Lemon Curd Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
This lemon cake with lemon curd and cream cheese frosting is a soft, single-layer lemon cake made with fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, and sour cream for a moist and tender crumb. It’s topped with tangy, luxurious lemon cream cheese frosting and finished with a swirl of lemon curd for bright citrus flavor in every bite.
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour spooned and leveled; (about 187g)
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ½ cup butter, melted and cooled
- ⅓ cup whole milk room temperature
- ⅓ cup sour cream room temperature
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 4 tbsp butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
Lemon Curd Swirl
- 6 tbsp lemon curd
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 inch round cake pan with butter, then line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Mix together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda) in a bowl and set aside.1 ½ cup all-purpose flour, ½ tsp sea salt, 1 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp baking soda
- To a large mixing bowl, add the sugar and the lemon zest and rub together with your fingers to infuse the sugar with lemon flavor.1 cup granulated sugar, 1 tbsp lemon zest
- Using a whisk or handheld mixer, mix the melted butter into the sugar and lemon zest, then mix in the milk and sour cream, then the eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla.¼ cup lemon juice, ½ cup butter, melted and cooled, ⅓ cup whole milk, ⅓ cup sour cream, 2 eggs, 2 tsp vanilla
- Mix in the dry ingredients until just combined. Be careful not to overmix or it’ll make your cake gummy.
- Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few crumbs.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes before turning it out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Beat together the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and lemon zest with a handheld mixer until smooth.8 oz cream cheese, 4 tbsp butter, 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tbsp lemon zest
- Frost the top of the cake, then dollop on spoonfuls of lemon curd on top of the frosting and swirl them in.6 tbsp lemon curd