a recipe for traditional lemon cake. It typically consists of three to six layers of white cake, a cooked lemon filling sandwiched in the middle, and Seven Minute Frosting on top.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 to 8 – layer inch cake |
Ingredients
- 1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
- 1 ¼ cups white sugar
- 5 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
- 3 lemons, juiced
- 2 cups boiling water
- 3 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Prepare and bake cake mix according to package directions for three 8 inch round pans. Cool cakes completely, then split each in half to make 6 layers.
- For the Lemon Custard: In a large saucepan or double boiler combine sugar and cornstarch. Mix well, then stir in egg yolks, lemon zest and lemon juice. slowly whisk in the boiling water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened. Remove from heat and stir in butter. Set aside to cool.
- Place the bottom layer of cake on a serving plate. Spread with approximately 1/5 of the lemon custard. Repeat layers. Frost top and sides with Seven Minute Frosting (see footnote for link to recipe).
- Frost this cake with Seven Minute Frosting.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 319 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 60 g |
| Cholesterol | 59 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 306 mg |
| Sugars | 44 g |
| Fat | 9 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I have made this 4 times. I call it the ugly cake. Nobody cares that it’s ugly. Rave reviews from all eaters.
It turned out wonderful. I would suggest to leave
Great taste – but would not use so much butter in the Lemon Curd.
This cake gets rave reviews. The filling is perfect. After you fill it, before frosting, put it in the fridge for a while so it sets. It frosts beautifully! Thanks.
Not sure I like the 7 minute frosting with it but the cake and lemon curd were delicious.
I just made this lemon filling and it is to die for!!!!! Awesome!!!!!
If this was truely a civilized world you would be.. Queen. I love lemon cake, with real lemon juice, Yah. 7 minute frosting is my alltime favorite since childhood.
The filling is delicious! Very tart and sweet too. I personally like my stuff on the sour side so if you do not like tartness, then use smaller lemons or a little less of the juice. Makes alot of filling! The only trouble I’m having is getting my cake layers to come out of the pan in one piece. I’m still new at this so I hope practice will make it better. I was only doing a trial run to see how this cake would be for my grandma’s 90th birthday so I kindof rushed along and the cake was still warm when I was working so that could’ve been the problem. I did not use the 7min icing recipe..I found another buttercream recipe from this site that is very good…so I decided to use that instead.
Try making this cake with a yellow cake mix and use a canned lemon pie filling for the center. Top with seven minute frosting and sprinkle the top and sides with coconut. That is my favorite cake for Easter. This recipe is the next best thing.
Used Duncan Hines white cake mix
Use 1 pkg lemon pudding in here, and scald milk instead of boiling water. Makes a heavier but moister cake.
This cake filling is wonderful. Just the right amount of tart/sweet. Even with the tender cake layers breaking apart while assembling this, the 7 minute frosting is just the right consistency to hold it together beautifully. The end result was an impressive, delicious cake for my 86 year old mothers birthday. It is definitely a keeper.
We used to buy a Lemon Torte cake from our hometown bakery. It went out of business a few years ago. Never found another cake that was anything so good! Tried this recipe and we are in love with our lemon cake again!! Used yellow cake mix instead of the white. I made my white icing recipe instead of the seven minute and I will definately have to use this recipe again and again!! I also added some browned coconut on top. Really added a finish.
This tasted great but the cake did not stay together. It was quite the mess(sliding all over the place). I have never made custard before and the directions did not give much indication as to how thick it should be so maybe I didn’t get it thick enough but I will try again.
LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE it is the greatest cake in the worlddddddddddddd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I made this cake today. It came out wonderful. I love the lemon filling. I just had to rate this recipe five stars. It’s great.
This was very very lemony, but good. The recipe for the custard made quite a bit more than I used for the cake. The 7 minute frosting was a bust, so I will definitely look for a different recipe next time for the frosting.
Refreshingly delicious !!! I absolutely love the lemon custard – nice and tart without being overbearing. The 7 minute frosting was equally delicious – soooo marshmallow-y !! The light, sweet texture of the frosting completed the lemon flavor so nicely. I garnished with fresh raspberries & mint leaves. A definite do-again. If you would like to see a photo of my cake – look at the photo titled Lemon-y Layers 🙂
Absolutely yummy!!
lemon curd was excellent, will definately use again. didnt care for the 7 min frosting, which was much more like 15 min and VERY marshmallow-y and didnt make the cake attractive.
This recipe was a huge hit! The cake is moist and recieved rave reviews from everyone. It is time consuming, but well worth it. I used only two pans and cut each one in half to make four layers. The frosting for me was more like 15 minute frosting as it took that long to get to peaks. But once again, it was very worth it. Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe!