Coconut flour lemon cake smothered in lemon curd and cream……because it’s Spring!
This is officially the first layer cake I’ve made for the blog. I’m more practical than I am fancy. Complicated recipes stress me out, and taking photos of complicated recipes stresses me out even more. I mean, whipped cream doesn’t stay fluffy for that long,
You guys know that I focus on easy to make, healthy food. And even though this lemon cake has a major WOW-factor, this recipe is no exception. You don’t have to be a master baker to look like one. I mean, if I can make this cake look pretty, so can you.
I’ve been planning on making this cake for over a year now. It’s basically a lemon version of my Simple Coconut Flour Cake, which happens to be one of the most popular recipes on my blog. I’ve been intimidated because cake decorating is not really my thing. I’m always impressed when I see all of the fancy pants cakes on Instagram or Pinterest.
But I finally went for it. And I’m so excited that I did. It was a lot easier than I thought. I made two very simple coconut flour lemon cake layers. And I used my Easy Lemon Curd and some whipped coconut cream to make it pretty. You would never know how quick and easy this layered cake is to throw together.
Here’s why I LOVE this lemon cake:
……light and moist cake layers made with gluten and grain free coconut flour. Yes, it is possible. Learning to bake with coconut flour has taken some getting used to. But I think I I got it right this time.
…..bright and refreshing lemon flavor. I HIGHLY recommend using Meyer lemons if you can get your hands on some. The are much sweeter and less acidic than regular lemons.
…..lemon curd. Need I say more? Lemon curd is one of those things that truly makes me happy. And it’s ridiculously easy to make. Thick, creamy, lemony goodness.
…..whipped cream. Whether you use regular whipping cream or coconut cream, you really can’t go wrong. It pairs perfectly with the lemon curd. And is much easier than some fancy frosting.
……so easy. Once you bake your lemon cake layers, it takes about 2 minutes to decorate this cake. Curd and cream. And maybe a few berries. And the result is pretty impressive and beautiful.
I’m totally in LOVE with this cake. It’s light, springy, perfectly sweet, hinted with lemon flavor, and smothered in curd and cream. Absolutely DELICIOUS!
And if the layer cake seems a bit to big or too ambitious for you, you can simply make one layer and enjoy it just the same.
Happy Spring!
xo,
Katja
Coconut Flour Lemon Cake
- Yield: 2 nine inch cakes 1x
Ingredients
FOR LEMON CAKE LAYERS
- 1 cup coconut flour (I use THIS Brand)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 6 eggs, room temperature
- 6 tbsp full fat coconut milk (I use THIS brand)
- 6 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 cup butter, ghee, or coconut oil, melted
- 2/3 cup maple syrup or honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- zest from 4 lemons
- 4 egg whites, room temperature
FOR TOPPINGS
- one batch lemon curd (get recipe here)
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream or coconut cream from 3 cans of chilled full fat coconut milk
- 1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup or honey, if desired
- berries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350’F. Liberally grease two 9 inch round cake pans and line bottom of pans with parchment paper (like this) cut into circle to fit the bottom.
- In a large bowl, sift together coconut flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk together 6 eggs, coconut milk, lemon juice, melted fat of choice, maple syrup/honey, vanilla, and lemon zest until foamy.
- Add wet to dry and mix well to combine.
- In another large bowl, beat the egg whites with a hand mixer until thick soft peaks form. Fold very gently into cake batter. Pour evenly into prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 24-26 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and cakes are golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely to avoid melting your cream.
- WHIPPED CREAM: Using an electric mixer, beat the heavy whipping cream or coconut cream until light and fluffy. Add 1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup or honey, if desired.
- TO ASSEMBLE CAKE: place first lemon cake layer on plate or cake stand. Cover evenly with lemon curd and spoon whipped cream into center so you don’t get whipped cream overflow. Place second lemon cake layer on top and repeat lemon curd and whipped cream. Top with berries. Enjoy!
Notes
There is fine art to whipping and folding egg whites. It is helpful if you use a VERY clean bowl, make sure that no egg yolk gets into the whites, and use room temperature eggs. You read more HERE about it.
Coconut Flour Lemon Cake (SINGLE LAYER RECIPE)
- Yield: 1 nine inch cake 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut flour (I use THIS Brand)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 3 tbsp full fat coconut milk (I use THIS brand)
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup butter, ghee, or coconut oil, melted
- 1/3 cup maple syrup or honey
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- zest from 2 lemons
- 2 egg whites, room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350’F. Liberally grease a 9 inch round cake pan and line bottom of pan with parchment paper (like this) cut into circle to fit the bottom.
