This cake is a twist on the classic pie, marrying the bright flavor of lemon with the sweet, fluffy texture of meringue. The soft, moist cake holds a punchy Lemon Curd that’s topped with a lightly browned meringue with a caramelly, toasty flavor and lovely golden color.
Lemon Meringue Cake
Makes 1 (6-cup) cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- â…“ cup (76 grams) unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup (56 grams) neutral oil
- 2 teaspoons (4 grams) lemon zest
- 3 large eggs (150 grams), room temperature
- 1¼ cups (156 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon (2.25 grams) kosher salt
- ½ cup (120 grams) sour cream, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon (4 grams) vanilla extract
- Lemon Curd (recipe follows)
Meringue:
- ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large egg whites (60 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
- For cake: In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, melted butter, oil, and lemon zest until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition.
- In another medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with sour cream mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, whisking just until combined after each addition.
- Spray a 6-cup charlotte cake pan with baking spray with flour. Using a pastry brush, spread any excess spray in pan, blotting brush with a paper towel as needed. Spread batter into prepared pan. Tap pan on a kitchen towel-lined counter several times to settle batter and release any air bubbles.
- Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Invert cake onto a wire rack, and let cool completely.
- Transfer cooled cake to a serving plate. Spread Lemon Curd onto cake.
- For meringue: In the heatproof bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together sugar and egg whites by hand. Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Cook, whisking frequently, until sugar completely dissolves and an instant-read thermometer registers 120°F (49°C) to 130°F (54°C).
- Carefully return bowl to stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat at high speed until stiff peaks form and bowl is cool to the touch, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Spoon topping into a large pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch French star piping tip (Ateco #868). Pipe meringue onto cake as desired. Using a handheld kitchen torch, carefully brown meringue as desired. Best served same day as made. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
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Lemon Curd
Makes about 1½ cups
Ingredients
- ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon (162 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons (24 grams) cornstarch
- 4 large egg yolks (74 grams), room temperature
- 1 large egg (50 grams), room temperature
- 2 teaspoons (4 grams) packed lemon zest
- ½ cup (120 grams) fresh lemon juice
- 5 tablespoons (75 grams) water
- ¾ teaspoon (2.25 grams) kosher salt
- ¼ cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, cubed and softened
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar and cornstarch. Add egg yolks and egg; whisk until smooth. Whisk in lemonzest and juice, 5 tablespoons (75 grams) water, and salt until smooth. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until mixture is thickened and bubbly, about 7 minutes.
- Remove from heat, and strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a heatproof bowl. Add butter, and stir until completely incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing wrap directly onto surface of curd to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until completely cooled, at least 1 hour.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
I’m giving this recipe 3 stars for the cake and the flavor of the curd. The cake had a nice flavor and released from the pan perfectly. If I were to make it again, I would take it out of the oven at around 25-30 minutes. The curd looked good and tasted great, but it didn”t set up enough. I chilled it after I made it and it had more of a pudding consistency than a curd that I use for a lemon meringue pie. It ran when I tried to cut slices. I couldn’t get the meringue to a stiff peak state, so couldn’t use it. I tried adding cream of tartar, as strangely, the recipe didn’t call for it. Ultimately I think the problem was that there wasn’t enough of it for my KA mixer to be able to pick it up from the bottom of the bowl to whip it sufficiently. In spite of 10 minutes of whipping with a hand mixer, it remained in a soft peak state.