap your cakes in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator before frosting so they are easier to handle. You can also put them in the freezer if you are in a hurry for them to cool down.
14. Once the cakes are chilled you can now trim, fill and decorate your cake as you wish.

Cream cheese frosting

1. Make sure your butter and your cream cheese are both softened but not melted. Cold butter or cold cream cheese will not cream together properly and you'll get lumps in your frosting. You can soften by cutting into chunks and leaving at room temperature or you can microwave for 15 seconds until softened.
2. Place your butter into your stand mixer with the whisk attachment and cream until smooth (you can also do this by hand or with a hand mixer).
3. Add your cream cheese and cream on low until smooth and combined.
4. While mixing on low, start adding in your powdered sugar one cup at a time until its all in and everything is smooth.
5. Then add in your extract and salt. Cream until just combined and you're done!

Lemon cake assembly

Now that we've got our curd, cream cheese frosting and lemon cake baked, it's time to assemble! If you need more basic instructions on how to make your first cake, you can watch my beginners cake tutorial.

1. Trim the domes off the tops of your cakes to level them and trim off the brown edges if you wish.
2. Place your first layer of cake onto a cake board or cake platter. Add a dam of buttercream around the outside edge of the cake and fill the center with about ¼" of lemon curd.
3. Place your second layer on top and repeat the process and add the third layer on top.
4. Apply a thin coat of buttercream to the whole cake (crumbcoat) and place into the fridge for 15 minutes.
5. Apply the final layer of buttercream and smooth it out with a bench scraper and offset spatula.
6. Place the cake in the fridge to continue chilling while you make the lemon water ganache.
7. Microwave your chocolate and lemon juice in 30 second increments (or place on a double boiler) until melted. Add a drop of yellow food coloring and white food coloring and whisk until smooth. Let the ganache cool to 90ºF before you use it or it might run down the sides of the cake too much.
8. Pipe the lemon ganache on top of the cake using a piping bag. Smooth out the top with an offset spatula.
9. After the ganache sets (about 10 minutes) add some more swirls of buttercream on top of the cake using an open start tip and some lemon slices.

This lemon cake is literally bursting at the seams with so much lemon flavor! I love this cake so much! The cake is so so soft and fluffy but combined with the lemon curd and the lemon ganache, this cake is far and above the best lemon cake ever.

Lemon Cake FAQ

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