Fragrant, fresh, and just the right balance of sweet and savory. This rosemary lemon cake pairs together earthy rosemary and zesty lemon to create a flavor that’s both comforting and unexpectedly refined.
This is the kind of cake perfect for brunch, tea time, Mother’s Day, or as a thoughtful homemade gift for a loved one. In my case, I made this cake flavor as one of the tiers on my wedding cake. Yes, I baked my own wedding cake.
My husband loves lemon desserts. Think lemon meringue pie, lemon shortbread, lemon ricotta pancakes. I, however, prefer lemon in savory applications like rosemary lemon roasted chicken or grilled lemon herb pork chops.
Relationships are built on compromise. As such, I’m learning to appreciate lemon desserts! There was a time when I wouldn’t touch lemon curd, yet now, I’m liking it as a cake filling!
Ingredients
This layer cake has three components:
- Lemon Cake
- Lemon Curd
- Rosemary Buttercream
Lemon Cake
The cake uses the standard line up of ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter, sugar, eggs, and milk and sour cream. Fresh squeezed lemon juice and finely grated lemon zest provide the bright kick of flavor.
This recipe makes three 6-inch lemon cake rounds. The cake is flavored with lemon juice and lemon zest, absolutely no lemon extract or any fake lemon stuff.
It has to be fresh squeezed juice! Fresh-squeezed lemon juice delivers a bright, clean acidity that bottled juice just can’t mimic. Bottled lemon juice or lemon juice concentrate often taste flat, thus dulling the flavor of the cake.
Lemon Curd
I used store-bought lemon curd from Trader Joe’s. It’s the good stuff imported from England! I also recommend these following store-bought options: Tiptree or Stonewall Kitchen.
Rosemary Buttercream
The frosting is an adaptation of American buttercream. It’s flavor comes from rosemary infused butter.
Add fresh rosemary springs to a cup of melted unsalted butter. Allow the mixture to steep for about an hour or so, until the butter cooled to room temperature. Then, strain out the rosemary and season the butter with quite a bit of salt.
Beat the infused butter with powdered sugar (aka confectioners’ sugar) until smooth and fluffy. That’s it!
How To Assemble
Have your mise en place ready! That means:
- the lemon cake layers should be cooled and leveled
- prepare the rosemary buttercream
- have lemon curd ready
- decorating bag (piping bag with small round tip)
- offset spatula for spreading
- Start with one lemon cake round. Spread a very thin layer of rosemary buttercream on top of the cake.
- Pipe a small border of rosemary buttercream along the perimeter of the cake round. This will serve as a barrier when you filled the cake with lemon curd.
- Carefully spread a layer of lemon curd within the buttercream boundaries.
- Repeat for the first two layers of the cake. The final (third) top layer will not have lemon curd.
- Frost the outside of the cake with the remaining rosemary buttercream.
If you decide to lightly coat the cake (like shown above), you will have plenty of leftover rosemary buttercream to use in other baking adventures. This buttercream pairs well with vanilla cupcakes or as a filling for linzer cookies.
Additional Cake Decor and Toppings
I decorated the finished lemon cake with fresh sprigs of rosemary (to resemble pine trees) and crumbled candied pecans (to mimic soil). And since it’s the holidays, I dusted some powdered sugar on top for a lovely “snow” effect.
The base of the rosemary lemon cake is adorned with lemon thyme. Although I didn’t use lemon thyme in the recipe, I thought it added a nice earthy feel to the cake.
Slice the cake to see all the beautiful and delicious layers hidden inside.
Make Ahead Options
Bake lemon cake ahead of time. Cool to room temperature before wrapping in plastic wrap.
Store in the freezer for up to two months. Simply allow cake to defrost at room temperature before use.
Serving Suggestions
Frost, assembled cake may be stored in the fridge for up to two days before serving. Ensure cake is in an airtight covered container to prevent unwanted flavors from the fridge to seep in.
Allow chilled cake to sit out for at least 30 minutes before serving. The cake layers and frosting need time to soften for best texture and flavor.
Once cake is sliced, store leftovers in a covered container or wrap in plastic wrap to keep it moist and fresh in the fridge. Keep chilled for up to three additional days.
