Effortless Strawberry Lemonade Cake (Print Version)
# Ingredients:
→ Lemon Cake
01 -
Zest and juice from half a lemon
02 -
210 ml buttermilk
03 -
1/4 tsp fine salt
04 -
1/2 tsp baking soda
05 -
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
06 -
10 g cornstarch
07 -
260 g all-purpose flour
08 -
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
09 -
3 medium eggs, room temp
10 -
280 g powdered sugar
11 -
150 g unsalted butter, nice and soft
→ Strawberry Filling
12 -
Homemade strawberry compote, just enough for the layers
→ Strawberry Swiss Buttercream
13 -
A big batch of Strawberry Swiss Buttercream
→ Lemon Mascarpone Chantilly
14 -
All the Lemon Mascarpone Chantilly cream you can whip up
→ Lemon Drizzle
15 -
Yellow food coloring
16 -
2 tsp lemon curd
17 -
50 g heavy cream
18 -
50 g white chocolate
# Instructions:
01 -
Put white chocolate and heavy cream in a bowl over simmering water to melt gently. Mix in some lemon curd plus the yellow food coloring. Let it chill down to 30°C (86°F). Pour it on top of your chilled cake, letting it drip along the sides. Decorate with leftover buttercream and a few lemon slices if you like. Give the finished cake 20-30 minutes at room temp before serving.
02 -
Trim the tops of your sponge layers if things got a little wonky. Pop one layer onto a turntable, then pipe a ring of strawberry buttercream around the edge. Dollop in compote and mascarpone cream in the middle. Stack up the layers, repeating those fillings each time. Roughly frost the outside (crumb coat) with more buttercream. Let it chill two hours—or half an hour in the freezer works too.
03 -
Whip up that Lemon Mascarpone Chantilly just how you like. If you're using store-bought or a favorite homemade version, both are great.
04 -
Make sure your Strawberry Swiss Buttercream is ready to spread. However you usually do it, that'll work here.
05 -
Make your favorite strawberry compote and let it cool all the way down before building your cake.
06 -
Divide the finished batter between your cake pans—try to make them even. Bake for about 30 minutes, until they're golden and a skewer poked in the middle comes out clean. Wait a bit, pop them out onto a rack, and cool completely.
07 -
Set your oven to 165°C (325°F) and line three 15 cm (6-inch) pans with parchment. In a bowl, sift salt, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, and flour. In a second bowl, whip the butter, powdered sugar, and lemon zest with a mixer till they look pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla till smooth. Add the wet ingredients and lemon juice to your dry mix slowly, stirring so it's nice and smooth, no lumps left.
# Notes:
01 -
Keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days. It freezes well for up to 3 months.
02 -
Don’t stack or frost cakes til they're cool or things might get messy.
03 -
Pipe a buttercream ring so your compote stays put and doesn't spill out.
04 -
Let the cake chill before topping with the lemon drizzle for best thick results.