In today’s post, I’m sharing the recipe for the main wedding cake: a 2-layer, 8-inch round chocolate cake filled with a cardamom-infused buttercream and homemade cherry jam, then decorated with dark chocolate curls and fresh cherries.

Let’s not hang around— it’s chocolate cake time!

Components

This cake is made up of 5 individual components:

• Chocolate Cake

I used my go-to chocolate cake recipe for this cake: it’s intensely chocolatey, incredibly moist and super stable, so it’s great for wedding/celebration cakes like this that need to be made in advance. I developed this recipe for my brother’s wedding cake and it has become one of my most popular recipes here on the blog!

The original recipe was for a 10-inch round cake, but I’ve scaled it down here to make an 8-inch version.

• Cardamom Buttercream

This is a classic, American buttercream made with cardamom-infused milk, which adds a really subtle, earthy spice. I opted to infuse the milk with cardamom pods, rather than add ground cardamom directly to the icing, because I didn’t want the icing to be dappled with the little flecks of cardamom. However, you could absolutely skip the infusing step and add a small amount of ground cardamom instead, if you prefer.

• Cherry Jam

I used a homemade cherry jam for this, because I wanted the cake to be extra special, but there are some lovely ready-made cherry jams available, so you could absolutely use one of those instead to make things a little easier!

You’ll only need about 1/4 of a batch of my Homemade Cherry Jam recipe, so you can either scale it down or keep the rest for toast, scones, porridge, etc.

• Dark Chocolate Curls

These dark chocolate curls are SO easy to make, but they look pretty fancy and really elevate the cake. All you need is a bar of chocolate and a large, sharp knife! Check out yesterday’s post for the tutorial.

• Fresh Cherries

A handful of fresh cherries are placed on top of the cake as a super easy and simple decoration. The cherries just need to be washed and dried completely before you use them.

Ingredients

To make the cake batter, you will need the following ingredients:

• Instant coffee granules

I use decaf coffee here, but caffeinated coffee will also work. You won’t be able to taste the coffee, it just enhances the chocolate-y flavour.

• Boiling water

Boiling water is used to dissolve the instant coffee granules, bloom the cocoa powder (adding a hot liquid to cocoa helps it to release its flavour) and dissolve the butter. The water should be freshly boiled, so that it’s still nice and hot, to accomplish all of this.

• Cocoa powder

I hate to say it, but the type of cocoa powder you use makes a huge difference! Ideally, you want a rich, dark cocoa powder that has been ‘dutched’ (a process where the cocoa is alkalised to reduce the natural acidity), because this will give you the most intense, chocolatey flavour. Unfortunately, the best quality cocoa powders can be very expensive, so you do have to weigh up the flavour vs the price. A chocolate cake made with the best cocoa powder will be absolutely amazing, while a chocolate cake made with a regular, run-of-the-mill cocoa powder will still be good (it is chocolate cake, after all), just not quite so incredible.

My favourite is the very expensive, but absolutely incredible, Valrhona cocoa powder, which is what I used for this cake. However, there seems to have been a bit of a mass shortage of this cocoa powder over the past 6 months or so, so it can be a bit tricky to obtain. By the looks of it, it’s coming back onto the market a bit more readily now (you can buy it here, on Amazon), which is a big relief!

• Salted butter

Salt is an important ingredient in chocolate cake because, like coffee, it helps to bring out the chocolate-y flavour of the cocoa. Instead of adding salt manually, I just use salted butter for this recipe and I find that it incorporates just the right amount of salt!

• Plain flour

Don’t use self-raising flour here, or the ratio of the raising agents will be thrown off.

• Caster sugar

I used golden caster sugar, because I prefer using that in my cakes (I think it gives a nicer flavour), but white caster sugar would also work.

• Bicarbonate of soda

This is the only raising agent in the cake. Don’t use baking powder— it needs to be baking soda (i.e. bicarbonate of soda).

• Buttermilk

Buttermilk helps to keep the case really moist, which is perfect for a wedding cake like this, when you want to make it ahead of time but don’t want it to dry out!

• Sunflower oil

Using butter and oil as the fat in the cake means you get the superior flavour of the butter and the increased moisture from the oil, so it’s the best of both worlds!

• Vanilla extract

Much like coffee and salt, vanilla also enhances the flavour of the chocolate. The aim is not for the cake to taste like vanilla, but for it to taste even more like chocolate.

• Eggs

I use large eggs.

To make the icing, and to fill/decorate the cake, you will need:

• Whole milk

You can use skimmed/semi-skimmed milk, but whole milk will give you a richer, creamier buttercream.

• Cardamom pods

I’ve used the whole pods for this recipe, because I didn’t want my buttercream to be speckled with the ground spice. If you prefer, you can skip the pods and the infusing step and just add a little ground cardamom to your icing instead.

• Unsalted butter

I like to use unsalted butter for buttercream, so that I am able to control the amount of salt.

• Icing sugar

Make sure to sift the icing sugar first, because it can get quite clumpy.

• Lemon juice

American buttercream can be very sweet. To mellow out that sweetness a little bit, I added a very small amount of lemon juice. The tartness of the lemon balances out the sweetness of all the sugar, making the buttercream a little more rounded.

• Salt

Just like the lemon juice, I added a small amount of salt to the buttercream, just to temper the sweetness a little. It’s important to use a fine salt here so that it doesn’t affect the texture of the buttercream.

