Attention – Lemon Cake Lovers!

Lemon cake drenched in lemon syrup and topped with buttery, lemon pudding frosting. Yummy! Remember to Share the love (by sharing this post!)

Attention Lemon Cake Lovers!

This cake has layers and layers of lemon flavor. It all starts with Cake Magic! Mix, a combination of ingredients that can be used in several different cake recipes. Once you’ve made this base mix, you add the rest of the Lemon Pucker Cake ingredients. This includes lots of lemon zest and major quantities of melted butter and eggs. The result? The most wonderfully textured cake which bears no resemblance to the ones which come from a box.

But the real lemony goodness comes in the next few steps.  First, there’s the Lemon Syrup which gets brushed onto the cake after it’s baked. But the best part is the Lemon Pudding Frosting. This involves home-made lemon pudding (I would call it lemon curd) whipped to airy perfection with powdered sugar and 3 sticks of butter (essentially sweetened, lemon-flavored butter.) What’s not to love? The great news is that both the syrup and lemon pudding can be made well in advance. Up to two weeks for both.

Best Birthday Cake for a Lemon Lover

I discovered this cake in the Lunds & Byerly’s real food magazine and was on the lookout for a reason to make it. My baby sister’s birthday presented the perfect occasion. Annie loves lemon as much as I do. As for frosting, she claims she can’t even keep the ingredients in her house. That’s because she would make up a batch and simply eat it, no cake required! Knowing that, I was certain that she would enjoy this rich lemon frosting. As it turns out, it was a hit with both of us (as evidenced by the fact that we both had second helpings.)

Here’s the recipe for Lemon Pucker Cake. It is a bit of extra work, but so worth it!

Lemon Pucker Cake

Lemon Pucker Cake features a cake laced with lemon zest, moistened with lemon syrup and topped with a buttery lemon pudding frosting.

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Course: Dessert

Keyword: cake, Lemon, scratch cake

Prep Time: 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 16 servings

Author: Adapted from Lunds & Byerlys real food magazine Lemon Pucker Cake

Ingredients

Lemon Pucker Cake

• unsalted butter at room temperature for greasing the pans
• flour for dusting pans
• 3 1/2 c. Cake Magic! Mix recipe provided below, whisked well before measuring
• 2 tbsp. finely grated fresh lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 c. whole milk
• 1 c. 2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled, or 1 c. vegetable oil (I used butter)
• 3 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 4 large eggs at room temperature (let set on counter for 30 minutes)

Cake Magic! Mix

• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. table salt not kosher salt

Lemon Syrup

• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice about 4 large lemons
• pinch of salt

Lemon Pudding Frosting

• 1 1/2 c. 3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 c. Lemon Pudding see recipe below
• pinch of salt
• 4 c. powdered sugar

Lemon Pudding

• 1 tbsp. finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 tbsp. cornstarch
• pinch of salt
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1/2 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice about 4 large lemons
• 2 tbsp. cold unsalted butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions

Note

• The steps are listed in the same order as the ingredients, but I recommend making the Lemon Syrup and Lemon Pudding in advance. I made both a few days in advance. You also need to combine the ingredients for the Cake Magic! Mix prior to making the cake.

Lemon Pucker Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of the pans. Dust with flour to coat, then invert and tap out any excess flour.
• Whisk together the Cake Magic! Mix, lemon zest, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl. Stir in the milk, lemon juice and eggs until moistened and no lumps remain (be careful not to overmix.) Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
• Bake until the layers are evenly golden brown and a few moist crumbs cling to a skewer inserted in the center of the cake, 32 to 36 minutes.
• While the cake bakes, prepare the lemon syrup (if you haven’t already prepared it in advance.)
• After removing the cake from the oven, pierce each layer (still in the pans) at 1″ intervals with a skewer or paring knife. Brush the syrup over the cake, dividing it evenly over the layers. Set cake aside, in pans, on a wire rack to cool completely (the syrup will soak into the cake.)
• Make Lemon Pudding Frosting. After cake has cooled completely and no longer wet to the touch, frost cake.

Cake Magic! Mix

• Place all ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together well to combine. Whisk the mix again before measuring.

Lemon Syrup

• Combine the sugar, juice and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Use the syrup warm or let stand covered, until it reaches room temperature. If making in advance, cover and refrigerate. Return to room temperature before brushing on cake.

Lemon Pudding Frosting

• Combine the butter, Lemon Pudding, salt and 2 c. of powdered sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add the remaining sugar and beat on medium speed until frosting is very light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.

Lemon Pudding

• Combine the lemon zest, sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the egg yolks and lemon juice until combined. Cook, stirring constantly, over low to medium heat, until pudding is thick and velvety, about 10 minutes,
• Remove the pudding from the heat, then stir in butter and vanilla until incorporated. Let the pudding cool completely before using it (it will thicken significantly as it cools.) Can be made and stored refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Use chilled or at room temperature.