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This Gluten-Free Lemon Curd Cake is a real homey cake with bright fresh citrus flavour. Homemade lemon curd is sandwiched between lemon and vanilla infused sponges which are covered with a cloudlike lemon curd swiss meringue buttercream. I’ll take you through the recipe step by step, offering tips and advice on how to make this the best gluten-free cake you will have ever tasted.
Everyone is still talking about this gluten-free Lemon Curd Cake, two weeks after I made it and shared it with friends and family. There are some cakes that you know are going to be a hit and anything lemony is usually an absolute winner. The fact that it was gluten-free was never on anyone’s radar.
It doesn’t hurt that this cake makes the most of delicious homemade Easy Lemon Curd which provides a real zing to the proceedings. Paired with the dreamy buttery Lemon Curd Swiss Meringue Buttercream this cake is taken to the next level and beyond.
Top Gluten-Free Baking Tip
I’m going to start out strong by giving away the ultimate gluten-free baking secret. Yup, this gluten-free Lemon Curd Cake utilises my favourite tip for achieving an easy drop jaw yummy gluten-free cake.
Plain Gluten-Free Flour + Ground Almonds
This flour combo means you don’t get the dry, slightly gritty or crumbly drawbacks that affect some gluten-free offerings. There is also no gummy mouthfeel. It’s gluten-freeness will be totally undetectable.
The best thing is you can use pretty much any gluten-free flour blend from the supermarket. I use Doves Farm Plain Gluten-Free White Flour as that is the most widely available in the UK and is xanthan gum free which suits my intolerances. However, this recipe will work with Bob’s Red Mill or even a home DIY blend.
If you want more tips on how to make perfect gluten-free cakes with loads of tips and tricks, then visit this Ultimate Guide to Gluten-Free Cakes.
What makes this Lemon Curd Cake so brilliant?
- The lemon sponges are a doddle to make with no complicated method. They use shop bought plain gluten-free flour and ground almonds.
- No xanthan gum.
- Homemade Easy Lemon Curd. So bright, zesty and full of flavour. It’s sandwiched between the cake layers and used copiously in the buttercream.
- Swiss Meringue Buttercream. This incredibly buttery cake frosting is a perfect contrast to the light zingy lemon flavours. It’s easier to make than you think and all the tips and tricks are below.
How do you make Gluten-Free Lemon Curd Cake?
- Beat the sugar with the lemon zest and butter.
- Add the whole eggs one at a time then the vanilla.
- Whisk the gluten-free flour, almonds, baking powder and salt. Then mix well into the batter.
- Divide into two lined and greased 8 inch round cake tins and bake for 30 minutes at 160°C fan assisted.
- Remove from the oven, carefully insert cakes out of the cake tin and cool on wire cooling racks.
- Spread the lemon curd over one of the sponge surfaces then place the other on top.
- Cover the cake with lemon curd swiss meringue buttercream.
Baker’s Tips
- Make sure to add the whole eggs one at a time. It makes the sponge lighter. If the eggs are dumped in all at once you risk losing the air you just whipped into the butter and sugar.
- I use Doves Farm Gluten-Free Plain White Flour. It’s the most widely available in the UK. However, any gluten-free flour blend will be fine here.
- You don’t want the almond taste to be too strong or compete with the lemon. The almonds are used to give the cake texture and bind it together so ready ground almonds from the supermarket are perfect. If you grind them yourself the almond flavour will be more pronounced.
- You can use shop bought lemon curd which is lovely if you buy a good brand. However, why not take it the extra mile and make this homemade Easy Lemon Curd. You won’t be disappointed.
It’s all very well having deliciously lemony sponge with perfect texture and taste but we want to make this cake really special. So let’s take it up a notch and make a Lemon Curd Swiss Meringue Buttercream to really impress.
If you haven’t made Swiss Meringue Buttercream before you might find the equipment needed (sugar thermometer, double boiler and food mixer) a bit intimidating.
Plus the number of steps required are also a couple more than your regular icing sugar + butter method.
Please though don’t let it put you off. Try it once and I guarantee it’s pretty hard to mess up as long as you follow my troubleshooting tips below. You’ll also find it hard to go back to icing sugar, the taste and texture is pretty unbeatable.
