Vertical Lemon Cake Recipe
Savor our Vertical Lemon Cake, bursting with spring-refreshing citrus flavors throughout the creamy frosting, soft cake, and smooth filling.
Ingredients
- Zest and juice from 4 lemons (around ½ cup/4 floz/120 ml)
- 8 large eggs, separated and at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (12 floz/360 ml) heavy whipping cream
- ¾ cup (6 oz/170 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (2 oz/57 g) plus ½ cup (4 oz/115 g) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 6 large egg yolks, at room temperature
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (4 oz/115 g) Butter, softened and diced
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup (8 oz/225 g) mascarpone
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (3 ⅓ oz/94 g) Cake Flour*
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
Notes
- Cake flour can be made using my substitute recipe here. Or simply replace it with the same amount of all-purpose/plain.
This vertical cake uses a sponge cake base that contains no butter or oil, and the egg whites and yolks are whipped separately. Significantly, it's a lighter, drier style of cake that will readily absorb syrups or other flavorful fillings.
A genoise cake uses whipped whole eggs and some fat, usually clarified butter. In contrast, a chiffon cake uses separated, separately whipped yolks and whites, like a sponge, but also includes fat like genoise (but usually in the form of oil). All three of these types of cakes can be baked as the base for this cake, yielding slightly different textures. Go ahead and try different bases to find your favorite one!
- A genoise cake uses whipped whole eggs and some fat, usually clarified butter.
- In contrast, a chiffon cake uses separated, separately whipped yolks and whites, like a sponge, but also includes fat like genoise (but usually in the form of oil). All three of these types of cakes can be baked as the base for this cake, yielding slightly different textures.
- Go ahead and try different bases to find your favorite one!
- Filling variations are limited only by your imagination! Alternatively, you can use a different curd, such as lime, passionfruit, or even raspberry curd. Additionally, you can also use jam instead of curd or use a buttercream flavor of your choice instead of whipped cream.
- However, in a pinch, you can also use store-bought lemon curd (shh!!!).