"Was that you who made my cake? Oh wow! Can I please give you a hug! That was the best cake of my life!"

That was the feedback I received last time I made this cake, it doesn't really get much better than that!  The order request was made by the recipients mom, she asked if I could make a gluten free dairy free lemon cake for her daughters birthday and I said absolutely!

As many of you may know, I am celiac so gluten free is my specialty! I understand most people prefer regular (gluten-full) cake, so don't worry i have mastered those too! But all of my recipes can be easily adjusted to accommodate Gluten Free and Dairy Free Cakes. As someone who understands how hard it is to get yummy fancy cakes with those types of dietary restrictions I am always keen to wow!

If your Celiac, how can you  bake regular cakes?

 It took me two years and many test cakes with very willing cake testers to master my gluten-full/regular cake recipes because I can't eat them! Fortunately I have a very willing husband, daughter, neighbors and friends who are ALWAYS keen to taste test my recipes.

The Secret to the BEST lemon cake.

The secret behind this cake is not surprisingly lemons, lots and lots of fresh lemon. This cake involves fresh, home made lemon macarons, lemon curd and candied lemons.

Don't Ditch the Yolks!

When making meringue based treats such as macarons people always wonder, what should I do with those yolks? My answer, lemon curd! Always make lemon curd! It is easy to make, absolutely delicious and makes a fantastic filling for lemon macarons, and a brilliant filling for layering the lemon cake with lemon curd and lemon buttercream.

How do you make a dairy free lemon curd?

Lemon curd has 4 simple ingredients, Lemon (juice and zest), Sugar, Egg Yolks and Butter. To make it Dairy Free I simply just substitute the butter for vegan margarine and it works beautifully.

Steps to The BEST Lemon Cake

1.) Separate the eggs, then age the egg whites (pop them in the fridge over night) in preparation for Macarons. Make sure there is no yolk, or splashes/drops of water in the egg whites or the meringue will fail. Check out our Macaron recipe here!

2.) Use Those Yolks! Lemon curd is actually very easy to make. You can find the full recipe here but to summarize, simply add the lemon juice, zest, yolks, sugar and a pinch of salt to a double boiler (or a metal bowl over a saucepan of simmering water) and whisk whisk whisk! Constant whisking prevents the yolks from curdling so don't miss this step. Continue to whisk until it thickens to resemble hollandaise sauce. Then, remove from the heat and whisk in the butter. The lemon curd will thicken as it cools and can be refrigerated in a jar for up to 10 days.

3.) Make candied lemons! Slice a lemon into thin rounds, then gently poach the lemon slices in one one cup of water and one cup of sugar until they are translucent, flipping part way through to ensure they are evenly poached. I then like to dehydrate them in the air fryer on low with a dusting of sugar.

To make the Lemon Cake:

Follow our recipe for classic white cake, or if  baking from scratch really isn't your jam, use a white cake mix box and jazz it up by substituting the recommendation for water or milk, with a freshly juiced lemon, a teaspoon of lemon essence, lemon zest and hot water to the same quantity as the box recommendation for the liquid.

Allow the cake to cool completely. To prevent the cake from drying out whilst cooling you can drizzle some simple syrup around the edges of the cake, in this instance I would utilize the left over syrup from poaching the lemons!

Make a Lemon Buttercream! The secret to perfect butter cream is to whip the butter fully, eitehr in an electric stand mixer or with an electric hand whisk, until it looks white. Add half the powdered sugar, then continue to beat for several more minutes before adding the remaining sugar, beat again for two more minutes, then add 1tsps of vanilla essence, 1tsp of lemon essence a pinch of salt, two tablespoons of milk then beat on high for several more minutes.

Now to construct THE BEST lemon cake!

This is where your lemon curd comes in! slice the curved tops off each layer of your cakes to make the layers nice and even. Then, spread a generous helping of fresh lemon curd, followed by a layer or lemon butter cream and repeat. You do not need to add lemon curd to the top layer, as this will be frosted with your butter cream. Add a nice thin even layer of butter cream to the entire cake then refrigerate, or pop in the freezer for a few minutes to set the  bitter cream. Then continue to add a second layer until you achieve the desired thickness.  

The Finishing Touches

For the finishing touches of your cake, top with macarons, piped buttercream and candied lemon slices, then VOILA! The ultimate crowd pleaser.



Your welcome x