• Cherry jam

I used my Homemade Cherry Jam for this, which I specifically developed to be full of cherry flavour and have quite a firm set, so that it works well in a layer cake. If you want to skip the extra step of making jam, you can absolutely use a shop-bought jar— just try and find a really delicious one!

• Dark chocolate curls

I used a 72% dark chocolate to make the curls for this cake. You can find my tutorial on how to make the curls here.

• Cherries

I’ve decorated this cake with a handful of fresh cherries. I used black cherries for this, because I think that they’re the prettiest (and they tend to be the most readily available cherries here in the UK!).

Chocolate Cake Layers

This cake uses a scaled-down version of my favourite chocolate cake recipe. It’s a super chocolate-y, super moist cake that keeps really well, so it’s perfect for wedding cakes.

The original recipe was for a 3-layer, 10-inch round cake. For that cake, I made each layer separately, because I can only fit one 10-inch tin in my oven at a time. For this cake, you need 2 x 8-inch layers, which you fortunately can bake at the same time in a standard oven!

The process for making the batter itself is exactly the same and I have a photo tutorial in my ‘The Chocolate Tier’ post from the first Wedding Cake Week, if you’d like to check out the in-depth instructions!

8-inch Cake vs 10-inch Cake

The only differences that you need to be aware of with this cake (compared to the original ‘Chocolate Tier’ recipe) all stem from the change in size:

• Tin size

For this version, you’ll need 2 x 8-inch round tins.

• Oven temperature

The 8-inch cakes are baked at 180°C (conventional, not fan). This is because the cakes are smaller, so they can be baked at a higher temperature.

• Bake time

The cakes take 50-55 minutes to bake, which is ever so slightly less time than the 10-inch cake (though the oven is more full, because we’re baking two at a time, so it kind of balances out!).

• Batter quantity

Despite the fact we’re making fewer, smaller layers than the original recipe, the batter quantity at the start is actually greater, because we’re making both 8-inch cakes at once, as opposed to making each 10-inch layer individually. All this means is that you need to use both a bigger jug (for the wet ingredients) and a bigger bowl (for the dry ingredients)! I actually used a large bowl with a spout instead of a jug for the wet ingredients, to make sure I had plenty of room for whisking.

A Note on Cracking

This chocolate cake recipe is really delicious: it’s super chocolate-y, moist and structurally strong, making it a perfect option for layer cakes. However, it is unusual in that it is specifically baked to form a super cracked top, which I know can be disconcerting, because we’ve all been taught that the cracking/volcano-esque explosion is persona non grata when it comes to cakes! You just have to trust me on this one though— it’s what makes this cake so great!

Typically, cakes form large cracks for one of two reasons: either the oven temperature is too hot or the batter contains too much raising agent. I’ve tested this recipe many, many times, using less bicarbonate of soda and varying lower oven temperatures and it simply does not work as well: the cake still cracks and the crumb just ends up kind of gummy (ew…) or too dry. With this method, yes, you get cracks, but the interior of the cake is perfectly cooked and perfectly moist, and you’ll be trimming off the cracked parts anyway, so it’s definitely my preferred approach.

Making the Cake Layers in Advance

These cake layers are great for making in advance, because they stay super moist. For best results, wrap each individual layer tightly with clingfilm. This will keep the edges of the cakes from being exposed to the air and drying out.

You can store the wrapped cakes at room temperature or in the fridge. If you’re making your cakes in a hot environment (like I was, thanks to the heatwave!), I’d recommend storing them in the fridge to keep them as fresh as possible. Cold cakes are also easier to level neatly, so that’s a plus! If you’re making the cakes in cooler weather, they’ll be absolutely fine at room temperature for a couple of days.

Cardamom Buttercream

This buttercream is a simple, American-style buttercream. To get the cardamom flavour, milk is infused with cardamom pods overnight, then strained the next morning and added to the buttercream.

This icing can be made in advance (which is very handy when you’re making a wedding cake!). Once you’ve made the buttercream, transfer it to an airtight container and store it in the fridge. It will last for about a week. You just need to let the icing come to room temperature and give it a gentle beat with the mixer on low speed before you use it.

Infusing the Milk

Start by bashing the cardamom pods with the end of a rolling pin (or a similar, heavy object/mortar and pestle). The aim is just to crack the pods open and expose the seeds.

Heat the milk in the microwave for about 10 seconds on high, until it is hot. If you don’t have a microwave, you can warm the milk in a small saucepan.

Pour the milk over the cardamom pods, cover and leave to cool to room temperature before transferring to the fridge to chill and infuse overnight.

The next morning, strain the milk through a fine sieve, pressing down on the cardamom pods to extract as much flavour as possible.

The cardamom pods can now be discarded. Thank you for your service, pods! The cardamom-infused milk is now ready to be used in the buttercream.

Making the Buttercream

Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. The butter needs to be at room temperature (or softened ever so slightly), so that it will whip up evenly.

Beat the butter on medium-high speed until it is smooth, fluffy and noticeably paler in colour, like this.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then turn the speed down to low and gradually add in the sifted icing sugar, mixing all the time until everything is well-incorporated. The icing will be very stiff at this point, but don’t worry— we’re about to add the milk!

Add the cardamom-infused milk, lemon juice and salt and mix in on low speed until everything is combined, then turn the mixer up to high speed and beat the buttercream until it is light and fluffy.

At this point, you can either use the icing immediately or transfer it to an airtight container to be stored in the fridge for another day.

