This Almond Lemon Cake has soft almond cake layers, tangy lemon curd filling, and white chocolate buttercream frosting. It’s a delicious combination that is perfect for any event.
Cake is My Love Language
When I love someone, I make them cake. Unless it’s my husband – he doesn’t care for cake, so making him a cake is the same as making a cake for myself. In any case, my mom’s birthday was last month, and she was coming up for a visit around that time. Obviously, I wanted to make her a cake.
I asked my mom to name some of her favorite cake flavors. She said, “I like almond, lemon, and white chocolate.” I realized those would work quite nicely together.
The Development
I wanted to use almond flour in the cake layers for two reasons; first, it gives an extra bit of almond taste, and second, it makes the cake a bit more dense (still soft, but with a thicker crumb). I like the taste and texture of thicker fillings, like lemon curd, with a thicker cake. They just go together.
My family cookbook has a recipe for lemon curd, so it was a no brainer to modify it for the cake filling.
Finally, I made a buttercream frosting and drizzled in white chocolate. So delicious.
Almond Lemon Cake
Here a few tips for making this Almond Lemon Cake:
- Since the cake uses almond flour, it does not rise all that much. You will likely NOT need to level the layers.
- If you’re pressed for time, you can use store bought lemon curd. However, I don’t think that the taste compares to making it yourself. Homemade has an irresistible lemon tang!
- The white chocolate in the buttercream does harden up. So first, work quickly with the frosting. The longer you wait, the harder it becomes. Second, you will not make the buttercream 100% smooth. Embrace that with your decor, using your spatula or knife to swipe in different directions and make a rustic look.
Lemon Almond Cake
Ingredients
Cake Layers
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 ¾ cup sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup almond flour
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
Lemon Curd
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp lemon zest
- ½ cup lemon juice
- 2 large eggs
White Chocolate Buttercream
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup shortening
- pinch salt
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar
- 3-4 tbsp heavy cream
- 4 ounces white melting chocolate
Assembly and Décor
- Almond slices
- Lemon pieces and zest
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line three 8” round pans with parchment paper. Butter and flour sides of pans.
- Use electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment to beat butter and sugar until lightened in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Beat in almond extract. Next beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down sides as needed.
- In a medium sized bowl, stir together flour, almond flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Alternate beating in flour mixture and buttermilk, starting and ending with flour mixture. Do this in at least three increments. Scrape down sides as needed and mix until well incorporated.
- Divide batter evenly among the three prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out with just a few crumbs, about 23 minutes.
- Let cool at least 5 minutes before removing from pans to finish cool on rack.
Lemon Curd
- In a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat, add sugar, butter, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Stir until butter has melted and sugar dissolves. Then, reduce heat to medium-low.
- In a small bowl, whisk the two eggs. While continuously whisking, pour about ½ cup of the sugar mixture into the eggs.
- Again, while continuously whisking, pour the egg mixture back into the pot. Continue whisking until mixture has thickened, about 12-14 minutes.
Buttercream
- Use an electric mixer fit with paddle attachment to beat butter and shortening until lightened in color, about 3 minutes.
- Beat in salt. Then, alternate mixing in powdered sugar and heavy cream, until you have mixed in about half of each.
- Next, place white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Heat on 50% power in 30 second increments, stirring after each increment, until white chocolate is completely melted.
- Mix melted chocolate into buttercream on medium-low speed. Then, alternate mixing in the remaining powdered sugar and heavy cream until desired stiffness and taste is achieved (I use the 4 cups of powdered sugar and 4 tbsp of whipping cream).
Assembly
- You will likely not need to level the cakes as they do not rise that much. However, if yours did, level them as needed. Then, pipe a border of buttercream around the top of two of the layers.
- Divide the lemon curd between the two bordered layers (you may not use all of the lemon curd).
- Stack the two layers with the curd on top of each other. Stack the final cake layer top side down on the top.
- Apply a thin layer of the buttercream all over the sides and top of the cake. Place the cake in the refrigerator or freezer for at least 10 minutes. Then, remove cake and finish frosting as desired. As the buttercream has the white chocolate, it will not be perfectly smooth. Embrace that and go for a rustic look on the sides. For the top, I would recommend using a wide tip, such as the Wilton 2D, as the chunky frosting is difficult to pipe through small tips.
- Press almond pieces into the bottom of the cake. Use lemon to decorate as desired. Zest lemon over top of cake.
Disclaimer: All nutritional information provided on this website is an estimate only and is not guaranteed.
If you enjoyed this Almond Lemon Cake, you should check out these other SugarSpicesLife recipes:
Almond Berry Meringue Cake
Strawberry Lemon Cake
Lemon Cranberry Cake
White Almond Cake with Raspberry Filling and Buttercream Frosting
Links to items used to make and decorate this Almond Lemon Cake:
