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Elderflower Lemon Cake is a light and fluffy lemon cake topped with a floral-tasting buttercream frosting made with elderflower liqueur. Inspired by the Royal Wedding, this cake is perfect for any occasion! It’s simple to make and is delicious paired with a Summer Rosé Sangria!
I’m always in the mood for cake! You can keep them plain and simple or make them more complicated (like it did with these roses!). In any case, they will ALWAYS be amazing! Whether you are making a cake for a wedding or just need something for a party this Peach Maple Yogurt Cake, Zucchini Chocolate Cake, or this Lemon Coconut Cake will be a perfect choice!
Ingredients You’ll Need for Elderflower Lemon Cake
- Flour – You can use regular all-purpose flour for the cake layers!
- Lemon – We’ll use the zest from 1 lemon and a tablespoon of juice to give the cake a bright lemon flavor.
- Butter – Used in the cake to give tons of richness and flavor and to make the buttercream frosting. Use unsalted sticks so you can easily adjust the salt level to your liking.
- St. Germain elderflower liqueur – This will give the buttercream frosting a light and delicious elderflower flavor.
For the rest of the ingredients, please refer to the recipe index card below!
How To Make Elderflower Lemon Cake
- Prepare your ingredients. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, then grease and flour two cake pans. Mix together flour, baking powder and salt, then set aside.
- For the lemon cake. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together sugar with lemon zest to bring the lemon flavor out more, then add in butter beating until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, lemon juice and vanilla. Lastly add in the flour mixing until just combined. Divide batter between prepared cake pans. Bake for 15 – 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool completely on wire racks while you make the frosting.
- For the elderflower buttercream. In the bowl of a stand mixer beat butter, powdered sugar and salt together until smooth and fluffy. Pour in elderflower liqueur beating until smooth.
- Decorate. Frost and decorate the cake as you like!
Tips and Tricks
- Decorating ideas. You can leave your buttercream frosting white or you can add a few drops of red and brown food coloring gel to give it a dusty rose color. Try your hand at making buttercream rosettes to decorate the cake. Make sure to pipe them onto parchment paper then wait until they are super frozen before adding a tiny bit of frosting to the back of the roses and pressing them onto the frosted cake.
- Mix the lemon zest with the sugar. This REALLY helps to bring out the lemon flavor from the zest into the cake.
- Elderflower flavor. I used St. Germain liqueur, if you want a non-alcoholic option use homemade or store-bought elderflower cordial.
Recipe FAQs
I love to mix the freshly grated lemon zest with the sugar first. This helps the oils from the zest infuse with the sugar giving the cake a stronger lemon flavor. You could also add a few drops of lemon extract or extra lemon juice into the cake batter!
Elderflower has a light, fruity and floral flavor. It pairs really well with other light natural flavors like berries, lemon, pear and honey.
More Cake Recipes
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2 (8-inch) cake pans with rounds of parchment paper
Stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment or electric hand mixer
1 Large mixing bowl
Microplane to zest the lemon
To Make the Cake Layers:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8-inch cake pans. I also lined the bottom of my cake pans with rounds of parchment.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.
To the bowl of a stand-up mixer, with the paddle attachment (alternatively, you could use an electric hand mixer), add the lemon zest and sugar. Mix on low until the lemon zest is mixed throughout the sugar (this really brings out the flavor in the lemon zest!). Add the butter and beat until fluffy, about 1 minute. Crack in the eggs and add the lemon juice and vanilla extract. Mix until completely incorporated. Add the flour mixture and beat just until the ingredients are combined.
Divide the batter between the two cake pans. Transfer to the oven to bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans for about 5 minutes, until inverting them onto cooling racks.
To Make the Frosting:
In the bowl of a stand-up mixer, with the paddle attachment, add the butter, powdered sugar and salt; beat until smooth and fluffy, about a minutes. Pour in the elderflower liqueur and beat again until smooth, about 1 minute.
Tips and Tricks
- Decorating ideas. You can leave your buttercream frosting white or you can add a few drops of red and brown food coloring gel to give it a dusty rose color. Try your hand at making buttercream rosettes to decorate the cake. Make sure to pipe them onto parchment paper then wait until they are super frozen before adding a tiny bit of frosting to the back of the roses and pressing them onto the frosted cake.
- Mix the lemon zest with the sugar. This REALLY helps to bring out the lemon flavor from the zest into the cake.
- Elderflower flavor. I used St. Germain liqueur, if you want a non-alcoholic option use homemade or store-bought elderflower cordial.
Calories: 601kcal | Carbohydrates: 86g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 143mg | Sodium: 330mg | Potassium: 226mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 61g | Vitamin A: 834IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