Rosemary Lemon Cake with Lemon Curd Filling and Rosemary Buttercream
Ingredients
Lemon Cake:
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, (293 g)
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, (170 g) softened, room temperature
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar, (250 g)
- 3 large large eggs, room temperature
- ⅓ cup sour cream, (76 g) room temperature
- ⅔ cup whole milk, room temperature
- 5 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
- high-quality lemon curd, store-bought or homemade, as needed
Rosemary Buttercream:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, (226 g)
- 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 3 ¼ cups powdered sugar, (370 g) sifted
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon heavy cream, or milk
Instructions
Lemon Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line three 6-inch cake round pans with parchment paper. Lightly grease and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter. Add sugar and whip until smooth. Add eggs and continue to mix on medium speed until incorporated. Incorporate sour cream and mix. Scrape down bowl as needed to ensure thorough mixing.
- Add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with milk. Begin and finish with flour mixture. Add lemon juice and lemon zest and mix until well incorporated.
- Divide batter evenly among the three prepared cake pans. Level batter using a mini offset spatula, or the back of 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.
Rosemary Buttercream:
- In a heavy bottomed sauce pot, add butter and rosemary. Melt over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for 1 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Allow rosemary to steep for 60-90 minutes until butter is cool to the touch. Strain out rosemary and keep butter chilled in the fridge until ready to use.
- Let chilled rosemary infused butter soften at room temperature before use. Using a hand held mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter. Add confectioners’ sugar, salt, and cream. Mix until buttercream is smooth. If buttercream is too soft, add additional confectioners’ sugar 1 Tbsp at a time until desired consistency is achieved.
Assembly:
- Fit a decorating bag (piping bag) with a small round tip. Fill the bag with about 1/2 cup of buttercream. Set aside.
- If necessary, level cake layers. Place one cake round on a cake turntable. Spread a thin layer of buttercream on cake using a small offset spatula. Using the filled piping bag, pipe a small border of rosemary buttercream along the perimeter of the cake round. This will serve as a barrier when you filled the cake with lemon curd.
- Add enough lemon curd to fill the buttercream boundaries. Place second cake layer on top. Repeat filling cake layer with buttercream and lemon curd. Place the final third layer on top. This layer will not have 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. If desired, generously coat the chilled cake with additional buttercream. Chill cake if not serving immediately. Decorate cake with fresh rosemary sprigs and crushed candied pecans. Dust top of the cake with sifted powdered sugar. Let cake sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow cake to soften.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
Remember my obsession with plates? Here’s another one from my growing collection. These delicate, hand-painted plates were made in England. They belonged to my great-grandmother. She received it as a wedding gift in 1896 (meaning these plates are over 100 years old!) My mom brought them back from the Philippines a few years ago. I have treasured them ever since.
Maryanne,
Thank you for posting this recipe, I made this wonderful cake for my boss’s birthday. It was a HUGE hit. The cake is so delicious, truly the best cake I’ve ever had, and I’m 60, so I’ve eaten my fair share of cake. :) I’ll post a pic on Pinterest,
All the best,
Catherine
Hi Catherine! Thank you for trying out the recipe. I’m so glad you enjoyed it! (I can’t wait to see photos!)
I love lemony sweets and cakes and the mix of rosemary sounds incredible. And it’s such a beautiful cake – perfect for fall/winter.
My son was born on Christmas day, and I have been trying to think of a fun birthday cake for this first birthday coming up in a few months. Something season appropriate, completely delicious, and totally picture worthy — I think I’ve found it! What a gorgeous cake. And I LOVE the naked cake effect with the extra-thin layer of frosting. I’m thinking of doing this for the adults, and a mini version with fun-fetti for my little Mr.
Thank you, Kaylee! I’m glad you found it! Love the idea of adding funfetti to make it more festive for your son’s bday!
How far in advance can you make this beautiful cake?
Hi Maryanne! I made this cake today however it was very dense. Made of with goat cheese frosting and added Rosemary in the cake- tasted great! Do you have any ideas as too why it may have become dense? Thank you :)
can we substitute yogurt or greek yogurt for the sour cream??
Yes, greek yogurt could be substituted for the sour cream.
Cake serves 10-12 people. If you use 9″ cake pan, you will need to reduce the baking time.
Made your cake it was delicious. I was just wondering how many people this cake fed and how easily it would be to adapt the recipe for 3 x 9″ pan.
I made this cake today to celebrate a late birthday with my family for my twin sister and I! We always celebrate when we visit home over Thanksgiving because we both live in different cities now. The cake was perfect! I used two 8-inch cake pans instead of three 6-inch because it is what my Mom has at her house. I shortened the baking time to 26 minutes and the layers came out beautifully! The rosemary in the buttercream was the perfect complement to the lemon cake and lemon curd filling. I will definitely make it again, and I’m dreaming of all the ways I could use rosemary buttercream now.
Wow, what a work of art. The flavors are awesome. I only wish I could have a piece of this glorious cake!
Thank you!! :)