Lemon and Elderflower Cake

This beautiful lemon and elderflower cake is made for special occasions and big celebrations! Three layers of light and fragrant sponge flavoured with lemon and elderflower and filled with fluffy elderflower buttercream and sweet and tangy lemon curd. The cake is finished with an elegant, white chocolate ganache drip for an eye-catching and very memorable bake!

You can prepare each component of this show-stopping elderflower cake at least a day in advance, making the assembly and decoration a much easier and quicker process.

If summer was a cake, it will definitely be this lemon and elderflower cake! Elegant, light and moist, with floral notes and fragrant flavours. No surprise it was the royal wedding cake, as it truly is a royal treat!

When I think of a cake for a really special occasion like big birthdays, weddings or anniversaries, this elderflower cake, along with my Fraisier Cake, are always the first ones to come to mind. If these bakes seem to be a bit too fancy for your liking, I have plenty of other options available in my Cake recipes category.

Jump to:

• Ingredients and substitutions
• Instructions
• White chocolate ganache
• Cake assembly
• Make ahead
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage and freezing
• Frequently asked questions
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

Ingredients and substitutions

Let's split the ingredients into two groups: the sponge and the filling (including the syrup and decoration). Here's what you will need to make the sponge cakes:

• Butter - Ideally, use the unsalted butter in all of this recipe. Unsalted butter in baking allows the real, natural flavours of the ingredients to come through much better. Salted butter will work, but the flavour of the finished cake may be just slightly different. Alternatively, use baking spread like Stork instead.
• Sugar - White caster sugar will work best, as it has the superfine texture. You can also use granulated sugar, or golden sugar instead.
• Eggs - We are using medium eggs in this recipe. Be sure to have them at room temperature before using.
• Soured cream - To make the cake moist and rich. Use the natural full-fat yoghurt as an alternative.
• Elderflower cordial - I'm using my homemade classic elderflower cordial. You can also use shop-bought cordial, which is widely available in most supermarkets.
• Flour - This lemon cake is made with self-raising flour, which already has the baking powder added to it. Check out the recipe notes for the alternative on how to make your own self-raising flour.
• Lemon - We are using lemon zest for the sponges and the juice for the syrup.

To make the buttercream and the white chocolate ganache drip you will need the following items:

• Butter - Same as above, try using the unsalted, room temperature butter.
• Icing sugar.
• Elderflower cordial - See above.
• Lemon curd - I'm using my homemade lemon curd in the filling, but feel free to use shop-bought curd. Alternatively, you could also use jam. Blackcurrant or blackberry jam will work particularly well here.
• White chocolate - Use a good quality white chocolate. It really makes a difference!
• Double cream.

Instructions

Let's start with the sponges. Have the cake sandwich tins lightly greased and lined with the baking paper and set them aside.

Hint: Use the digital kitchen scales to divide the cake batter precisely between the cake tins, or use an ice cream scoop as an alternative.

As the sponges are cooling down, prepare the syrup, buttercream and the white chocolate ganache.

White chocolate ganache

While making the syrup and the buttercream are very straightforward, the white chocolate ganache can be a little more tricky.

Because white chocolate ganache doesn't firm up as well as dark chocolate, I always replace the small quantity of cream with butter.

If the ganache is to be used to cover the cake, then you can pour the still liquid ganache over it. To use it as a spread or filling or if piping the drip, leave it to thicken until it's firm enough to hold its shape.

Hint: If the ganache gets too firm, it can be gently warmed in a bowl set over a pan of warm water. Do not overheat it or the mixture will seize up.

Cake assembly

Once you have the sponges, syrup, buttercream and ganache ready, it is time to assemble the cake layers. Use a large serrated knife or cake leveller to slice the top of each sponge to level them up (if needed).

Having the cake turntable is very helpful during this process, especially when covering the cake with the buttercream, but it is not necessary to have one. Also, trimming the sponges is totally optional here.

If you are looking for a helpful video tutorial on how to decorate the cake with buttercream, I recommend watching this YouTube video from Cupcake Jemma.

Make ahead

This lemon elderflower cake recipe is a perfect recipe to make ahead. If you prepare the sponges and buttercream a day or two in advance, the whole process is much quicker and easier to manage.

• Sponges - Bake in advance and store in the fridge for up to 3 days. Make sure to wrap them in a double layer of cling film to prevent them from drying out.
• Syrup - Make it a day or two ahead and store in the fridge.
• Buttercream - Just like the sponges, you can make the buttercream up to 3 days ahead. Keep it in the airtight container in the fridge. Bring it to room temperature before using and whip it up again for a minute or two.
• White chocolate ganache - You can prepare the ganache up to 3 days before and store it at room temperature.

The time required to assemble the cake will depend on your experience. Allow yourself anywhere between 30 minutes to 1 hour to put it all together.

Variations

Here are few ideas on how you can try different variations of this elderflower lemon cake:

• Different filling - Use raspberry, blackberry or blackcurrant jam instead of lemon curd in the cake filling. Sharp, tart flavours will work exceptionally well with the sweet buttercream.
• Buttercream - If you would like to try different type of buttercream, Swiss meringue buttercream will be the one to go for. You make it by beating the egg whites and sugar together in a double boiler, and it has super-smooth and dense consistency. For the more experienced bakers, Italian meringue buttercream could also be an option (check out my Lemon Meringue Pie recipe to see how to make Italian meringue)
• Syrup - Enhance the elderflower flavour by adding a tablespoon of elderflower syrup or elderflower liqueur to the syrup together with the lemon juice.
• White chocolate ganache - You can replace it with any type of chocolate if you prefer, or even skip it all together.

Equipment

• Handheld electric mixer or freestanding mixer with paddle attachment.
• Cake sandwich tins - Use 3 20cm (8") cake tins in this recipe.
• Baking paper - For lining the cake tins with.
• Kitchen scales - Optional, but helpful for dividing the cake batter precisely between the cake tins.
• Piping bags - For the buttercream and for the chocolate ganache. Alternatively, you can also use a squeezy bottle to pipe the white chocolate ganache around the cake.
• Cake turntable - Optional, but really helpful when icing the cake.
• Palette knife or cake scraper - For applying the buttercream and smoothing the buttercream.

Storage and freezing

Store any leftovers of this cake at room temperature for up to 24 hours, or in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can keep it in the cake caddy or a large cake container. You can also freeze any leftovers for up to two months. Thaw them in the fridge overnight.

Although you can freeze the whole cake (with the buttercream and the filling), it can be tricky, considering the size of the cake.

Plain sponge cakes are suitable for freezing for up to two months. Wrap each sponge in a double layer of clingfilm and thaw in the fridge overnight.

Buttercream is also suitable for freezing. Transfer it to an airtight container and freeze for up to two months. Thaw in the fridge overnight, then whip it well using a handheld electric mixer or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.

Hint: Make sure to bring this cake to the room temperature before serving it, otherwise it will feel quite solid. Remove it from the fridge an hour or so before you are planning serving it.

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📖 Recipe