If your buttercream looks slightly split, don’t worry! I find this can happen when you add lemon juice to buttercream, but it’s easily remedied. Just place a spoonful of the icing into a microwaveable bowl, and heat it for 10-15 seconds on high until it has melted. Pour the melted icing back into the bowl with the rest of the buttercream, then mix it in on the lowest speed, until everything is smooth and emulsified. This technique also helps to get rid of air bubbles, making your buttercream super silky!

Assembly

With the chocolate cakes baked, the cardamom buttercream made and the cherry jam, chocolate curls and fresh cherries to hand, it’s time to assemble!

Levelling the Cake Layers

My chocolate cake recipe bakes up quite domed, so the layers do need to be levelled before you can stack them up. Actually, I only levelled one of the cake layers for this cake— I left the dome on the top cake so that I could achieve the look of a big pile of icing on top without needing to use a ridiculous amount of buttercream that would overpower the rest of the cake.

To level the bottom cake layer, I used a cake leveller. If you’re better than me at cutting in a straight, horizontal line, feel free to use a large, serrated knife instead! The aim is to be left with a perfectly flat surface, but to cut off as little cake as possible (though any cake you do cut off can be snacked on as you work so… maybe that’s not wholly necessary!).

Even though I didn’t level the top cake layer, I did use a small, serrated knife to carve away some of the sharper edges around the cracks on the surface. This isn’t strictly necessary, but those edges can be a little bit crispy and I wanted to keep the texture of the cake as consistent as possible. This also helped to smooth out the domed shape of the cake, making the ‘pile’ of icing look a little more perfect.

Layering Up

Once the cake layers are ready to go, it’s time to stack them up with the delicious fillings!

I always use a little smear of buttercream to stick the first cake layer to the cake board. This just makes it easier to move the cake around without it slipping and sliding everywhere (which is particularly important when, like this one, the cake needs to be transported to a venue).

Place half of the cardamom buttercream on top of the first cake layer.

Then use an offset spatula to spread the icing out evenly. It doesn’t need to be perfect— in fact, with this style, I actually think imperfect is better!

Dollop half of the cherry jam on top of the icing, allowing some to drip over the edges so that you can see it when the cake is assembled. Use a blunt knife to ripple the jam through the buttercream. Doing this not only means that every slice gets some of the cherry jam, but also ensures that the cake is nice and stable, because there is still lots of contact between the buttercream and the next cake layer.

Add the second, domed cake layer on top, making sure it is centred.

Top that with the remaining buttercream, again, spreading it out with an offset spatula.

Add the remaining cherry jam and swirl it through the buttercream, just like before.

Now it’s time to decorate! I had some pretty big drips of cherry jam on the serving board, so I cleaned those up first.

Then, position the fresh cherries on top. Make sure you’ve washed and thoroughly dried the cherries before adding them. I put one cherry in the centre and then arranged six others around the edge.

Once the cherries are stuck on, you can add the chocolate curls. I am firmly of the opinion that more is more here, so be as liberal with the curls as you can!

With that, the cake is ready!

Storage Instructions

The cake can be stored at room temperature or in the fridge, ideally in an airtight container, to help stop it from drying out. It will keep for 2-3 days before it starts drying out a little (remember that the sides of the cake are undecorated and, as a result, exposed to the air, which will cause it to dry out quicker!).

If the weather is warm, I would recommend storing it in the fridge. This will keep it fresher, but it will also ensure that the buttercream stays firm and the cake doesn’t start slipping around. However, the cake is best enjoyed at room temperature, so make sure to take it out of the fridge an hour or so before you plan to serve it.

Recipe

Print

Chocolate, Cherry and Cardamom Cake

A rich, chocolate sponge, filled with cardamom-infused buttercream and a homemade cherry jam, topped with fresh cherries and dark chocolate curls.

Course Dessert

Cuisine German

Keyword Cardamom, Cherry, Chocolate

Prep Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes minutes

Infusing Time 12 hours hours

Total Time 14 hours hours 25 minutes minutes

Servings 24 wedding servings (approx. 10-12 regular servings)

Equipment

• 2 x 8-inch round sandwich tins

Ingredients

For the cardamom-infused milk:

• 35 cardamom pods
• 60 ml whole milk

For the chocolate cake layers:

• Stork or softened butter, for greasing.
• 1 tbsp instant coffee granules (I used decaf).
• 300 ml boiling water
• 100 g cocoa powder (see Note 1).
• 140 g salted butter, diced.
• 400 g plain flour
• 460 g golden caster sugar
• 1/2 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
• 300 g buttermilk
• 120 g sunflower oil
• 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs

For the cardamom buttercream:

• 300 g unsalted butter, room temperature.
• 600 g icing sugar, sifted.
• 4 tbsp cardamom-infused milk (see above).
• 1/4 tsp lemon juice
• 1 pinch fine sea salt

To assemble:

• 120 g cherry jam (approx. 1/4 of my Homemade Cherry Jam recipe, see Note 2.)
• 7 fresh black cherries, washed and dried.
• Dark chocolate curls (see Note 3).

Instructions

Infuse the milk for the buttercream:

• Bash the cardamom pods to crack open the pods. Place them in a heatproof container along with the milk and microwave for 10 seconds on high until the milk is hot. Cover, cool to room temperature, then leave in fridge overnight to infuse.
• The next day, strain the milk through a sieve, pressing down on the cardamom pods to extract as much flavour as possible. Discard the pods and keep the milk to use in the buttercream later.

