lemon cake

Desserts

Lemon Cake

This four-layer lemon cake uses lemon juice, lemon zest, a sweet-tart lemon syrup and a lush cream cheese frosting to make sure there's a sunshiny taste of citrus in every bite.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup 2% milk
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
optional: lemon slices or edible flowers

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. Line bottoms of 2 greased 9-in. round baking pans with parchment; grease parchment.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs and egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in lemon zest and juice. In a small bowl, mix sour cream and milk. In another bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream mixture.
Transfer to prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 24-28 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks; remove parchment. Cool slightly.
For syrup, in a small saucepan, combine sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced by half. Cool completely.
For frosting, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth; beat in confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice and salt until blended.
Using a long serrated knife, cut each cake horizontally in half. Brush layers with warm syrup; cool completely.
Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate; spread with 1 cup frosting. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining cake layer. Frost top and sides with remaining frosting. If desired, top with lemon slices or edible flowers. Refrigerate leftovers.