Lemon meringue cake features three layers of lemon buttermilk cake filled with lemon curd and frosted with lemon buttercream.
As the saying goes, when life gives you lemons, makes lemonade. And, when you’ve had enough lemonade, bake away those lemons!
Take all that sour fruit and make some sweet and beautiful. Make this lemon meringue cake! It’s three thick layers of lemon buttermilk cake soaked with a boozy lemon syrup and sandwiched with lemon curd.
A super versatile meringue frosting encases the assembled cake. And, for the finishing touch, the meringue is toasted and garnished with homemade candied lemon slices.
Lemon Cake Components
This layered cake is comprised of four components: 1) lemon buttermilk cake, 2) lemon curd, 3) meringue frosting, and 4) candied lemon slices.
The buttermilk cake is similar to this rosemary lemon cake recipe. Use freshly grated lemon zest and fresh squeezed lemon juice for the best flavor. I cannot emphasize “fresh” enough. Stay away from bottled lemon juice or juice from concentrate. The resulting cake won’t taste as bright or vibrant with the bottled juices.
Choose to bake the cake as:
- three thick 6-inch cake layers or
- three shallow 8-inch cake layers or
- two thick 8-inch cake layers
You will need to adjust baking time slightly for the last two options. See recipe card notes for further details.
I used store bought lemon curd. Trader Joe’s makes my favorite store-bought lemon curd.Alternatively, use you favorite homemade lemon curd. Or, to add a tropical note, use this very popular passion fruit curd recipe.
Meringue Frosting
Meringue is a delicate mixture of egg whites and sugar. There are three types of meringue: French, Swiss, and Italian. This recipe is made using the Italian meringue method.
For Italian meringue, sugar and water are cooked to 240°F (115°C). The hot sugar mixture is poured over whipping egg whites. The sweetened egg white mixture is whipped to shiny, stiff peaks. Italian meringue is the most stable of the three meringues.
Here comes the fun part! Grab your kitchen torch. In a sweeping, circular motion, use the torch to lightly brown the meringue.
Meringue is sweet on it’s own. Add a little heat and the toasted exterior adds a new world of flavors. No longer is the meringue simply sweet, it becomes complex and delectable.
How to Make Candied Lemon Slices
All you need are three ingredients plus patience to make homemade candied lemon slices.
Scrub and wash the lemons well. Use a sharp knife to thinly slice the lemon. In a medium to large heavy bottomed skillet (shallow pan), combine water, sugar, and lemon juice.
Heat until sugar has dissolved. Then, add thin lemon slices into the pan. Reduce heat and simmer mixture for about 8-12 minutes until lemon rinds are soft.
Cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the lemon slices.
Turn lemon slices every 3 minutes for even cooking on both sides. Once the peel feels soft, remove slices and place on a parchment lined tray to cool. Cool to temperature, then transfer to the fridge for later use.
Don’t throw away the lemon sugar syrup! Save that for cake assembly!
Serving Suggestions
While this cake is pretty to look at, it needs to be eaten immediately. It’s definitely not one of those cakes that you can display all night on the dessert table.
Once you frost it with meringue, the clock starts ticking and it’s time to eat!
More Lemon Desserts
Lemon Meringue Cake
Ingredients
Lemon Buttermilk Cake:
- 2 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter,, room temp
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
- 4 large eggs, , room temp
- 1 ¼ cup buttermilk,, room temp
- 5 Tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
Lemon Buttercream:
- 1 cup unsalted butter,, room temp
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon pure lemon extract
- lemon curd,, store-bought or homemade, as needed
Candied lemon Slices:*
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup water
- 2 Tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 2 lemons
Boozy Lemon Soaking Syrup:
- ⅓ cup reserved candied lemon syrup
- 1 oz Grand Marnier, , or other orange/citrus liqueur
Meringue:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup water
- 4 large egg whites,, room temp
- pinch cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch kosher salt
Instructions
Lemon Buttermilk Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line three 6-inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Lightly grease and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter. Add sugar and lemon zest whip until smooth. Add eggs and continue to mix on medium speed until incorporated. Scrape down bowl as needed to ensure thorough mixing.
- Mix milk and lemon juice together. Set aside. Add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with sour milk mixture. Begin and finish with flour mixture. Mix until well incorporated.
- Divide batter evenly among the three prepared cake pans. Level batter using a mini offset spatula, or the back of a spoon. Bake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Let cake cool in pan for 5 minutes, then run a mini offset spatula around the cake and unmold. Let cake cool to room temperature on wire rack.
Lemon Buttercream:
- Using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter. Add confectioners’ sugar, salt, and lemon extract. Mix until smooth. Set aside.
Candied Lemon Slices:
- Thinly slice lemon and discard any seeds.
- In a heavy bottomed skillet, combine sugar, water, and lemon juice. Set over medium heat and cook until sugar has dissolved. Add lemon slices and arrange in a single layer. Reduce heat to a simmer and allow lemon slices to cook until rinds are soft, about 8 minutes. Turn lemon slices occasionally for even cooking.