Make the chocolate cake layers:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (conventional, not fan). Grease two 8-inch round sandwich tins and line each with a circle of baking paper. Set aside.
• Place the instant coffee granules into a medium bowl. Pour over the boiling water and stir to dissolve. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth.
• Gradually add the diced butter to the hot cocoa mixture, whisking in each addition until all of the butter has been added and everything is smooth.
• Sift the flour, caster sugar and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Whisk together until well-combined, then set aside.
• Add the buttermilk, oil and vanilla extract to the warm cocoa mixture. Whisk until incorporated.
• The cocoa mixture should now be cool. Add the eggs and whisk thoroughly until completely incorporated.
• Pour the cocoa mixture into the dry ingredients gradually, whisking all the time, until the batter is smooth and well-combined, with no lumps of flour.
• Divide the batter evenly between the two tins. They will be pretty full, but they shouldn't overflow when baking. Firmly tap each tin down on the work surface a few times to help release any large air bubbles. This helps to prevent 'craters' from forming in the cakes when they are baked (but don't worry too much— no one will notice them once they're filled with icing anyway!).
• Bake the cakes in the centre of the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs. The cakes will be very domed and the surface will be quite cracked— don't worry, that's how it's supposed to be!
• Leave the cakes to cool in the tins for 20 minutes or so, then run a palette knife around the edge of the tins to loosen them before turning them out onto a wire rack. Allow the cakes to cool completely before assembling (or wrapping tightly in clingfilm and storing).

Make the cardamom buttercream:

• Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high until smooth, fluffy and noticeably paler in colour.
• Turn the speed to low and gradually add the icing sugar, mixing all the time until it is incorporated.
• Add the cardamom-infused milk, lemon juice and sea salt and mix on low until incorporated.
• Turn the speed up to high and beat until light and fluffy. Use immediately or transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge. The chilled icing should be brought to room temperature and given a gentle whip on low speed before using.

Assemble the cake:

• Level the top of one of the cake layers so that it is completely flat. Use a small, serrated knife to gently carve away any particularly sharp cracks on the surface of the other cake, leaving the domed surface intact.
• Use a smear of buttercream to stick the levelled cake layer to the serving board. Spread half of the buttercream on top of the cake, then swirl half of the cherry jam through the icing.
• Place the second, domed cake layer on top and spread the remaining buttercream on top of that layer. Swirl the remaining jam through the icing, then arrange the fresh cherries on top. Generously top with the chocolate curls, remembering that more is more!

Notes

1. Using really good cocoa powder will take your chocolate cake from amazing to absolutely incredible. My favourite is the Valrhona cocoa powder, but it is… very expensive. I did use it for this recipe (because I figure weddings deserve the best stuff!), but you can use a cheaper alternative if you prefer— your cake will still be delicious, just not quite as amazing!
2. You can find the recipe for my Homemade Cherry Jam here.
3. I made the curls for this cake using a 72% dark chocolate, which I think contrasts nicely with the sweet icing and brings out the chocolatey-ness of the cake. You can of course use whatever chocolate you prefer to make your curls! You can find my chocolate curl tutorial here.

The smallest tier of the wedding cake is a fluffy, lemon sponge, filled with lemon, American-style buttercream and homemade lemon curd, then iced with more buttercream and decorated, just like the other two tiers, with some pressed edible violas.

As delicious as this cake is, I do feel like I could make an even more wedding-friendly lemon cake recipe, just because this was the tier that gave me the most stress! It is the fluffiest of the cakes, so it does dry out more quickly than the other two tiers, and it wasn’t quite as stable as I would have liked (a result of poor assembly technique + the addition of lemon curd, I believe), so, for a wedding cake (not necessarily for a regular ol’ lemon cake, for which this is excellent!), I do think there’s definite room for improvement!

A Bit of Recipe Backstory

As you’ll have seen in the intro post to this series, I will be doing a whole post on how I went about developing these recipes, but, just like I did with the other two tiers, I wanted to share a little bit of lemon-specific backstory here too!

Last year, I embarked on a Fondant Fancy-making journey (which, unfortunately, is yet to come to fruition: my struggles with pouring fondant persist). During that process, I accidentally made the most delicious, fluffy and light lemon cake (an adaptation of this recipe from My Baking Madness), so I figured that recipe would be a good place to start!

Naturally, I had documented the wrong recipe in my research, so the first few trials of this cake were completely different to what I remembered (and also vaguely unpleasant— it was not a good time). Luckily, in a frustrated haze, I suddenly realised that the recipe I was using was not, in fact, the recipe that I thought I was using, so I was able to switch back and save countless lemons from being juiced in vain.

With the right recipe, things started going much more smoothly! I was happy with this cake, but, as I mentioned in the intro, while it’s a delicious lemon cake, I do think I could make a moister lemon cake with a tighter crumb that would be more fit for a wedding/event cake. However, time was ticking (and I was already getting a little sick of lemons by this point), so I decided to go with it.

Luckily, I have my lemon curd recipe pretty much down, so that didn’t need too much fiddling with. The only thing I did do was make it a little thicker and less runny by using 1 egg + 1 egg yolk (as opposed to using all whole eggs, which is my usual method), just for structural purposes.

