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Lemon Lime Perfect Party Cake

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Lemon Lime Perfect Party Cake – Filled with lemon and lime curd, this cake is perfect for any celebration.

Lemon Lime Perfect Party Cake

This is a happy day for me. Not only is it the day we post our Daring Bakers Challenge for March, (my 9th challenge already!), but it is also my 1 year blog birthday!! I can’t believe it’s already been a year since I started this little blog!!

I was going to remake the cake I made for my first post for my birthday post, but the Daring Bakers posting date just happened to fall on the same day. But when I found out that this challenge was Dorie Greenspan’s Perfect Party Cake, I thought it was even better, because I had made and blogged about this cake before!! (And it was even for a fellow Daring Baker’s blog birthday!) This time around, I could remake the cake, but find a way to challenge myself and make it even better!

After promising to make the challenge earlier in the month, I was all set out to do the cake the first weekend of the month. I was going to substitute the raspberry preserves with candied lemon and orange peels. I candied the lemon and orange, but that is as far as I got. But I’m glad I didn’t continue on, because over the next week, I came up with a different game plan that I liked even better. I have talked about Pierre Hermè’s French Lemon Cream, which I learned from Dorie Greenspan in Baking. In my opinion, this is the very best recipe ever created!! I thought to do just lemon cream in the layers instead of the raspberry preserves, but then I realized I had some limes that needed to be used, the idea came to me to do a lemon-lime cake, with 2 layers of lemon and one of lime. And just to challenge myself, I decided to do some fondant decorating. I had never worked with fondant before, but it is always something I have wanted to play around with, and this was the perfect opportunity.

The cake came together easily. I know many people had problems with flat cakes, but the recipe worked great for me. Since I had made the buttercream before, I knew that it would seem to curdle before it came together, so this also was pretty easy for me. I made the lemon cream just as I had before, and for the lime cream, I just substituted lime juice for the lemon juice. I did add a bit of coloring to the lime cream, because it was the same color as the lemon, and I wanted the layers to be distinct.

Lemon Lime Cake with Fondant Decoration

The fondant was fun. I used a marshmallow fondant recipe that I read about on Shawnda’s blog, Confections of a Foodie Bride. She makes beautiful cakes, and I trusted her recipe completely. I had pictured the fondant polka dots in my mind, and decided to stay with the same colors as the cream fillings – green and yellow. I’m really glad I tried this fondant, because now I am really excited to keep working with fondant, and maybe even learn how to cover a whole cake with it! And this fondant does taste much better than normal fondant. I really got a workout kneading and rolling this out. I did the yellow first, and I think I hadn’t let the fondant sit long enough, because I couldn’t get it very thin. The green worked much better for me. I ended up taking all of the yellow polka dots off, re-rolling them thinner, and then re-cutting them.

Overall, this was one of best cakes I have ever made. The lemon and lime cream complimented the cake and buttercream perfectly. I remembered the first time I made this cake with the raspberry, it was too sweet for me, but the sweet/sour combo of this was wonderful. My mom and sister even said that they could see it being served in a restaurant! The only thing I am disappointed in is my pictures. 🙁 I took this cake to a family get together, and it’s always hard to get good pictures while everyone is eating, and when you aren’t in your own house where you know the lighting is the best. But believe me that it was much better looking in person!!

Now is the time to say thank you to everyone for reading this past year. Without going into details, let’s just say that this little blog of mine has changed my life for the better. I am always touched with every comment that is left, and every single one of them means so much to me. The food blogging community is such a wonderful place, and I plan to be a part of it for a long time!!

Inside of Lemon Lime Perfect Party Cake

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Lemon Lime Cake with Fondant Decoration

Lemon Lime Perfect Party Cake

  • Author: Deborah Harroun
Print Recipe

Description

Lemon Lime Perfect Party Cake – Filled with lemon and lime curd, this cake is perfect for any celebration.

