Earl Grey Lemon Curd Cake
A tender and soft Earl Grey cake sandwiched together with lemon curd and lemon Swiss meringue buttercream.
Equipment
- Stand mixer
- 2 round 6-inch cake pans
Ingredients
Cake
Milk Tea
- 180 g milk
- 1 tablespoon loose-leaf Earl grey
Cake Batter
- 190 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon loose leaf Earl grey Finely ground. I use a mortar and pestle to grind it up.
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 85 g unsalted butter room temperature
- 25 g vegetable oil or olive oil
- 150 g granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Lemon Curd
- 3 large egg yolks save the egg whites for the buttercream
- 1 large whole egg
- 150 g granulated sugar
- 120 g fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons lemon zest
- 85 g unsalted butter cold
- 1/8 tsp salt
Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- 3 large egg whites
- 150 g granulated sugar
- 225 g unsalted butter room temperature
- 130 g lemon curd
- 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
Cake Batter
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Grease two 6-inch cake pans and line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper.
- In a small saucepan, combine milk and the first measure of loose-leaf Earl Grey tea. Bring this to a simmer, stirring regularly. Once it's at a simmer, turn off the heat and let the tea milk steep and cool.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, the second measure of Earl Grey tea, and salt, and set aside.
- In a medium bowl and electric mixer or with a stand mixer, beat room-temperature butter, oil and sugar on high speed for around 3-4 minutes until it's very light in color and creamy.
- Add in the vanilla and eggs, one at a time, and beat in after each addition. Next, add in the lemon juice.
- Strain the tea from the milk and measure out 120g (1/2 cup) of the milk.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture along with the milk. Fold it until combined with a rubber spatula.
- Divide the cake batter evenly amongst the cake pans and smooth down the tops of the batter with a small offset spatula.
- Bake the cakes for around 26-28 minutes until the tops spring back when touched and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes in their pans, then turn them onto a wire cooling rack. Allow them to cool completely before frosting. You can also wrap the still-warm cakes up tightly in plastic wrap and freeze them until you're ready to frost if you're making them in advance.
Lemon Curd
- In a microwave-proof bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, whole egg, and sugar until well combined. Whisk in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Save the egg whites for the meringue.
- Place the bowl in the microwave and cook in 40-second increments, stirring each time for around 3-4 minutes in total. This time may increase or decrease depending on your microwave strength.
- Dip a metal spoon in the curd to check that it is thick enough. The curd should easily coat the back of the spoon and be visibly thicker.
- Stir the cold cubed butter through the hot curd and stir until smooth. Pour the finished curd through a sieve into clean jars. It will thicken as it cools. Once cooled, store it in the fridge.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Bring a medium saucepan with 1-2 inches of water to a simmer. Take out 1/2 a cup of the lemon curd and let it sit at room temperature (so it's not too cold when you add it to the buttercream later.)
- Combine egg whites and granulated sugar in the metal bowl of a stand mixer or other heatproof bowl. Balance the bottom of the bowl over the simmering water bath, but ensure it's not touching the water.
- Whisk continuously as the egg whites warm up, ensuring all the sugar has dissolved or the temperature reaches 160°F (71°C) on an instant-read thermometer.
- Be sure to keep stirring to prevent any egg whites from overcooking on the edges of the bowl. Once the sugar has dissolved, place the bowl in your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
- Beat at medium to high speed until the stiff peak stage and the meringue cools to room temperature.
- Add a few pieces of softened butter to the meringue base while the mixer is still on medium-high speed.
- The frosting may separate or curdle at this stage – don’t panic! Just continue beating the mixture until it becomes a thick and cohesive buttercream. This process can take time, so don’t give up if it seems slow – it will come together. If your buttercream really isn't coming together, see the notes below.
- Once the mixture is thick and cohesive, add around 1/2 cup of the lemon curd and the salt. Beat the buttercream until it is thick and fluffy. (See notes below.)
- Switch to the paddle attachment and beat on low for 10 minutes to knock out the larger air bubbles in the buttercream.
Assembling
- Place one cake layer on a cake turntable or cake stand.
- Scoop on some frosting and use a small offset spatula to spread it on top of the cake layer, making higher 'walls' of frosting around the edges. This is to hold in the lemon curd.
- Add 4-5 tablespoons of lemon curd into the middle of the frosting.
- Add the second cake layer. Placing the top layer upside down will give a nice, smooth top to work with.
- Add a few scoops of frosting on top, spread it out with the spatula, and add a thin coat of frosting around the cake. Use a bench scraper to smooth it out, then chill the cake for around 10 minutes in the fridge until the frosting has firmed up a bit.
- Add a thicker layer of frosting to the cake and use a bench scraper to smooth it out. Then, you can use a serrated bench scraper to make patterns on the side of the cake if you like.
- Leftover cake can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 days or refrigerated for up to 4.
Notes
What to make first
What to make first depends on when you are serving the cakes. If you plan to make the cake layers in advance, begin with those, and they can be frozen until you’re ready to serve. If you want to bake and serve on the same day, start with the lemon curd as early as possible so it has time to chill.Buttercream notes
Swiss meringue buttercream can be tricky, however, know that if it splits or is soupy or looks like it's just not working, there's always a fix. It's just a matter of temperature so that the mixture emulsifies well.
Initially it’s common for the mixture to split as the butter is added, especially if the egg whites and butter aren’t at the same temperature. Just keep beating it until it comes together
If your buttercream is too warm, it will melt and become soupy. To fix this, it needs to cool down. Refrigerate the bowl of buttercream for 10-20 minutes (depending on how soupy it was) until the edges harden up. The middle of the buttercream may still be runny, but it will come together when it is whipped.
Making the buttercream in advance.
The Swiss meringue buttercream can be made in advance and refrigrated until needed. As it cools in the refrigerator, it will become hard as all the butter there has solidified. Bring it back to room temperature and whip it to make it creamy. You can leave it to sit out and warm up for a few hours, or I find it easier to gently warm the buttercream bowl over a hot water bath until the buttercream edges in the bowl begin to melt.Nutrition
Calories: 604kcalCarbohydrates: 67gProtein: 7gFat: 36gSaturated Fat: 22gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 198mgSodium: 297mgPotassium: 115mgFiber: 1gSugar: 52gVitamin A: 1172IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 77mgIron: 1mg
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