Making the Lemon Curd

I’ve shared a recipe for lemon curd here on the blog before, as part of my Lemon and Elderflower Butterfly Cakes recipe. The process for this curd is exactly the same, but I omitted the elderflower, doubled the recipe quantities and replaced one of the whole eggs with an egg yolk, to make the curd a little thicker, in an attempt to help make the cake more stable.

You don’t actually need a doubled recipe quantity for this cake: a single batch would’ve been plenty, but I think curds made with just yolks can taste quite eggy, so I wanted to use 1 whole egg + 1 yolk (thus, needed to make a double batch). Luckily, lemon curd will keep in the fridge for a little while and is very delicious on toast, so it didn’t need to go to waste!

The lemon curd was the first thing I made for this cake, because it does keep well in the fridge, I was able to make it in advance and save myself a job closer to the date.

Making the Cake Layers

Next, it was time to make the cake layers! For this sponge, I used the reverse creaming method, which is great for lemon cakes because it can take a greater volume of liquid, so you can get a good amount of lemon juice into the batter, as well as the zest, for extra flavour. This method does also give a slightly denser crumb than your typical sponge, which was just what I wanted (even if I now feel that I could have taken this further!).

The only thing I did find with this cake recipe is that it does have a tendency to stick to the sides of the tin. To combat this, I used my DIY Cake Release, brushing it all over the base and sides of the tin before lining the bottom with a circle of greaseproof paper. While this definitely helped, it still wasn’t perfect, so you do need to be very careful when taking these cakes out of the tin.

Also, very joyously (particularly after the last 2 tiers), as long as you have 3, separate, 6-inch round tins, you can bake all 3 layers at the same time in a regular oven (which is actually extra helpful, because this recipe does not scale down very easily!).

Photo Tutorial: Lemon Cake Layers

To make the lemon cake layers, start by preparing 3 x 6-inch tins, brushing them all over with DIY cake release and adding circles of greaseproof paper to the bottoms. Preheat the oven to 160°C (conventional setting, not fan-assisted).

I also recommend weighing your empty mixer bowl at this stage: that way, you can weigh the batter super easily later on, so that you can divide it evenly between the three tins.

Place the flour, cornflour, caster sugar, baking powder, baking soda and lemon zest into the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment.

Mix the dry ingredients on low speed until combined (check that the lemon zest is pretty evenly distributed, then you’re good to go).

Add the softened butter to the bowl and continue to mix on low speed until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs (there should be no large lumps of butter remaining).

This coats the flour in the butter, protecting it so that, when you need to beat the mixture later, the gluten in the flour won’t develop as much, so you can get a super fluffy cake without that tough, over-mixed texture.

While the butter is incorporating into the dry ingredients, whisk together the milk, sunflower oil, eggs and lemon juice in a large jug until evenly combined.

Pour the milk mixture into the bowl of the mixer, still running on low, in a slow, steady stream until it has all been added.

Turn the mixer speed up to medium and beat the batter until it is light, fluffy and smooth: about 30-60 seconds.

Divide the batter between the prepared tins. To do this evenly, weigh the batter as a whole (making sure to subtract the weight of the mixing bowl that you measured earlier!), divide that value by 3, then fill each tin with that amount of batter (it should be roughly 375g per tin, but it’s best to weigh the batter yourself to ensure perfectly even layers!).

Smooth the tops of the cakes, then bake them, all on the middle shelf, in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre of each cake comes out clean.

Allow the cakes to cool completely in their tins before (carefully) running a palette knife around the edge of the tin, levelling the cakes (using a large, serrated palette knife) and turning out onto wire racks.

I like to level the cakes in the tins, using the top edge of the tin as a guide, to ensure that all of the cakes are the same height. To do this, hold the palette knife horizontally, flush against the top of the tins. Use a gentle sawing motion to score right around the circumference of the cake, then gently saw back and forth across the whole surface of the cake. This ensures that you get an even, precise cut.

Making the Lemon Buttercream

The final component to make is the lemon buttercream. This is a super basic American-style buttercream, flavoured with lemon juice for a sharp, lemon-y flavour. I wanted this icing to be really smooth and even in appearance, so I opted not to include lemon zest in the buttercream, but, don’t worry, it’s still super lemon-y!

Unlike the previous two cakes, this amount of buttercream is small and manageable enough that you can make it in a single batch (thank goodness!).

Tutorial: Lemon Buttercream

Again, just like with the coffee buttercream, I completely forgot to photograph this stage— I’m so sorry! It is exactly the same process as the chocolate buttercream from the largest tier of the cake though, just minus the cocoa powder and with lemon juice as the primary liquid ingredient, so you can follow along with that tutorial if you would like!

To make the lemon buttercream, place the softened, unsalted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment.

Beat the butter on medium-high speed, pausing every now and then to scrape down the sides of the bowl, until it is smooth, fluffy and significantly paler in colour: this will take about 3-5 minutes.

While the butter is being whipped, you can sift the icing sugar into a large bowl (you might need to do this part in two batches, if you don’t have a bowl big enough, because icing sugar fluffs up a lot when it is sifted).

When the butter is ready, turn the mixer speed down to low, then add half of the icing sugar, a spoonful at a time. This may sound tedious, but it prevents icing sugar from getting all over you/your kitchen and ensures that the icing mixes evenly, so it is important!

Once you’ve added half of the icing sugar, you can add the lemon juice. With the mixer still running on low, pour in the juice in slow, steady stream, until it has all been added.

Now, you can add the remaining half of the icing sugar, still working a spoonful at a time, until it is all incorporated.