Scale

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 2 1/4 cups cake flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk
  • 4 large egg whites
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
  • 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract

Lemon Cream:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • Finely grated zest of 3 lemons
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from 4–5 lemons)
  • 2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons (10-1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces, at room temperature

Lime Cream:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • Finely grated zest of 3 limes
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup fresh lime juice (from 4–5 limes)
  • 2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons (10-1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces, at room temperature

Buttercream:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 large egg whites
  • 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Marshmallow Fondant:

  • 16 oz bag plain marshmallows (the small ones)
  • 2 Tbsp water
  • shortening, for greasing bowls
  • 1–2 tsp flavoring
  • 2 lb confectioner
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

To make the cake:

  1. Place the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350F. Spray 2 9-inch cake pans lightly with nonstick spray, then line the bottoms with parchment paper. Lightly spray the parchment paper. Place the cake pans on a baking sheet.
  2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the milk and egg whites.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sugar and the lemon zest. Using your finger, rub the zest into the sugar until it is moist and fragrant. Add the butter to the sugar mixture and beat until very light, 3 minutes. Beat in the lemon extract. Beating on medium speed, add one third of the flour mixture. Beat in half of the milk/egg mixture, then half of the remaining dry mixture. Add the remaining milk/egg mixture, followed by the remaining dry mixture, beating on medium the whole time. Beat for 2 minutes, making sure everything is thoroughly mixed and aerated. Divide the mixture between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
  4. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until springy to the touch and baked through. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the pan. Turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack and remove the paper liners. Cool to room temperature.

To make the lemon and lime cream (repeat recipe for each flavor):

  1. Getting Ready: Have an instant-read thermometer, a strainer and a blender (first choice) or food processor at hand. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.
  2. Put the sugar and zest in a large heatproof bowl that can be set over the pan of simmering water. Off the heat, rub the sugar and zest together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy and very aromatic. Whisk in the eggs, followed by the lemon juice.
  3. Set the bowl over the pan, and start stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. Cook the lemon cream until it reaches 180 degrees F. As you whisk—you must whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling—you’ll see that the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as it gets closer to 180 degrees F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. Heads up at this point—the tracks mean the cream is almost ready. Don’t stop whisking or checking the temperature, and have patience—depending on how much heat you’re giving the cream, getting to temp can take as long as 10 minutes.
  4. As soon as it reaches 180 degrees F, remove the cream from the heat and strain it into the container of the blender (or food processor); discard the zest. Let the cream stand, stirring occasionally, until it cools to 140 degrees F, about 10 minutes.
  5. Turn the blender to high (or turn on the processor) and, with the machine going, add the butter about 5 pieces at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container as needed as you incorporate the butter. Once the butter is in, keep the machine going—to get the perfect light, airy texture of lemon-cream dreams, you must continue to blend the cream for another 3 minutes. If your machine protests and gets a bit too hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest between beats.
  6. Pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. (The cream will keep in the fridge for 4 days and, or tightly sealed, in the freezer for up to 2 months; thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.)
  7. When you are ready to assemble the tart, just whisk the cream to loosen it and spoon it into the tart shell. Serve the tart, or refrigerate until needed, or top with meringue.

To make the buttercream:

  1. Place the sugar and egg whites in a mixing bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly. Whisk until it feels hot to the touch and the sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes. The mixture should look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.
  2. With the whisk attachment (or a hand mixer), beat until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment. Add the butter, one stick at a time, and beat until very smooth. Once all of the butter has been incorporated, beat on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6 to 10 minutes. The mixture may curdle or separate – just continue to beat until it comes together. With the mixer on medium, add the lemon juice gradually, and then the vanilla. The frosting should be shiny and velvety.

To make the marshmallow fondant:

  1. Grease a microwave safe bowl, a spoon, the dough hook, and the bowl of your stand mixer with shortening (grease it well).
  2. Place the marshmallows and water in the greased microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 60 seconds. Stir with the greased spoon. If all the marshmallows have not melted, microwave for 30 seconds more. Stir in flavoring.
  3. Place confectioner’s sugar and salt in the stand mixer bowl, reserving 1 cup, and make a well in the center. Pour in the marshmallow mix and turn the mixer on to the lowest setting. When it sounds strained, increase the mixer speed up one setting. Turn off the mixer once all sugar has been incorporated. If the fondant is sticky, add the reserved confectioner’s sugar 1/4 cup at a time.
  4. Turn fondant out onto plastic wrap. Rub a bit of shortening on the outside of the ball. Wrap in plastic wrap, place in a ziploc bag, and let rest for at least 2-3 hours. Keep unused portions covered when not using. If the fondant becomes stiff, place in microwave for 20 seconds at a time until pliable.
  5. Roll out on a greased mat/fondant circle to the desired thickness.

