ITALIAN LEMON CAKE
This Italian Lemon Cake is soft, fresh, and bursting with bright lemon flavor: one of the best Lemon Cake you can have! It’s made of three delicious layers: a buttery Vanilla Shortcrust base, a silky Lemon Pastry Cream, and a light, fluffy Lemon Sponge Cake (Italian Margherita cake style) on top.Each bite is the perfect balance of creamy, soft and moist, citrusy, and crumbly textures.Whether you're hosting a special gathering or simply craving something sweet and refreshing, this elegant layered cake will bring a taste of Italy to your table!
Ingredients
Vanilla Shortcrust Shell Base
- 200 g (1+2/3 cup) all purpose flour
- 85 g (7 tbsp) sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 85 g (6 tbsp) unsalted butter small cubed and chilled
- 1 (50 g) small egg room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Lemon Pastry Cream
- 500 g (2 cups + 1 tbsp) milk
- The yelloe peel from 2-3 lemons
- 150 g (2/3 cup) sugar
- 50 g (7 tbsp) cornstarch
- 5 egg yolks room temperature
Lemon Cake Batter - Margherita Cake
- 60 g (1/4 cup) sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- The zest from 1 lemon
- 60 g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter softened at room temperature or in microwave
- 120 g (1 cup) all purpose flour
- 7 g (1+1/2 tsp) baking powder
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
Vanilla Shortcrust Shell Base
- In a large bowl, mix flour with sugar and a pinch of salt.
- Add the chopped cold butter.Start cutting the butter with a fork and kinfe (or a pastry cutter) until get very small butter pieces, then rub the butter into the flour with your chilled fingertips until the mixture looks like sand.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract. Mix quickly until the dough comes together: do not knead the dough too much!
- Flatten the dough into a thick disc, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Roll out the dough between parchment paper and a plastic wrap into about a 28 cm disc.
- Fit a 23 cm (9 inch) greased and floured pie pan (I suggest to use a removable bottom pan, but it's not mandatory).Prick the base with a fork and chill again in refrigerator while you make the cream.
Lemon Pastry Cream
- In a medium size saucepan, heat milk with the lemon peels. Bring just to a simmer, then remove from heat.
- In a large heatproof bowl, mix sugar and cornstarch until well combined, then incorporate the egg yolks and whisk until smooth.
- Strain the hot milk into the egg mixture in 3 times while whisking.
- Pour everything back into the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until thickened a lot: you need to almost bring it to a slightly simmer.
- Remove from heat, whisk hard and trasnfer it into a prepared ice cold baking dish to chill it quickly.
- Cover with plastic wrap in direct contact with the pastry cream and place in refrigerator to chill completely while you make the lemon cake batter.
Lemon Cake Batter - Margherita Cake
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs with sugar and the lemon zest until thick, pale and fluffy (about 5 minutes using a hand mixer).
- Add the softened butter and mix until combined.
- Sift together flour, baking powder and salt: gently fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture using a spatula, being careful not to deflate the batter. Do not overmix!
Assembly
- Transfer the Lemon Pastry Cream into a piping bag (optional) and pipe 3/4 of the cream onto the chilled Shortcrust Shell.
- Transfer the Lemon Cake Batter into a piping bag (optional) and evenly place it on top of the Lemon Pastry Cream.
- Pipe the remaining Lemon Pastry Cream into a spiral shape on top.
- Bake in preheated oven (no fan, upper+lower heat) at 175°C-345°F on the lower oven rack for 45 minutes.
- Cool down in the pan for at least 30-40 minutes, then unmold and cool down completely onto a wire rack.
Video
Notes
Store at room temperature for 1 day. Store in refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Hello, I am Valentina! Welcome to How Tasty!
I am an Italian girl in love with baking and cooking. I’ve been raised in a cooking family, baking since I was a little girl and learning from my mom and my professional chef grandma.
I created the Youtube channel How Tasty in 2017 to share with you my passion.
You don’t need to be a professional cook to follow all my recipes thanks to the video tutorials and the tips & hints you can find here.
Let’s cook!
Tips:
- Chill the Shortcrust Shell well:
The vanilla shortcrust needs time to rest in the fridge to stay crisp and not shrink in the oven. Don’t skip this step!
- Don’t overcook the cream:
It should be thick but still creamy — once it starts to bubble and leaves lines on the whisk, it’s ready.
- Be gentle with the sponge batter:
Fold the dry ingredients carefully to keep the mixture airy and fluffy. That’s what gives the sponge its light texture!
- Bake low and slow:
Baking at 175°C (345°F) at the lower oven road, helps all the layers cook evenly without over-browning the top.
- Let it cool completely before slicing:
This cake sets as it cools. For clean slices and defined layers, be patient — or even chill it slightly before cutting.
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