Homemade lemon curd sandwiched between lemon and vanilla sponge cakes with a lemon frosting makes this Lemon Curd Cake the perfect afternoon treat!

While I’m an autumn girl at heart, my second favourite season is spring.  And nothing screams spring louder than this lemon curd cake!

Do you associate lemon with spring?  I think I do because of pretty daffodils with their bright, fresh colour.  And the same goes with the flavour of lemon – zesty, bright and fresh.  It’s a flavour that zings on the tongue.  And whilst it’s been dismal weather here lately, there are signs of spring poking their way up through the earth.

So lets open the windows, hang out the bunting and bake lemon curd cake.  Because why the heck not.

Oh lemon curd how I love thee.  On toast.  On pancakes.  On scones.  With ice-cream.  Stuffed into lemon layer cake …

How to make vegan lemon curd:

It’s as simple as putting the milk, cornflour, lemon juice and sugar into a saucepan and heating gently while whisking until it thickens.  Then whisk in the butter.  Ta da.  Job done!

Pro tip: grate the zest from the lemons before juicing them as we’ll be using the zest in the cakes and it’s so much easier to grate the lemons while they’re whole <- the voice of experience!

How to make vegan lemon cake:

Brush some margarine around your cake tins and dust with flour.  I used 2 x 6inch (15cm) sandwich tins.  My tins are fairly old and well used so I also lay a disk of parchment in the bottom just to make sure the cake doesn’t stick to the tin.

Whisk the milk together with the oil, vanilla and lemon zest in a jug or bowl.

In a large bowl stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder.

Add the wet to the dry and mix everything together well, stirring up from the bottom of the bowl to make sure no ‘pockets’ of flour remain.

Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins and bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes or until the cakes are firm but springy to the touch.  You can also use a cocktail stick inserted into the centre of one of the cakes.  If it comes out clean with no raw cake mixture clinging to it the cakes are cooked.  Otherwise return the cakes to the oven for a few more minutes and test again.

Leave the cakes to cool for 5 minutes in the tin then carefully lift out and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Finishing your lemon curd cake:

Once the cakes are cool make the frosting by beating the softened butter with the icing sugar until very pale and fluffy.  The easiest way to do this is with a stand mixer and the paddle attachment.  Scrape down the bowl a couple of times to make sure the butter and icing sugar are well incorporated.

Add a few drops of lemon extract to taste.

Spoon the frosting into a piping bag – no nozzle needed!

Lay one of the cakes top side up on a board and pipe a ring of frosting round the outer edge.  Into the centre of that spoon half the lemon curd.

Spread the rest of the lemon curd over the base or flattest side of the other cake.  Pipe more of the icing across the lemon curd then carefully spread with a palette knife to cover the curd.

Place the 2 cakes together then pipe/spread the remainder of the frosting over the cakes to completely cover them.

The cake will keep pretty fresh for 2-3 days in an airtight container

Looking for even more vegan lemon recipes?  Try these:

Lemon poppy seed cake

Lemon blueberry donuts

Lemon drizzle cake

Mini lemon meringue pies

Blueberry lemon rustic tarts

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