Recipe Notes:

You won’t need all of the lemon and lime cream. I originally made this a long time ago and don’t remember exactly how much you need for each layer.

Cake, lemon and lime cream and buttercream recipes from Baking: From My Home to Yours

Marshmallow fondant from Confections of a Foodie Bride

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Comments

  1. Chris says

    Looks great for spring! I used fondant as well and mentioned Shawnda! She’s so talented. I love how you did your layering.

    Reply

  3. kellypea says

    I’m loving those dots and thought about learning to use fondant this time, too, but didn’t. The lime sounds lovely with this and looks good, too. Happy bloggoversary! Mine was the 19th. Time flies when you’re having fun, right?

    Reply

  4. Katie says

    What a perfect challange for you – happy blog anniversary! I love how you decorated your cake – it looks fab and very happy and party like.

    Reply

  5. KJ says

    Happy blog birthday!!! And congrats on a gorgeous cake. It looks just lovely. And the lemon and lime flavours you chose – how delicious!

    Reply

  6. Peabody says

    Happy blog birthday.
    What fun to paly around with the marshmallow fondant. The polka dots are so very festive.

    Reply

  7. Kelly-Jane says

    You’ve created a great fun cake Deborah! I love how the inside reflects the outside, well done, and happy blog-iversary!

    Reply

  9. Meeta says

    Oh Deborah what a way to celebrate your blog birthday with this perfect part cake – YOUR perfect party cake. I love the decoration. Simply wonderful!

    Reply

  10. Gretchen Noelle says

    What an adorable polka dot cake!! I love the lemon lime idea and the colored dots complimenting it! Very cute!! Isn’t it funny how taking the desserts somewhere to share can completely throw us off? My extras did not survive and hour long bus ride and I had no slice of cake to photograph. Oh well, the toppled leftovers tasted good! 🙂

    Reply

  12. Ben says

    This is my favorite time of the month because I get to see what other daring bakers did with the challenge. I love the colors on your cake. It was a perfect combination.
    Congratulations for one year of blogging and for another completed challenge 😀

    Reply

  15. Passionate baker...& beyond says

    What a pretty cake indeed! Happy belated birthday. I love the polka dots you dreamt of…they go so well with the flavours & the colourd frosting within! Beautiful!!

    Reply

  16. Passionate baker...& beyond says

    What a pretty cake indeed! Happy belated birthday. I love the polka dots you dreamt of…they go so well with the flavours & the colourd frosting within! Beautiful!!

    Reply

  17. Sarah says

    Happy blog birthday! I really do love your blog…and your cake is awesome looking. I am a bit too nervous to try fondant yet, but maybe I will give it a go now. Grat job!

    Reply

  18. lovesweetlove says

    Your cake is so springy! I love the lime layer in the middle. If I make this cake again, I will definetly use your suggestion of doing 2 lemon, 1 lime layers. Happy Birthday too! 🙂

    Reply

  19. glamah16 says

    Happy Blog Birthday. I love that you made marshmallow fondant! Isnt it fun. What a fun, spring cake. This basic recipe is so versatile that I think it will become a ‘go to” in all of our minds!

    Reply

  21. Katie B. says

    Happy Blog Birthday! How this year has flown!

    I love love love the polka dots – what a great springtime idea!

    Reply

  23. amanda. says

    I just showed my husband your cake and he wants me to make it immediately! It’s absolutely gorgeous and I bet the lemon and lime were amazing in it. Great job!

    Reply

  24. sunita says

    Deb, that looks so refreshing…and congrats on your blogversary…here’s wishing for many more to come 🙂

    Reply

  26. Dhanggit says

    i love this cake deborah, it looks soo retro to me 🙂 by the way happy blog anniversary..your blog has definitely contributed in making this world much delicious and brighter with your brilliant writing, beautiful photos and delicious recipes!! more more anniversary to come!!

