A Sunshine Cake for Sunshine Days: Lemon Cake with Lemon Curd Frosting

This month our guest post from Brandy is about cake….and y’all know I love cake. I have personally had a piece of this delicious dessert and it will make your taste buds sing for joy. Make it soon. You won’t be sorry. 

 

The colors of Spring, for me, are lavender and yellow.  The lavender of grape hyacinths, lilacs and sweet dresses for little girls.  The yellow of daffodils, eggs and strong sunshiny days.  This cake is the perfect way to celebrate the arriving warmth of Spring or keep spirits up during the rainy days.  I was introduced to it five years ago as a birthday gift from my friend Anna of The Walden Effect.

The cake is mild and lemony, not too sweet.  The lemon curd topping is golden and tangy.  For this cake, I used my friend Aimee’s eggs from her chickens, with yolks so orange and cheery.  I used orange zest, since I didn’t have any lemons on hand.  Nobody complained.  Here’s how it goes:

 

Lemon Cake with Lemon Curd Frosting

  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided (some for the batter and some for the egg whites)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 1 stick butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs (separated)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2/3 cup yogurt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and lemon zest.  In another bowl, mix the butter, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla, and lemon juice.  In a third bowl, whip egg whites with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt until they are stiff but not dry.  Add flour to butter mixture in two parts, alternating with yogurt.  Fold in egg whites.  Bake in two greased and floured round cake pans for about 25 minutes.  While baking,  make the lemon curd.

Curd:

  • 3 eggs
  • 1/3 cup lemon juice
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 1/2 stick butter

Whisk the eggs, juice and sugar together in a small pot.  Stir constantly over medium heat until the mixture thickens nicely.  Be mindful to stir the whole time so your eggs don’t scramble or make the curd lumpy. Remove from heat.  Stir in butter and lemon zest.

Once cake and curd are both cool, assemble the cake using the curd as a filling and icing.  Store in the refrigerator.

Original recipe here.

 

Brandy and her family take the impossible way on their little urban homestead in the foothills of Appalachia.  They enjoy hiking, knitting (or watching mama knit), minimalist parenting, babywearing, cosleeping and sticking it to The Man.  You can visit Brandy at Young in the Mountains.

 

*This post is linked at Fat Tuesday on Real Food Forager, at Homestead Barn Hop at The Prairie Homestead, at Hearth and Soul Blog Hop at Penniless Parenting, at Healthy 2Day Wednesday on Day2Day Joys, at Frugal Days Sustainable Ways at Frugally Sustainable, at Simple Lives Thursday on GNOWFGLINS, at Pennywise Platter on The Nourishing Gourmet, at Proverbs 31 Thursday on Raising Mighty Arrows, at Weekend Whatever on Your Thriving Family, at Full Plate Thursday on Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen, at Think Pink Sunday on Flamingo Toes, at Cooking Thursday on Diary of a Stay At Home Mom,  and at Tuesdays at the Table on All The Small Stuff.

Disclosure: Some posts include links to sponsors or affiliates, which give me a small percentage of the sale. You are not obligated to use these links when you make a purchase, but when you do so it helps to support this site, so thank you!

About Stacy

Stacy is the author of Crock On: A Semi-Whole Foods Slow Cooker Cookbook and a stay-at-home mom to her two children, Annie (3) and Andy (newborn). After an “awakening” in March 2011, her family switched to a more natural, whole foods diet. She likes to blog about how to live on less than you make and how to eat good food while doing it. Her passion is teaching others how to save money and she tag teams with her husband in this endeavor. At Stacy Makes Cents you’ll find information on how to save money in the kitchen, how to have fun with your kids, and how to be thrifty in all areas of life. Her passion is teaching others how to live debt free. Make sure to follow her on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with her daily antics.

Comment Policy: I love hearing your thoughts and input on what I write. Since I write about what works at my house, what pleases my handsome hubby and darling children; I'm sure we'll disagree sometimes. In those cases, do what's right for you and yours. As with any form of communication, please only post comments that move the discussion in a positive direction.

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Comments

  1. Linda :
    March 27, 2012 at 6:56 am

    Is it OK to use bottle lemon juice? Thanks

    Reply
  2. Cynthia :
    March 27, 2012 at 8:56 am

    Sounds super yummy! I love lemon desserts, heck I love desserts. Stacy, what kind of flour did you use? Did you use fresh ground, if so was it soft white? Keep up the great work, love your posts!!

    Reply
  3. Anne @ Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy :
    March 27, 2012 at 9:12 am

    Yummy; this cake sounds delicious!

    Reply
  4. Sara :
    March 27, 2012 at 10:16 am

    @Brandy!!! Did you use salted or unsalted butter? I’m sooooo making this for our next church dinner!!!!!

    Reply
  5. Barb @ A Life in Balance :
    March 27, 2012 at 3:14 pm

    Ooh, I love lemon curd. I’m actually making an angel food cake just so I can make lemon curd with the yolks. The yolks are from an Amish farmer and have that same deep yellow that you mentioned. I can’t wait!
    Barb @ A Life in Balance recently posted…{ project 365 } 3.26.12My Profile

    Reply
  6. Erin@TheHumbledHomemaker :
    April 3, 2012 at 7:51 pm

    Oh my goodness, Brandy…this looks absolutely delicious!!! Too bad my little girl can’t have eggs…but my hubby and I can! :)
    Erin@TheHumbledHomemaker recently posted…Resources for a Natural Pregnancy {A Natural Phenomenon}My Profile

    Reply
  7. Esther :
    April 5, 2012 at 12:03 pm

    Hi there,I jus found your website and I love it. I can’t wait to make this cake, but I think you left out a part when making the Curd. The part about adding the butter and lemon zest to the mixture after you take it off the heat. Unless I missed it somewhere :)

    Reply
  8. Sandra :
    April 5, 2012 at 7:46 pm

    I think my husband would kill for this one, he LOVES lemon cake.
    Sandra recently posted…Cooking ThursdayMy Profile

    Reply
  9. Miz Helen :
    April 6, 2012 at 10:38 am

    This is a wonderful cake, Stacy. I sure wish I had a slice to go with my morning coffee, it looks awesome. Hope you have a fabulous Celebration Week End and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen
    Miz Helen recently posted…Full Plate Thursday 4-5-12My Profile

    Reply