How do you make Lemon Curd Swiss Meringue Buttercream?
- Heat the egg whites and sugar in a bain marie or double boiler, whisking all the time.
- When the sugar has completely melted and the temperature reached 71°C then remove from the heat and immediately pour into a stand mixer.
- Whisk on a medium setting for about 10 minutes until a glossy meringue has formed and the temperature has lowered to about 32°C.
- Change the whisk attachment to a paddle beater and beat on low adding the butter one cube at a time.
- Once all the butter has been added and the buttercream looks beautifully smooth then add the lemon curd and salt and mix in until thoroughly combined.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream Tips
- I recommend buying Two Chicks Liquid Egg Whites as it saves wasting the yolks or finding a use for them. You will only need about half the carton but you can freeze the other half for your next foray into SMB.
- The temperatures here are important. If you have made SMB a few times then you can intuit when the sugar has melted into the egg whites or when the meringue has cooled enough to add the butter. However for newbies a sugar thermometer is invaluable.
- The butter must be at room temperature before you add it. Slightly soft to the touch but not melty.
- If your butter is too cold then just keep on mixing the buttercream once it’s all added, the butter will soon warm and melt into the buttercream. If that doesn’t work then warm slightly over a bowl of boiling water. Once the edges of the buttercream start to soften then start whipping again off the heat.
- If your butter is too warm place in the fridge for 15 minutes to chill then try re-whipping it.
- As you are adding the butter your buttercream will look a bit curdled. This is absolutely normal. Keep on mixing the buttercream and don’t lose faith, it will always come together in the end.
- If your buttercream does not come together and looks too soupy that means your butter was too warm – see above on how to fix.
Can I freeze Lemon Curd Cake?
You certainly can. I recommend chilling the whole finished cake first in the fridge so that the buttercream gets quite firm. Wrap well in cling film then tin foil and freeze for up to 2 months. Remove from the freezer and allow to defrost thoroughly before removing the tin foil and cling film.
Variations on Lemon Curd Cake
- You can replace the lemon curd with any curd of your choosing. Passion Fruit Curd Cake? Raspberry Curd Cake?
- If the Swiss Meringue Buttercream still seems intimidating to you then why not swap it out for a simple cream cheese buttercream which would be amazing. (Try the buttercream from this Carrot Cake recipe and add in a couple of spoonfuls of lemon curd).
Have you tried these gluten-free lemon cake recipes?
Whole Lemon Thyme Cake
Lemon Raspberry Cake
Lemon and Poppy Seed Muffins
Blueberry Basil and Lemon Drizzle
Vanilla Almond Cake with Lemon Curd Glaze
If you make this Lemon Curd Cake then please leave a comment below and/or give the recipe a rating. If you then go on to use this recipe as a launch pad for your own baking creation then I’d also love it if you’d share it and tag me on Instagram. It is so lovely for me to see your versions and variations of my recipes.
Lemon Curd Cake {gluten-free}
Ingredients
- 320 g caster sugar
- zest of 2 lemons
- 240 g unsalted butter - room temperature
- 6 eggs - medium
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 180 g gluten-free plain flour
- 180 g ground almonds
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 150 g lemon curd
Lemon Curd Buttercream:
- 210 g egg whites - about 7 medium egg whites
- 350 g caster sugar
- 490 g unsalted butter
- 150 g lemon curd
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/160°C/gas mark 4 and line and grease 2 x 8 inch round cake tins.
- Beat the sugar with the lemon zest and butter until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between additions.
- Add the vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, almonds, baking powder and salt then beat into the rest of the ingredients.
- Divide the cake batter between the two tins and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven. Allow the sponges to rest for 5 minutes before carefully removing from the tins and cool completely on wire racks.
Lemon Curd Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Heat the egg whites and sugar in a bain marie or double boiler, whisking constantly until the temperature has reached 71°C.
- Remove from the heat and pour into a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Whisk until the mixture forms stiff peaks and the temperature has reduced to about 32°C.
- Change the attachment to a paddle attachment. On a low speed add the butter slowly cube by cube. When you have almost added all the butter the mixture will look curdled. Do not fret – this is supposed to happen and just means you are nearly done, just continue to add all the butter. Once the butter is totally incorporated the buttercream will miraculously become a smooth velvety consistency.