- Gently remove candied lemon slices from pan and place on a parchment lined tray to cool. Allow to cool to room temperature. Keep chilled in fridge until ready to use. Reserve lemon sugar syrup.
Boozy Lemon Soaking Syrup:
- Combined reserved lemon syrup syrup with orange liqueur of choice. Alternatively, you can also use vodka or rum. Apply to cake layers using pastry brush.
Meringue:
- In a small sauce pot, combine sugar and water. Set over medium-high heat and cook to 238°F.
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on low speed. Once mixture is foamy, increase speed slightly and whisk to soft peaks. By this time, the sugar syrup should have reached its desired temperature. With the mixer running on medium speed, slowly pour in the hot sugar syrup.
- Once all the sugar syrup has been added, increase speed and beat until shiny, stiff peaks. Add vanilla and salt and whisk until incorporated. Use immediately and spoon meringue over frosted cake. (See assembly below)
Assembly:
- Fit a decorating bag (piping bag) with a small round tip. Fill the bag with about ½ cup of buttercream. Set aside.
- In necessary, level cake layers. Place one cake round on a cake turntable. Using a pastry brush, lightly soak cake layer with boozy lemon soaking syrup.
- Spread a thin layer of buttercream on cake using a small offset spatula. Using the filled piping bag, pipe a small border of buttercream along the perimeter of the cake round. This will serve as a barrier when you add lemon curd.
- Add enough lemon curd to filled the buttercream boundaries. Spread lemon curd into an even layer. Place second cake layer on top. Repeat adding soaking syrup, filling cake layer with buttercream and lemon curd. Place the final third layer on top. This layer will not be filled with lemon curd.
- Spread buttercream around the cake to create a “crumb coat” layer to seal in any crumbs. Chill cake in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to set frosting. Add another coat of buttercream and chill for another 15 minutes. Spoon meringue over chilled cake. Lightly brown meringue using a kitchen torch. Add candied lemon slices and fresh mint, if desired. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Use fresh squeezed lemon juice for best flavor.
- I recommend the lemon curd from Trader Joe’s
- three thick 6-inch cake layers (bake 35-40 minutes)
- three shallow 8-inch cake layers (bake 28-30 minutes)
- two thick 8-inch cake layers (bake 35-40 minutes)
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
You are a MASTER! Amazing. I’m seriously dying!
Sorry about your sibling issues. Yes, you should surround yourself with people who will support and encourage you and not those who will tear you down.
This is a gorgeous cake! Would love to try this but I need to buy kitchen torch first. :D Thanks for sharing!
I was just looking for more excuses to pull out my kitchen torch!!! Yum! I want it all.
The finished product is decorated so beautifully! I am sure using that kitchen torch was quite therapeutic too…. I’m going to have to get me one of those!
What a gorgeous cake! I’m sorry that you seem to be having a hard time with your family. My sister and I are super close and she’s my best friend so I can understand how your heart must be hurting.
You are right though, life is too short to surround yourself with people who try to drag you down. Just like a cake surrounded by clouds of sweet meringue, so should you be surrounded by people who enhance your life and bring a lot of sweetness to it!
I love this complex, delicious cake. I know it will be a huge hit with my family, and I think this might be my birthday cake of choice this year!
Thanks Amy! I’m hoping down the road, things change :)
I’m sorry to hear that you are having issues with your sibling. It is never easy. I am struggling to keep a close relationship with my sister (8 years younger than me) as well. Generation gap is definitely one of the reasons. We get along fine when we see each other, but we tend to avoid deep conversation. Hmmm… It is what it is. Hope things will change for the better in the future.
For now, I’m glad to see that you are turning the lemons into a sweet cake. It looks stunning with that meringue! Love to have a slice too!
Thank you! You’re right, it is what is it. The optimist in me is hoping for the better :)
I’m sold. I need a kitchen torch now. This cake looks absolutely amazing because lemon is one of my favorite flavors!
Yes!!! Think of all the things you can brûlée with a kitchen torch!
I’m sorry about your sibling issues. My husband and I were just talking about this earlier today! It can be tough. But I hope it works out well! I’m happy, though, that you have this super cute and yummy looking cake in the meantime. :)
Thank you Erin! It means a lot :)
Oh. My. Gosh. This is the cake to end all cakes…seriously, I don’t think it can get much better than this. Lemon layers and my weakness (meringue) all around? Sigh….
And I agree, I don’t understand sibling rivalry, either (and I have 3 of them). We’re all so different…our own people…each offering different things to different situations, and with different accomplishements. But I ramble, because all I can really think about is a slice of this cake.
Thank you Heather! I’m hoping for the better! And at least, there’s always cake to brighten the day :)
Families are complex. I’m sorry to hear that you’re struggling with sibling rivalry, that’s a tough thing. I have 2 sisters (one 7 years older & one 10 years younger!) and while we all get along great, all families have their issues. Keep taking the high road & making bruleed desserts out of the lemons you’re given! Gorgeous cake. ❤️
Thank you so much Dianna. I appreciate it! :)