This lemon elderflower cake is perfect for any occasion! If you saw the smash cakes I made for the twin’s first birthday you know I will put pink flowers on a boy’s birthday cake! ?
About the Flavor
The lemon curd is so bright and flavorful, it’s really a grand trick for something to have a decent amount of butter in it but still taste light and refreshing. For those of you not familiar, elderflowers have a fragrant and floral taste with hints of citrus making them the perfect partner for lemons. There was a huge elderflower cocktail craze in the late nineties-early aughts but I really hadn’t heard much about them until the ROYAL WEDDING again popularized the flavor. I should point out that elderflower is much more popular in other countries like Canada than in the US. If you make this recipe there will be lots of left over elderflower syrup so feel free to add a splash to your next gin and tonic, vodka soda or seltzer water!
OK I just had to show you a closeup of the piece. I love that bright, sunny lemon curd and yes, you can totally use store-bought if time is an issue, but I’m obsessed with home-made fruit curds!!! By the by these would be amazing cupcakes. I would hollow the inside and fill with lemon curd then top with the swiss meringue buttercream. If you’re looking at this recipe and thinking, hmm looks good but I wish it were an amazing vanilla cake instead, I hear you! You can click here for my favorite vanilla cake recipe and then just use the lemon curd and elderflower buttercream to assemble it. That recipe also makes three six inch cakes so it’s an easy swap.
A Few Pointers
If you’re not using 6-inch pans, double the recipe for 8-inch pans or triple the recipe for 9-inch pans. If you see little clumps of butter after you mix the wet ingredients don’t panic, it all works out by the time you mix in the dry ingredients. You can even use melted butter and warm the milk and sour cream up a bit if you like. You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired, I do it all the time and can’t really tell the difference. To get FLAT layers that are moist inside and out try using cake strips! You can buy a set on the shop page or make your own from foil and paper towels at home. I made a whole blog post on it so check it out if you’re interested! If you don’t have much experience making buttercream flowers you can add some real flowers on top or check out my how to make buttercream flowers post with how to video.
Styling Tip
I really loved the look of these buttercream peony blossoms on the cake but if you’re not into piping flowers then add a real peony on top, some actual elderflowers, pictured below, or some arrangement your favorites! If you find cake decorating to be a bit intimidating then check out my How to Decorate a Cake post, it has lots of helpful tips and a full how to video.
Steps for Making this Cake
If you love this recipe try these out!
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