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A slice of Lemon Elderflower Celebration Cake showing layers and buttercream flowers.

Lemon Elderflower Celebration Cake

This recipe guides you through making a layered cake featuring lemon curd filling and Swiss meringue buttercream, decorated with buttercream flowers.
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Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 36 minutes
Chilling Time 4 hours
Total Time 5 hours 36 minutes
Servings: 1 cake
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 395
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the Cake
  • 2 1/4 cups cake flour 335g
  • 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar 235g
  • 1 tsp baking powder heaping
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 2/3 cup whole milk 160ml, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup sour cream 60ml, room temperature
  • 6 large egg whites room temperature
  • 3 tbsp elderflower syrup
  • 1 zest Lemon zest
  • 1/3 cup lemon juice 80ml
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter 176g, room temperature
For the Lemon Curd
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1/3 cup lemon juice 80ml, freshly strained
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter 115g, chilled
  • 1 cup granulated sugar 228g
For the Swiss Meringue Buttercream
  • 5 egg whites room temperature
  • 2 cups unsalted butter 452g, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 300g
  • 1 pinch kosher salt
  • 3 tbsp elderflower syrup
For the American Buttercream
  • 1 cup unsalted butter 225g, room temperature
  • 1.5 lb Confectioners sugar 460g, sifted
  • 1 tsp rose water
  • As needed food coloring pink, yellow, orange
  • As needed matcha powder

Equipment

  • Standing mixer
  • Three 6-inch cake pans
  • Kitchen scale
  • Piping bags
  • Piping nail

Method
 

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and flour three 6-inch cake pans. Add damp baking strips.
  2. Zest and juice a lemon.
  3. In a standing mixer, sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Whisk the dry ingredients and set aside.
  4. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, milk, elderflower syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest, and sour cream.
  5. Attach a paddle attachment to the stand mixer. Add the room temperature butter in pieces.
  6. Switch to a whisk attachment. On medium speed, beat half of the wet mixture into the dry mixture. Scrape the bowl down and add the remaining wet mixture. Beat until combined.
  7. Pour the batter into the pans. Use a kitchen scale for precision if you have one.
  8. Bake for 33 to 36 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  9. Let the cake layers cool in their pans for about 5 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
  10. For the Lemon Curd: Cut cold butter into 1-inch cubes.
  11. Strain the egg yolks through a sieve. Beat them with a french whisk.
  12. While mixing, add the sugar. The mixture will turn a light lemon color.
  13. Add the lemon juice.
  14. Transfer the bowl to medium-low heat while whisking constantly.
  15. Once the mixture hits 170F, the consistency will change. Test this by dipping the back of a wooden spoon and running your finger through it.
  16. Add in the cubed butter.
  17. Pour the curd into a bowl, cover with plastic, and transfer to the fridge to set for a few hours.
  18. Transfer the curd to a piping bag and snip off the tip for assembly.
  19. For the Swiss Meringue Buttercream: Add egg whites, sugar, and salt to a bowl.
  20. Give the mixture a brief whisk.
  21. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the water does not touch the bowl.
  22. Whisk the egg whites occasionally while warming. Once warm, whisk constantly until the mixture reaches an internal temperature of 160ºF or is no longer grainy between your fingers.
  23. Transfer the bowl to a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Whip until you get room temperature glossy peaks.
  24. While the mixer runs on low, add tablespoon-sized dollops of room temperature butter, letting each piece incorporate before adding the next. Add in the elderflower syrup.
  25. Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag and snip off the tip when ready to use.
  26. For the American Buttercream: In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the room temperature butter until smooth.
  27. Sift in the confectioner’s sugar, adding it in two batches if you prefer.
  28. Beat until you reach the desired consistency. Add a few drops of rose water. Make sure the buttercream is thick.
  29. Dye a few batches yellow, soft pink, and pink. Use some matcha powder to create a natural leaf color.
  30. Transfer buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a 120 tip to make the petals.
  31. Cut a square of parchment paper. Use a tiny bit of buttercream to glue the paper down onto a piping nail.
  32. For the roses, place a small cone of very thick buttercream in the middle of the square. Add bits of yellow in the middle for dimension. Pipe the petals using a 120 tip.
  33. For the Assembly: Pipe a thick ring of Swiss buttercream along the perimeter of one cake layer. Pipe the lemon curd in the middle. Add the next layer and repeat the process.
  34. Transfer the assembled cake to the fridge to chill for a few minutes.
  35. Add Swiss buttercream to the outside of the cake.
  36. Smooth the Swiss buttercream with a bench scraper and offset spatula. Chill the cake again. Keep the cake in the fridge until you are ready to add the roses if you are in a warm climate.
  37. Pipe a crescent ring of Swiss buttercream on the top of the cake.
  38. Use scissors to transfer roses to the ring. Pipe leaves with a 68 tip for more dimension.

Notes

If you are not using 6-inch pans, double the recipe for 8-inch pans or triple the recipe for 9-inch pans.
If you see small clumps of butter after mixing the wet ingredients, do not worry; it will combine when you mix in the dry ingredients. You can use melted butter and warm the milk and sour cream slightly if you prefer.
You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream.
To get flat, moist layers, try using cake strips.