This easy recipe for a Lemon Elderflower Cake is light and fluffy and full of summertime flavor. Frosted with an elderflower meringue buttercream, with lemon curd in the center and a light dusting of dried elderflowers.
Check out all of our lemon recipes too!
I’m beyond excited to share this cake recipe! Not surprisingly, my favorite detail about the Royal wedding happing in May is the cake!
A very lucky native California baker, now London-based, Claire Ptak has been hired to bake a lemon elderflower cake for the celebration.
The flavor combination sounded so fresh and springy to me, I had to try one for myself! Elderflower is a small white flower that blooms in the summer. It has a warm floral flavor.
The flowers can be pretty hard to find fresh during the year. Instead, we used St-Germain which is an elderflower liquor that’s easily available at most liquor stores.
To garnish the cake, I bought dried organic elderflowers on Etsy. They were perfect to sprinkle over the top of our lemon elderflower cake!
This cake literally reminds me so much of something you would taste at a wedding!
How to make Lemon Elderflower Cake
Ingredient Notes
Baking powder
Salt
Whole milk
Granulated sugar
Egg whites
Unsalted butter, room temp
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Lemon extract
Elderflower liqueur
Directions
- Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
- Beat the butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy and add in lemon zest.
- Using a fork whisk egg whites, milk, and extract together in a bowl.
- Alternate the dry and wet ingredients into the butter mixture beating on medium until incorporated.
- Prepare two 8-inch round cake pans with butter and parchment paper.
- Pour the batter evenly into the pans and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 30 minutes.
- Do not overbake or they will become dry.
- Mix 1 cup lemon curd with 3 teaspoons elderflower liqueur to spread in the middle of the cake when it’s cooled.
- Once the cake is baked and cooled, remove it from each pan and spread a layer of lemon curd on one layer. Then stack them and continue frosting with the buttercream.
What is lemon Elderflower Cake?
This cake is a classic white lemon cake with elderflower lemon curd in the center and an elderflower meringue buttercream frosting.
The cake is moist and the flavors are present in every bite! They’re not overpowering, but just right.
Lemon Elderflower Cake with Buttercream Meringue Frosting
The buttercream meringue is one of my favorite frosting recipes. It’s light in texture and flavor and the consistency is creamy and whipped! I also used it on my delicious lemon cupcakes!
It’s really so good!! In this version, the frosting is flavored with elderflower liquor and fresh lemon for a beautifully delicious topping.
What does it taste like?
This cake is the perfect balance of floral flavors and fresh lemon. If you’ve ever had a really good white cake, it’s very similar to that. A moist white cake with lemon and the best buttercream meringue frosting!
It’s such a perfect summer cake as it’s very light and even better, perfect for a wedding! If you only make one cake this year, you have to make this one!
Tips for making Lemon Elderflower Cake
- Make sure the cake has cooled before layering it and adding the buttercream.
- Do not overbake the cakes or they will become dry.
- Grease your cake pans and use parchment so they don’t stick.
- Make sure your cake ingredients are at room temperature.
Be sure to check these other occasion cakes!
Orange Rum Cake with Meringue Buttercream
Momofuku Milk Bar’s 4th July Cake
Let us know what you think!
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Lemon Elderflower Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cup whole milk
- 4 large egg whites
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 3/4 cup butter, room temp
- 1 1/2 tsp lemon extract
- 1 jar fresh lemon curd for the filling
Instructions
- Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
- Beat the butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy and add in lemon zest.
- Using a fork whisk egg whites, milk and extract together in a bowl.
- Alternate the dry and wet ingredients into the butter mixture beating on medium until incorporated.
- Prepare two 8 inch round cake pans with butter and parchment paper.
- Pour the batter evenly into the pans and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.
- Do you not over bakes or they will become dry.
- Mix 1 cup lemon curd with 3 teaspoons elderflower liqueur to spread in the middle of the cake when it’s cooled.
Nutrition
Lemon Elderflower Buttercream Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large egg whites
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon extract
- 1 tbsp elderflower liqueur
Instructions
- Add the sugar and the egg whites into a heatproof mixing bowl.
- Fit the bowl over a pan of simmering water.
- Whisk constantly until the mixture is hot, sugar is dissolved and the egg whites are a little frothy. About 4 minutes. It should look like a shiny marshmallow cream.
- With the whisk attachment, transfer to a mixing bowl and beat eggs on medium speed until cooled and thicker for about 5 minutes.
- Switch to the paddle attachment and add in one stick of room temperature butter at a time, beating until smooth.
- On medium speed, add in the lemon juice and elderflower liqueur.