    Reply

  28. RecipeGirl says

    I love what you did with it! The polka-dots are so cute, and the colors scream SPRING!! Congrats on your blog bday 🙂

    Reply

  29. MyKitchenInHalfCups says

    Deborah how perfectly fun, the cake is beautiful! The funny part? I did that same lemon curd cream recipe and did it with lime!! It is super good yes!!

    Reply

  34. Judy says

    Love your flavor choices and the polka dots. I agree, the raspberry was too sweet. Great cake! Great choice to celebrate your ‘birthday’!

    Reply

  35. Butta Buns says

    What a beautiful cake, the fondant circles are so much fun!

    Next time I make this (and this is definitely a lifelong recipe), I’m trying the lemon lime combination. It sounds so refreshing.

    Reply

  40. Gabi says

    Congratulations on your 1st blog birthday! Your cake is bee-utiful! It’s funny I just made marshmallow fondant the other night to cover a carrot cake. I thought it was quite fun to make. I love your polkadots and the citrus creams so so great with this cake!
    xoxo
    Gabi

    Reply

  44. marias23 says

    Droolz! French lemon cream…

    That sounds absolutely divine and your fondant looks nicely moist. Happy Birthday!

    Reply

  46. javagirlkt's cookin' says

    how cute and fun, i love it!!! lemon and lime together sound great, and i love the colors of your filling.

    Reply

  53. sher says

    Oh my! That looks so pretty–and delicious! Marvelous idea, and the dots are adorable. I think spring when I look at that cake.

    Reply

  54. Emiline says

    HAPPY BLOGIVERSARY!!!
    You are a little blog, no more.

    The cake looks fantastic. I saw you on Tastespotting. The lemon-lime sounds tasty. Like Sprite.

    I’ve never worked with fondant. Do you think I should give it a try?

    Reply

  57. maybahay says

    Congratulations on your blog birthday! that is a very pretty cake. I love the pastel colours and the layers looks fluffy. well-done!

    Reply

  60. Bellini Valli says

    First of all congratulations on your blog-versary. We will look forward to many more years of excellent posts.This cake is the perfect celebration!!!

    Reply

  63. Brilynn says

    Your cake looks beautiful!
    Ironically, this is also the cake I chose to make for my first blog birthday last year!

    Reply

  64. Mary says

    Happy Blog Birthday!
    Your cake looks fantastic! I love how everybody’s cakes are so different, and still they are the same. I was wondering what you were going to do because I googled the cake when I found out we were making it and your blog came up.

    Reply

  71. sterling says

    I love you made your “dots” to match the filling! Very festive indeed – and happy blogging birthday!

    Reply

  72. jasmine says

    Congratulations on your blogivesary!

    Yes, I have no idea why my and other cakes didn’t rise. Luck of the draw, j’spose.

    Like the polkadots…

    j

    Reply

  74. Augustina says

    Happy Blog Birthday! Your cake looks simply divine and yummy. Looking forward to another year of your wonderful recipes, writings, and photos!
    Augustina

    Reply

  75. Mary says

    Happy blog anniversary! I’m glad you found a way to challenge yourself even though you’ve made this cake before. That’s the DB spirit!

    Reply

  77. eatme_delicious says

    Happy blog birthday! 🙂 Your cake looks awesome! I love the dots. I’m still scared of working with fondant so good for you for trying something new.

    Reply

  78. ruthEbabes says

    Happy Birthday!!!!! How cool that everything fell into place what with DB cake being the same day etc!

    Your cake looks awesome. I love that lemon and lime layering, it looks delicious! I’ll really have to try that marshmallow fondant sometime.

    Looking forward to the next year!

    Reply

  79. Jenny says

    Happy blog birthday! I have enjoyed your posts over this past year, and look forward to more.

    Thanks for the link to the fondant recipe – I haven’t ever tried it but really want to. I love the colors and flavors of this cake – perfect for spring and I like how you’ve toned down the sweetness.