If the icing is looking very stiff at this point, don’t worry. It will be important later that the buttercream has a good amount of structure and hold to it!

Turn the speed up to high and beat the icing until it is light and fluffy.

Transfer a spoonful of the icing to a microwave-safe bowl and heat on the high setting for about 10-15 seconds, until melted. Give this a quick mix, then stir it back into the rest of the icing by hand. This will smooth out the icing and, if the icing has split slightly after the addition of the lemon juice, will bring it back to an even consistency.

Assembling the Lemon Cake

With the lemon curd filling, cake layers and buttercream made and ready, it’s time to assemble! I’ll be sharing a detailed tutorial for how I assembled these layer cakes tomorrow, so be sure to check that out.

To assemble this, particular cake, I used the following equipment:

• 6-inch, circular cake drum.
• 8-inch, square cake board.
• Adhesive paper stickers (I used these, folded in half to make them ‘double-sided’ and easy to cut through with a cake lifter, but any thin, temporary adhesives will work).
• Cake lifter.
• Cake turntable.
• Piping bag and large round piping tip (I used a #1A tip).
• Offset palette knives (I used a 4-inch one for this tier).
• Cake dowels (I used these ones).
• Icing smoother (I used this one by Wilton).
• 8-inch, heavy duty cake box.

Just like the other two tiers, I assembled the lemon cake directly onto a cake drum that was the exact same diameter/shape as the cake itself (and which I had temporarily adhered to a thinner, square cake board, the same size as the cake box I would be transporting the cakes in, to prevent it slipping in transit). I layered up the cakes with buttercream and lemon curd filling, added 4 cake dowels, applied a crumb coat then added a thick, smooth layer of icing all over the cake.

The lemon curd filling does make this cake much less stable than the other two tiers, so do be particularly careful when assembling it, making sure to give it plenty of time to chill in between stages. There’ll be more detailed instructions for this in tomorrow’s post!

Then, the cake was done! I set the cake aside at a cool room temperature until it was time to transport it.

Decorating the Lemon Cake

Just like with the other two cakes, the lemon tier was decorated with a simple arc of pressed, edible violas. On all of the tiers, I used a combination of the ‘Cream‘ and ‘Midnight Blue and Cream‘ colourways from Nurtured in Norfolk.

I added the flowers at the venue, on the morning of the wedding, to ensure they didn’t rehydrate too much and go limp (and so that there was one less thing that could get damaged on the way there!). I just laid the flowers out on top of the cake, in a nice arrangement. Because the buttercream was set and had formed a crust, it was easier to rearrange the flowers until I was completely happy with the layout, before I used a small amount of leftover lemon icing on the blunt end of a skewer to stick each flower down individually.

Recipe

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The Lemon Tier (Wedding Cake Week #3)

The full recipe for the 6-inch, 3-layer lemon cake tier of my brother's wedding cake!

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword American buttercream, Cake, Cake release, Lemon, Lemon curd

Prep Time 4 hours hours 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Chill Time: 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Servings 15 Wedding servings

Equipment

• 3 6-inch, circular cake tins (see Note 1).
• 6-inch, circular cake drum
• 8-inch, square cake board (See Note 2).
• Temporary adhesives (I used paper adhesive stickers)(see Note 2).
• Cake lifter
• 1 piping bag
• #1A piping tip (or similar, large, round nozzle)
• Offset palette knife
• 4 cake dowels
• Icing smoother (see Note 3).

Ingredients

For the lemon curd:

• 1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk
• 150 g white caster sugar (see Note 4).
• 2 lemons, zest and juice.
• 110 g unsalted butter, diced.

For the lemon cake layers:

• 2 batches DIY Cake Release (see Note 5).
• 260 g plain flour
• 20 g cornflour (see Note 6).
• 280 g caster sugar (see Note 7).
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 170 g unsalted butter, diced and softened.
• 180 ml whole milk
• 70 g sunflower oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 lemons (zest of both, juice of 1).

Lemon buttercream:

• 300 g unsalted butter, softened.
• 600 g icing sugar, sifted.
• 2 lemons, juice only.
• Splash of milk, if necessary.

To decorate

• Edible, pressed violas (see Note 8).

Instructions

Make the lemon curd:

• In a small saucepan, whisk together the whole egg, egg yolk, sugar, lemon zest and juice until thoroughly combined.
• Add the butter and place over a medium-low heat. Stir constantly with a heatproof spatula while the butter melts.
• Once the butter has melted, keep the pan over the heat and continue stirring until the curd becomes thick and smooth.
• Remove the curd from the heat, pass through a heatproof, fine mesh sieve then cover the surface of the curd directly with cling film and allow to cool to room temperature before placing into the fridge to chill and thicken up even more (at least 1-2 hours, but can be made a few days in advance).
• This recipe makes more lemon curd than you will need. Any leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 4-5 days.

Make the lemon cake layers:

• Preheat the oven to 160°C (conventional oven, not fan-assisted). Brush each cake tin with a layer of DIY Cake Release and line the base of each with a circle of greaseproof paper. Set aside.
• Place flour, cornflour, caster sugar, baking powder, baking soda and lemon zest into bowl of electric mixer, fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on low speed to combine.
• Add butter and continue to mix on low speed until mixture resembles breadcrumbs and no large pieces of butter remain.
• In the meantime, whisk together the milk, sunflower oil, eggs and lemon juice in a jug.
• With the mixer on low, pour the milk mixture into the batter in a slow, steady stream until it has all been added.
• Turn the mixer speed up to medium and beat the batter until it is light, fluffy and smooth: this will take about 30-60 seconds.
• Divide the batter evenly between the three prepared tins and smooth out the tops, then bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre of each cake comes out clean.
• Allow the cakes to cool in the tins completely, then carefully run a palette knife around the edges to loosen them. Level the cakes, then turn them out onto wire racks.

