This easy recipe for a Lemon Elderflower Cake is light and fluffy and full of summer time flavor. Frosted with and elderflower meringue buttercream, this cake is fit for a Royal wedding!
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 so much of something you would taste at a wedding!
How to make Lemon Elderflower Cake
- 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.
- Once the cake is baked and cooled, remove it from each pan and spread a layer of the 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 an 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! It’s really so good!! This 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. It’s a delicate flavor, that is not sickly or overpowering. 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!
Top Tips for making Lemon Elderflower Cake
- Make sure the cake has cooled before layering it and adding the buttercream.
- Do not over bake 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
Special Occasion 8 Layer Cake by Honest Cooking
Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Buttercream by Liv For Cake
If you have tried this Lemon Elderflower Cake recipe, or any other recipe on my blog, then please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also follow me on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food!
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
- 1/2 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!
SugarSalted Alice says
April 29, 2018 at 9:42 amLove this cake! It combines all my favorite flavors. Just the thought alone of elderflower and lemon makes me happy 🙂
Eden says
May 15, 2018 at 9:36 pmIt’s really such a good combo!! I loved it!
Egi says
May 13, 2018 at 8:41 pmHi, 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!
Eden says
May 14, 2018 at 9:21 amHi! A syrup is going to be a lot sweeter and a liquor has alcohol in it. Hope that helps 🙂
Kelly says
May 15, 2018 at 7:49 amThis sounds amazing! Any special details/instructions you can think of if I use the cake recipe for cupcakes?
Eden says
May 15, 2018 at 9:37 pmI 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!
A says
May 17, 2018 at 5:38 pmDo you need granulated or confectioners sugar?
Christina Lanese says
May 18, 2018 at 2:55 pmFor the frosting is it regular sugar or powdered sugar?
Eden says
May 20, 2018 at 9:27 pmIt’s regular sugar… you melt it with the egg whites.
K Lies says
May 19, 2018 at 12:50 pmtried 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.
John says
May 20, 2018 at 10:55 amHi! 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!
Eden says
May 20, 2018 at 9:24 pmYes! Only 2 1/4 cups flour 🙂
Nina says
May 21, 2018 at 7:40 pmCan 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.
Vivian says
May 22, 2018 at 8:01 amThis looks amazing! How long can the cake be stored?
Dee says
May 25, 2018 at 9:16 amCould someone tell me what temperature 350 degrees is for a Fan oven please.
Jani Hobbs says
May 27, 2018 at 6:46 amI 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?
Eden says
May 27, 2018 at 7:20 amHi 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!
Jennifer says
June 2, 2018 at 12:22 pmIs 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 😉
Eden says
June 3, 2018 at 9:25 pmYes! That sounds delicious!! Just alter baking times, etc.
Zi says
June 10, 2018 at 8:29 amI 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.
Rebecca says
July 23, 2018 at 4:15 pmI 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.
Eden says
July 24, 2018 at 12:04 pmThank 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!