    Reply

  81. Rosie says

    Oh wow what a beautiful cake! I just adore the flavours you have going on here and doesn’t it look so pretty! The polka dots also look lovely to combine with the layer colours – happy blog birthday too 🙂

    Rosie x

    Reply

  82. Michelle says

    Happy Blog Birthday!

    Your cake looks amazing and very creative with the differnt flavor layers.

    Great job on this month’s challenge

    Reply

  85. chou says

    I threw lime peel into my cake and loved it! Great job with the fondant–I use my pasta maker to roll out sugar gum paste when I work with it, which allows me to get it nice and thin. That should work for your fondant, too.

    Reply

  87. michelle @ TNS says

    okay, could this be any damn cuter? i love the fondant dots, and the stripes inside the cake are just perfect. i’m honored to be a member of this esteemed group of bakers.

    happy blogoversary!

    Reply

  89. Cheryl says

    Happy blog anniversary. Has it been a year already? Beautiful job on the cake. The colors of the layers and the colors of the fondant are just perfect for spring. I can’t wait to try to make fondant.

    Reply

  92. Lesley says

    I went the polkadot route too! But you went one step beyond with the colorful buttercream inside! Nice nice nice

    Reply

  93. StickyGooeyCreamyChewy says

    Happy Blog Birthday! What a great cake to celebrate with! I love that you used Pierre’s lemon cream. It is one of my all time favorites too. The fondant dots look very pretty. A very fun and festive cake!

    Reply

  95. Dayna says

    Happy Blog-versary. Nice way to celebrate – this is a lovely cake.
    I love the choice of spring colour fondant – lemon and lime is so perfect.

    Reply

  97. Elle says

    Happy Blog Birthday Deborah!!…and MANY more. The cake is just beautiful…love the fondant dots. Looks like I’m going to have to make the lemon creme…so many are thrilled with it…and the lemon & lime combo
    is genius!…I can taste it in my mind and it is Perfect.

    Reply

  98. Kristen says

    I love how beautiful the filling looks, the contrast of the bright green and the yellow really make the cake. The fondant looks great, I can’t beleive you made it, that’s amazing! Happy blog birthday!

    Reply

  101. Rosa's Yummy Yums says

    Happy Bloganniversary and long life to your blog!

    Your cake looks wonderful and ever so pretty! I love the neat decoration… Very well done!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply

  103. Jen says

    You’re cake looks so good– I have always been intrigued by fondant too but have never had a reason to use it.

    Reply

  105. Indigo says

    Happy blogging birthday!

    This cake looks stunning – I love your variations! It was a bit sweet for me too, so a lemon/lime combination sounds perfect ^__^

    Reply

  108. Jenny says

    What a beautiful job you did with the fondant, matching the layers of lemon and lime cream. And a fitting tribute to your blogs birthday! Happy Birthday!

    Reply

  109. Nan says

    Lemon and lime, how spring-y! By the way, I’m so excited about the next DB challenge you picked. AND because if your blog birthday just happened, then mine must be coming up (I had forgotten)!

    Reply

  110. creampuff says

    Wow! A blogaversary! A DB challenge! A gorgeous cake! Sounds like a perfect celebration to me … love the polka dots!

    Reply

  111. Tammy says

    Your cake looks awesome Deborah and I love the challenge you have picked for April – so cute!! I cant wait to try them

    Reply

  116. Patricia Scarpin says

    Happy blog birthday, dear Deb! I love reading you and seeing all the delicious food you make and bake. Here’s to many more birthdays, especially with lemon/lime cakes! 😉

    Reply

  117. Patricia Scarpin says

    Oh, I almost forgot – I think you started with the fondant with the right foot. It’s beautiful!

    Reply

  118. Sheltie Girl says

    You did a fabulous job on the cake. What a wonderful learning experience this cake was for you. You truly excelled at being a Daring Baker this month.

    Natalie @ Gluten a Go Go

    Reply

  122. Aoife says

    Looks gorgeous! I love the pretty striations with the polka dots. I fear fondant, but maybe one day I’ll get it!

    Reply

  126. Jaime says

    beautiful cake! i love the fondant decorations 🙂 i would love to try your lemon/lime combo, that sounds great!

    happy blog-iversary 🙂

    Reply