Make the lemon buttercream:

• Fit mixer with paddle attachment. Beat butter until smooth, pale and creamy (about 3-5 mins), scraping down the sides when necessary.
• With mixer on low, add half of the icing sugar to the butter, a spoonful at a time, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go.
• With mixer still on low, pour lemon juice into buttercream in a slow, steady stream.
• Add the rest of the icing sugar with the mixer still running, a spoonful at a time. 
• Once everything has been added, turn the mixer up to high and beat until fluffy and fully mixed (about 1 minute). Don't worry if the icing is quite stiff at this stage— it needs to be.
• Remove a spoonful of icing and microwave on high for 10-15 seconds to melt. Stir to ensure evenly melted, then mix into the rest of the icing by hand to smooth it out and return the icing to an even consistency if it has split a little from the lemon juice.

Assemble the cake:

• Secure the 6-inch cake drum to the 8-inch cake board (if using), using paper adhesive stickers (or other similar, temporary adhesive). Set on a turntable, with a layer of non-slip fabric in-between the turntable and the boards.
• Spread a dollop of icing onto the cake drum, then set the first, cooled cake layer on top, making sure it is level and centred on the drum. It should line up with the sides of the drum.
• Pipe an even layer of lemon buttercream all over the surface of the cake layer, making sure to go right to the edges. Use an offset palette knife to spread the icing out evenly, ensuring there is some overhanging icing at the edges.
• Pipe another circle of buttercream on top of that layer, just around the circumference of the circle. This will act as a buttercream 'dam' to keep the lemon curd filling contained.
• Spread a thin layer of lemon curd on top of the buttercream, making sure not to go over the edges of the buttercream 'dam'.
• Place the next layer of cake on top, making sure it is centred and level, then smooth off the excess icing around the sides and place the cake into the fridge to chill for 15 minutes before repeating the process all over again with the buttercream, curd and final cake layer. Place the whole cake back into the fridge for a further 15 minutes.
• Add 4 cake dowels, if using. Add a splash of milk to the buttercream to thin it out slightly, then use to apply a thin crumb coat all over the top and sides of the cake. Place back into the fridge to chill for a final 15 minutes.
• Apply a generous layer of icing all over the top and sides of the cake. At this stage, cover the sides of the cake drum with icing too. Smooth out the top, making sure to leave some overhanging icing all around the top edge, then use the icing smoother to smooth out the sides, moving the turntable, rather than the smoother for best results. The overhanging icing should be pushed upwards and inwards during this process, forming a nice 'lip' around the top of the cake.
• If needed, apply more icing to any uneven sections and smooth again.
• Once happy with the finished cake, set aside at cool room temperature to firm up, until ready to eat/transport.

Decorating the cake with pressed flowers:

• As close to serving as possible, lay the pressed flowers onto the surface of the cake (on which the buttercream is now hardened), making sure you are happy with the arrangement before sticking them down. Use a small amount of icing on the end of skewer to stick down each flower individually.

Notes

Notes:

1. I use the 6-inch sandwich tins from Silverwood.
2. You can skip the extra board/adhesive if you don’t need to transport the cake— these just make it easier to manoeuvre the cake without worrying about it slipping/sliding.
3. If you want smooth sides on a cake, you really do need to invest in an icing smoother. I use this one by Wilton.
4. I like to use white caster sugar (not golden caster sugar) for this lemon curd, to ensure that it has a really bright, yellow colour, but either will work.
5. This cake does tend to stick to the sides of the tin a little, so I recommend using my DIY Cake Release recipe to help it release cleanly. 
6. Cornflour gives this cake a slightly more tender, soft crumb. If you don’t have cornflour, feel free to use an additional 20g of flour instead.
7. For the cake, I do use golden caster sugar, but white caster sugar would work too.
8. I purchased the violas from Nurtured in Norfolk. On this cake, I used the colourways ‘Cream’ and ‘Midnight Blue & Cream‘.

 

Curd recipe developed from ‘Gran’s Kitchen‘ cookbook by Natalie Oldfield.

Cake recipe developed from ‘Homemade French Fancies‘ recipe from My Baking Madness.

A quick notes before we get into it: this recipe can be very easily adapted to accommodate whatever shape/size cake(s) you would like to make. As a general rule of thumb, I like to go by number of eggs, and scale the other ingredients proportionally, i.e. this recipe uses 3 eggs and makes 12 full-size cupcakes, 4 eggs will give you enough batter to make 2x 8-inch circle cakes, 2 eggs will make 12 fairy cakes (flatter versions of cupcakes- I think this might be a British thing?) or 24 mini cupcakes. I’ve made all sorts using the ratios from this recipe (see below, for a couple of examples), and they all taste great!

I’m hoping to make a post at some point about scaling cake recipes, where I can talk about quantities, cooking times and temperatures, so let me know if you think that would be helpful!

For now, though, let’s discuss the cupcakes. They are maple syrup sponges with chopped pecans folded right into the batter. The cupcakes are then decorated with a maple syrup icing and a mixture of pecan halves and chopped pecans.