- Add the lemon curd and salt and mix until thoroughly combined.
Assembly
- Place one of the sponge layers on an 8 inch cake board and spread the lemon curd from the centre of the top of the sponge almost to the edges.
- Place the second sponge layer on top and cover the top and the sides of the cake with the buttercream.
Thank you for this recipe. I used oat flour when I made it for a work colleagues retirement cake. Instead of lemon curd filling I put in a layer of lemon mousse. It went down a storm with everyone especially the person it was made for. Will definitely use this recipe again x
Ooh - lemon mousse sounds like a game changer - how delicious!
Cake delicious, moist and tasty and great texture for gf - loved it.
Don’t know if my chickens lay huge eggs but got a ton of icing left …..could have done half measures and it would be fine.
Thank you for your feedback Kate, I'm happy you liked the recipe.
This recipe was absolutely brilliant!! Thanks so much for sharing it!
Such a pleasure - thank you for your feedback!
Excellent cake. A gourmand friend suggested it was 'outstanding'. The density means it lasts very well indeed for days after it's made. I used cream cheese icing with lemon and highly recommend it. And while you're at it, double the amount of curd - you'll probably make this again!
Hi Danielle, that's lovely to hear - thank you for your feedback!
I must have just missed it, but how much salt goes in the buttercream?
It's 1/4 teaspoon. You didn't miss it - it hadn't made it onto the ingredients list for some reason. Thank you!
Can I replace Almonds with rice flour?
Hi Margie, that wouldn't be a good substitution here. The almonds are there to provide protein which gives the cake structure and stops it crumbling. Rice flour doesn't have enough protein. You would need to substitute for another nut flour, seed flour or a legume flour like chickpea flour. However, those flours are all more flavourful so wouldn't have the same neutrality as almond flour. Not that it wouldn't be delicious - it's just the flavour would be different. I haven't tested the cake with a substitution for the almond flour so I can't guarantee the results.
I’m here to tell everyone that the frosting can not be made ahead. At least it didn’t work for me. I left it in the fridge overnight so the cake would have time to cool before frosting it in the morning. It had hardened as expected so I put it make in the stand mixer for a few minutes but it didn’t smooth out. I continued mixing and now it’s lost the air from the merangue and is soup. Start again! Bummed about wasting ingredients. But the cake itself looks great.
Hi Laura, swiss meringue buttercream is such a great buttercream as we can mess it up a whole bunch but it always bounces right back. When you are making SMB ahead you will need to bring it up to room temperature naturally rather than whipping it straight from the fridge. However, don't worry we can rescue soupy SMB and you don't need to waste the ingredients. When it turns to soup it just means that the butter has got too warm so you need to place it back in the fridge for 30 minutes and then remove and re-whip.
How can you convert this recipe to USstandards? Cups, tsp etc??
Sounds lovely
Hi Annette, I'm afraid I haven't tested this recipe with US measurements so I couldn't give you an accurate conversion. My best advice is to find a conversion site you trust and experiment. I know it's not for everybody but I highly recommend buying digital scales if you do a lot of gluten-free baking as the ingredients vary in volume so much. You can buy them for around $10 and they will make every recipe you make 100% accurate.
Hi Georgina, this looks like the perfect GF lemon cake! If I was going to use doves Self raising flour instead of plain, would you add any additional raising agent to account for the ground almonds part or do you think the self raising flour would have enough? Thanks so much
Hi Louisa, I have never baked with Doves self raising flour so I wouldn't be able to guarantee it. If you do have baking powder I would add even just 1/2 teaspoon in just in case.
Amazing, thank you, I’ll try that!
I also meant to ask if you have a recipe for a crusty artisan boule bread and i'am also allergic to yeast
Hi Rosa, I'm currently working on a sourdough bread recipe which I will hopefully publish really soon. In the meantime I have this lovely Irish Soda Bread recipe which doesn't contain any yeast.
Hi Georgia i like yr recipes but I can't have sugar and you don't seem to have have an alternative
Hi Rosa, if there is an alternative to sugar which I have tested for my recipes then I include it in the recipe notes. I do though have a number of refined sugar-free recipes like these Healthy Banana Flapjacks, this Leftover Porridge Cake and this Apple Blueberry Cake, this Banana Oat Bread. There are many more.
