This lemon layer cake with lemon curd and mascarpone is packed full of fresh lemon flavor. If you love lemon this is the cake for you!
One of my best friends is getting hitched! On October 17th 2009 she will no longer be a fiancee she will now be a wife 🙂 Since I am the Maid of Honor (or as we refer to it, MOH) it was my job to throw together a little Bridal shower. I knew immediately I wanted to book the Dillon House so I called up and made the reservation.
This house is amazing. It sits directly across the street from the Hayes Presidential Center and can be rented out for parties and weddings. I absolutely love this place. The sad thing is I heard that because of the economy the state is closing the house until they can afford to open it back up. It’s always sad to see something like that happen to a beautiful place like the Dillon House.
So back to the wedding shower. It turned out great. It was a small gathering which was great for a place like this. We did a small buffet lunch of chicken croissant sandwiches, pasta salad, vegetables and fruit salad. I decided to tackle the desserts and I think they turned out great!
I had the bride pick out what type of cake she wanted and she picked lemon. Yum one of my favorites! I started going through my list of “cakes I want to try but don’t generally have the time” and found the recipe for a delicious looking lemon layer cake with lemon curd and mascarpone. I showed her the recipe and she immediately said “YES!” The cake was not complicated to make but it did require a lot of steps. I made the lemon curd two days before I started the cake.
This was also my first experience making lemon curd. It was not that hard and I’m pretty sure I’m going to be making it again in the future. I’m also pretty sure lemon curd holds no nutritional value but man was it delicious and tart…yum 🙂
The cake was easy to make and turned out quite well. I had read some reviews of people saying that the cake works better in an 8-inch cake pan, but I found my 9-inch pans to work out just fine. I froze the cakes before slicing in half and this helped a lot but I did have one problem with the top of the cake. It was sticky. In the end I just had to accept that while slicing the cake I was going to end up with little bits of cake on my hand. Oh well it was going to get covered with frosting:) The frosting was really easy to make and turned out delicious. It was a mix of mascarpone, whipped cream and lemon curd. I did notice the cake was a bit on the dry side but if you use all the all lemon syrup to moisten the cake it really does moisten up quite nicely.
I also made cupcakes for the wedding shower but I’m going to completely be honest and say I did use a box cake mix. They turned out great and the homemade butter cream frosting that topped it off was delicious. It was a bit sweet but what is a cupcake without some sweet frosting on top? 🙂 I sprinkled the frosting with some opal colored sanding sugar and then put small diamond rings in the top. They were adorable and really turned out great.
This lemon layer cake with lemon curd and mascarpone is packed full of fresh lemon flavor. If you love lemon this is the cake for you! For lemon curd: For cake: For syrup: For filling and frosting: For lemon curd: For cake: Divide batter between pans; smooth tops. Bake until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Cool in pans on racks. Run knife around edge of pans to loosen cakes. Invert cakes onto 9-inch-diameter cardboard rounds, tapping on work surface if necessary to release cakes. Cut each cake horizontally in half (layers will be thin). Peel off parchment. For syrup: For filling and frosting: Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on platter. Brush with 1/4 of syrup. Spread 1/4 cup lemon curd over, then 1 cup lemon-mascarpone filling. Top with second cake layer; brush with 1/4 of syrup and spread with 1/4 cup lemon curd and 1 cup lemon-mascarpone filling. Repeat with third cake layer, syrup, lemon curd, and filling. Top with fourth cake layer. Brush with remaining syrup, then spread remaining lemon curd over. Spoon 2 cups lemon-mascarpone filling into pastry bag fitted with 1/4-inch star tip (to be used for rosettes). Spread remaining lemon-mascarpone filling as a frosting over sides of cake. Pipe small rosettes of frosting over top of cake, covering completely. Cover cake with cake dome; refrigerate at least 6 hours and up to 1 day.Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Curd and Mascarpone
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
6 large eggs, separated
14 tablespoons sugar
1-3/4 cup sifted cake flour - sifted, then measured
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup sugar
3 (8 ounce) containers chilled mascarpone cheeseDirections:
Whisk first 4 ingredients in medium metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water). Whisk constantly until thickened and instant-read thermometer inserted into mixture registers 160°F, about 10 minutes. Remove bowl from over water. Add butter; whisk until melted. Transfer 1 cup curd to small bowl for spreading on cake layers. Reserve remaining curd for filling. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of both curds. Chill overnight. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.)
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Line bottom of two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides with parchment paper (do not grease pans or parchment). Using electric mixer, beat egg yolks and 7 tablespoons sugar in large bowl until mixture is very thick and slowly dissolving ribbons form when beaters are lifted, about 4 minutes. Using clean dry beaters, beat whites in another large bowl until soft peaks form. Add remaining 7 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff and glossy. Fold half of whites into yolk mixture, then sift half of flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt over and gently fold in until incorporated. Fold in remaining whites, then sift remaining flour over and fold in just until combined, being careful not to deflate batter.
Place sugar in small metal bowl. Add 1/2 cup boiling water; stir to dissolve sugar. Stir in lemon juice.
Beat whipping cream and sugar in large bowl until peaks form. Add mascarpone to lemon curd in medium bowl; whisk until blended. Fold whipped cream into lemon-mascarpone mixture.
Bachelorette party….