The batter uses 1 part brown sugar to 4 parts caster sugar. This just enhances that intense, maple-y flavour, but the cupcakes will still work if you replace the brown sugar with caster sugar. However, it won’t work if you replace the caster sugar with brown sugar! You’ll end up with a dense, solid cake that just doesn’t have the fluffiness that a cake should. Believe me, I’ve tried.

Now, let’s talk butter (an excellent topic, no?). I spent a lot of my childhood watching the Food Network, so I was essentially raised by Ina Garten (who, by the way, was the one who taught me to toss heavier mix-ins, like the nuts in this recipe, in flour before adding them to cake batter, so they don’t sink while baking!). She loves butter. I love butter. However, I was actually raised by my mum (and my dad, but he bakes bread, not cake). Growing up, we never made cakes with actual butter, but with Stork, which is a brand of baking margarine here in the UK. My mum swears that Stork produces a lighter, fluffier cake and, honestly, I have to agree (bonus! Stork is already quite soft, so you don’t need to worry about softening it/bringing it to room temperature before baking, which is a definite win in my book). I know that a lot of people have strong opinions about using baking spreads/margarines, and you by no means have to use it- this recipe will work fine if you use softened, unsalted butter instead, your cupcakes might just be a little less soft and fluffy.

Finally, I wanted to talk a little bit about the icing technique I used in this recipe. I tried my best to explain it within the recipe, but it makes it sound a lot more complicated than it actually is! I love icing cupcakes like this because of how simple the process is- there’s no piping, no needing to be perfect, no finicky decorations. You literally slap on the icing, give it a spread, straighten off the edges and roll it in chopped nuts (which truly cover a multitude of sins). A few tips: I like to use an offset spatula to do this because it helps with the movement and has a fine, straight edge, but a knife can also work. Put more icing on than you think you’ll need- you’ll end up scraping a lot off when you straighten up the sides anyway. When you’re straightening off the sides, hold your cupcake in your non-dominant hand, and, using your dominant hand, hold the offset spatula/knife vertically against the cake and run it around the circumference of the cake, turning the cake to help you.

Right, I think it’s time for the recipe, don’t you?

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Maple Pecan Cupcakes

Maple cupcakes with pecan chunks, topped with maple buttercream and decorated with more pecans

Course Dessert, Snack

Keyword Cake, Cupcake, Maple Syrup, Pecans

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Baking Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 12 Cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 150 g unsalted butter, softened (I use Stork baking spread)
• 120 g caster sugar
• 30 g soft brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 150 g self-raising flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 100 g pecans, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 tbsp milk
• 3 tbsp maple syrup

For the icing:

• 150 g butter, softened
• 300 g icing sugar, sifted
• 3 tsp maple syrup
• 2-4 tbsp milk

To decorate:

• 100 g pecan halves

Instructions

For the cupcakes:

• Preheat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan). Line a 12-hole cupcake tray with paper cases and set aside while you make the batter.
• Place the butter and both sugars into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on high speed for 3-5 minutes until pale and creamy.
• With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next.
• Combine the chopped pecans with 1 tsp of the flour (this will prevent the pecans from sinking to the bottom of the cupcakes during baking). Sift together the remaining flour with the baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and mix on medium speed until just combined.
• Add the milk and maple syrup to the mixer bowl and mix for a few seconds, until combined. Gently fold in the flour-coated chopped pecans.
• Divide the batter between the cupcake tins (I like to use a regular-sized ice cream/cookie scoop for this- it fills the cupcake cases perfectly and ensures all of the cakes are even. You want to fill the cases about 2/3 full.
• Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until they are golden brown and spring back when touched. Because of the higher sugar content, these cakes will be slightly darker than a typical vanilla sponge- don't worry about this! Allow the cupcakes to cool for a few minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire wrack to cool completely.

For the icing:

• Place the softened butter into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on high speed for 4-5 minutes, until the butter is soft and significantly paler (almost white), scraping down the edges of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
• Add half of the sifted icing sugar to the butter and mix on low-medium speed until fully incorporated. Increase the speed to high and beat for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the maple syrup and 2 tbsp of the milk. Beat on high speed for another 2-3 minutes.
• Add the remaining icing sugar, mix on low-medium speed until combined, then beat on high for a final 3-5 minutes, until fluffy and airy. Check the consistency at this point, you're looking for a buttercream that holds its shape, but is still soft and spreadable. If the buttercream is too stiff, add more milk, a little at a time, until your desired consistency is achieved.
• Turn the stand mixer to low speed, and mix the icing for 1 minute. This will make for a smoother, silkier buttercream.

To decorate:

• Set aside 12 pecan halves for later and finely chop the remaining pecans. Spread the chopped pecans out, in an even layer, on the chopping board.
• Place a generous amount of buttercream on top of a cupcake. Using an offset spatula or knife, spread the buttercream out past the sides of the case. You're looking to get a flat surface, right across the top of the cake, with excess at the edges. Then, holding your spatula vertically (perpendicular to the flat surface of buttercream), scrape around the circumference of the cake to achieve a thick, buttercream 'disk' atop your cupcake.
• Before the buttercream has a chance to firm up, gently roll the straight edge of the buttercream 'disk' in the chopped pecans, right around the circle. Finish the cupcake by placing one of the reserved halves in the centre. Repeat for the remaining cupcakes.

Let me know if you try these out, I’d love to hear about it!

Gemma

xxx