Hi
Just a question. Do you think I could replace almond meal for sunflower meal to make the cake nut free?
Cheers Amanda
Hi Amanda, I have actually never tried baking a sponge cake with sunflower meal. I'm going to investigate this.
In the recipe you have included 150g of lemon curd. Does this actually go into the cake batter?
Thdnk you
Hi Laura, no the lemon curd doesn't go in the batter but is instead used to sandwich the 2 cake layers together.
Thank you so much for your reply. I'm currently whipping up the swiss meringue buttercream- what a way to spend a Saturday night!
Would you recommend adding lemon zest to the swiss meringue as I'm using shop bought lemon curd?
You could do but the zest in the buttercream would make buttercream not as smooth. Shop bought lemon curd will have a good enough flavour that I shouldn't think it would be necessary.
It turned out really well, i halved the cake mix as I only had 2 shallow cake tins but it was so light a fluffy, we all ate some and went back for second, bit of a mistake for me as the frosting i used was a white chocolate cream cheese to cut through the very tart lime curd, also I have never tried a meringue frosting before and was a little apprehensive, maybe next time. Thankyou for a great tasting gluten free cake recipe.
You are most welcome - I'm happy you enjoyed it - that white chocolate cream cheese frosting sounds wonderful!!
hi Georgina, i have some homemade lime curd and wondered if you think that it would work in the delish looking cake, if i use lime in place of any lemon, im asking as i have successfully made a no bake lemon cheesecake on numerous occasions but when i have tried to make the same recipe but both times with limes it has not set properly, i don't know if its something i have done wrong or if there is something in limes that's not in lemons. I would be grateful for any help as i want to make a celebration cake as i just got a job.
Yes lime curd will definitely work in this cake. The curd is only used for the filling and the buttercream so there will be no problem with it. Let me know how it goes!
My 9 yr old and I made this today! I wish I could post a pick for you if her face- so proud and excited. I love to cook, and do A LOT but baking has never been my thing. She was so excited when I said she could pick a recipe for homeschool today to make. She chose yours and it was a huge hit. Thanks so much from our little gluten free family.
That's great - I'm happy you all enjoyed it! Thank you so much for the lovely feedback!
Hi From The Larder,
I was wondering do you think you will be able to pipe the buttercream? I was hoping to make it for my wedding cake across two tiers with a 10" bottom tier.
Thanking you in advance for your help, I hope my question isn't too silly.
Can't wait to make this cake! It looks delicious.
Thanks,
Nicole
Hi Nicole, absolutely you can pipe the buttercream. It pipes like a dream!! Congratulations on your upcoming wedding - how exciting!
Hi Georgia - it's me again. I just wanted to let you know I have used this recipe again with lemon curd in the mix to make a one layer cake topped with fresh gooseberries from the garden. It is such a lovely textured cake and know I will be using the recipe over and over in various guises. Thank you for such a successful recipe and I can honestly say I don't believe a gluten eating person would notice the difference
That sounds lovely with the gooseberries!! Thank you so much!
This relates to the previous comment as forgot the star rating and also website?
Can you use almond flour instead of ground almonds in this recipe?
Hi Linda, yes you can. The cake will be a little denser but will still be delicious.
Hi Georgia - I have just made this cake - cake part only - and it is just out of the oven looking and smelling really good.
I did make a couple of tweaks, the first being that I scaled down by half and used 2 x 6" sandwich tins. When I read the recipe for the first time I assumed the lemon curd was actually added to the cake mix and it was just this morning when reread I realised this is not the case but I carried on and added it anyway. I also added a tsp vanilla bean paste and a couple of drops of almond extract. I sprinkled the top of each layer before baking with flaked almonds and it took about 30 mins to bake. I made up the 180 g of flour with 80g gf flour blend, 80g almond flour and 20g oat flour. I will fill with a mix of lemon curd, mascarpone and double cream as I just want to dredge icing sugar over the top when assembled.
Thanks for such a successful lemon cake recipe and I want to try the Swiss meringue buttercream another time when making the larger cake.
Sandra
Ooh - your cake sounds wonderful! I did toy with adding the lemon curd to the actual batter when I originally developed the recipe so that's interesting to know it worked that way too. You're more than welcome for the recipe!