- If the buttercream curdles or separates, just keep beating until it comes back together. You should end up with a shiny, smooth and absolutely delicious buttercream frosting!
I made this cake and icing for the first time two years ago and it was a huge success. I’ve made it again omitting the elderflower and it was just as good. I’ve adapted it to my base cake!
This is a beautiful cake. I love these flavors together.
Thank you, Laura!
This cake is beautiful! I love the flavors!
Oh my goodness, this cake looks and sounds absolutely amazing!!
I just found your site for the very first time and may I say, I’m impressed! It reminds me a lot of the way that Martha used to be. I miss the the old Martha but I’m glad to see that her legacy is being preserved by the next generation. And I mean that as the highest compliment! I will certainly visit again, and thank you for the wonderful recipe. I’m going to try it out very soon.
Thank you for that Rebecca! That truly is a very sweet comment. I grew up with Martha and she is such an inspiration! I hope you like this recipe as much as I do!
I tried this recipe and it came out really dry. I think 1 stick of butter might be wrong. I checked my other cake recipes and for that amount of flour most use 1 cup of butter which is 2 sticks. I will give this recipe another go.
Is it possible to make this as a 9×13 and maybe put the curd in as a poke cake? I have a party coming up and think 9×13 might work better…or I can always make 2 cakes 😉
Yes! That sounds delicious!! Just alter baking times, etc.
I am just getting ready to make the frosting for this cake and I saw below, that someone had trouble with the frosting. Do you have any reply to that comment or are there any suggestions/tips that you can offer?
Hi Jani! This frosting is SO good when made right! My only tip is to make sure you whisk the sugar and eggs until the eggs are hot and frothy and the sugar is melted. When you think it’s finished keep whisking over the heat for another minute. The temperature is what will make the frosting thick. Other than that it’s a pretty simple recipe. Butter needs to be soft too. Don’t try to beat cold butter in. Hope that helps!
Could someone tell me what temperature 350 degrees is for a Fan oven please.
This looks amazing! How long can the cake be stored?
Can you please clarify that one stick of butter is 1/2C of butter aka 113g and not 1C of butter? Sticks very in size and the sugar butter combo is very dense.
Hi! I making this cake today! It seems to me the cake batter is very liquidy. Are you sure it’s just 2 and 1/4 cups flour? Thanks!
Yes! Only 2 1/4 cups flour 🙂
tried this for a church supper- made 2, one as a sort of trial: the second cake worked better, but the frosting was a problem. The first one curdled, as warned, so I kept beating, and it became more buttery, but the taste was more butter than lemon, and not very sweet. The second frosting did not curdle, but never became thick enough to frost. I think I may have added to much of the elderflower or juice. Since the frosting is almost a 7 minute frosting, with butter added, I think if I make this again, I will make a 7 minute frosting- no butter- and use lemon extract- and if it will hold its shape, a little elderflower.
For the frosting is it regular sugar or powdered sugar?
It’s regular sugar… you melt it with the egg whites.
Do you need granulated or confectioners sugar?
This sounds amazing! Any special details/instructions you can think of if I use the cake recipe for cupcakes?
I think this could be easily transformed into cupcakes. The only major thing would be how long you cook them for, so make sure they don’t over cook. Cupcakes cook a lot faster! Also, you could add in some lemon preserves in the center of the cupcake! Good luck!
I was so excited to make this cake, but was a little bit disappointed in the result. My cake was very sticky, and you mentioned using parchment paper, but never explained what to do with it, so I left it out. The picture of your cake is fluffy and white, where mine came out sticky and honey colored. The timing between battery in the middle and overdone was less than 3 minutes. I also had an issue with my lemon curd. It was cold when I spread it, straight out of the fridge, but it ran all done the sides as soon as I dropped the second layer on top, and when I cut the cake, the curd ran out into a puddle on my cake plate. Any suggestions? I’m not a big cake baker, so I’m hoping you can share some tips and where I may have gone wrong. I’d love to tweak and re-attempt because the flavors are delicious- especially the lemon buttercream frosting!
Hi, I would like to make this cake for a Royal Wedding viewing party. I have been looking at some recipes that use elderflower liqueur and others that use elderflower syrup. What is the difference that they individually would have on the cake? Can/should both be used?
Thanks in advance!
Hi! A syrup is going to be a lot sweeter and a liquor has alcohol in it. Hope that helps 🙂
Love this cake! It combines all my favorite flavors. Just the thought alone of elderflower and lemon makes me happy 🙂
It’s really such a good combo!! I loved it!