- In a large bowl, sift together coconut flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk together 3 eggs, coconut milk, lemon juice, melted fat of choice, maple syrup/honey, vanilla, and lemon zest until foamy.
- Add wet to dry and mix well to combine.
- In another large bowl, beat the egg whites with a hand mixer until thick soft peaks form. Fold very gently into cake batter. Pour evenly into prepared cake pan.
- Bake for 24-26 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and cake is golden.
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Looks completely amazing!! I remember earmarking for lemon curd awhile back….only hang up is I am the only one would likely eat it (got some lemon haters), and I don’t need that much temptation!! I seriously want a slice of this…with 4 zest, I know the lemon is over the top just like I like it!
Lemon haters? Oh no! You could just make the curd and enjoy it all for yourself. 🙂
Use lime instead and see if your lemon haters will try it with lime and you can use kiwi instead of blue berries or raspberries, or anything your lemon haters may like. I’m sure if you don’t tell them it is supposed to be made with lemon, they will probably try it. Good luck! Carmen ([email protected])
These are so gorgeous and spring-y! Lemon desserts are my favorite and I love that these are made with coconut flour.
Thank you, Jean!! 🙂
OMG, this cake looks ridiculously good! I love a combination of lemon and blueberries, so can’t wait to try it. Beautiful photos, too xo
Thank you, Irena!
A delicious cake to eat any time! I like that this is a one pan cake, which will be perfect
for my small family.
Yes, I like to make one cake as well when it’s just for my family. Otherwise, we are eating cake for days…… 😉
This looks so good! Can’t wait to try 🙂
Hope you enjoy it, Tina!
Oh wow! If I made this I might eat the entire cake 🙂
Totally! That’s why I added the recipe for just a single layer cake. less temptation! 😉
I absolutely love lemon cakes! What a magnificent flavor combo ! YUM !
Thank you, ChihYu!
Hi
love your site and recipes!! wondering if you could change up one thing…when you print a recipe the goggle adds follow to the print page and covers the recipe making it hard to follow, and if you “X” out the add then the google box still remains.
thanks
HI, Talyn! Thank you so much for pointing that out. I wasn’t aware that it was an issue. I had my tech folks take a look, and they fixed the issue. Now the ad no longer shows up when you print. Thanks again. And thanks for coming by. 🙂
Seriously… all of my fave things, cake, cream, blueberries, and lemon. droollllllll
YES! All my favs too!!
OMG I can’t stop looking at this cake! I’m going to try to make it this weekend since I’ll have relatives over. Just gona have to use coconut sugar because I have pre-diabetic relatives. Hope it works as well. Just one question, when you make just one layer cake do you use the same amount of lemon curd?
Thanks for sharing. Kisses and hugs from Portugal.
Hi, Carla! I just make a batch of lemon curd and sue what I need. It’s never a bad idea to have a bit loft over. It’s SO tasty all by itself. 🙂
I’ve made this cake and everyone loved it! And you are right! Lemon curd is never too much! 🙂
YES! So happy to hear. I could eat lemon curd ALL DAY LONG!!
Hi!
Did you end up making it? How did it go? Any tips?
Thanks!
In regards to the curd and whipped cream… How quickly do I need to serve it once all of the layers have been added? So excited to try this for Mother’s Day but want to get timing right since I’m commuting about an hour.
I like to put the cake together just before serving. If you are traveling, I would travel with the layers deconstructed and put it all together when you get there. That way you can make the whipped cream fresh when you get there. If you can’t whip your cream at your destination, travel with the curd, whipped cream, and cakes layers are separate and put it all together once you arrive. Hope that helps.
I just made this and the lemon curd and it is simply delicious. No one would be able to tell it is gluten free. I was blown away. So delicious. I did have meyer lemons which I think do make a better lemon curd as it is a little more mellow. Can’t say enough about it. A Winner.
Yay! So happy that you liked it. I could eat lemon curd all day long. 🙂
Hi, we don’t do eggs in our house. Would flax eggs work in place of the eggs or maybe gelatin eggs? I didn’t know if substitutions would work with that many eggs.
I haven’t had much success with flax eggs and coconut flour. It really likes to be combined with lots of liquid and eggs. I’d love to here if you try it.
Can I substitute a granular sugar/sweetner for the honey?
Thanks,
Wendy
I haven’t tried a dry sugar. I usually use wet sweeteners with coconut flour as it requires a lot of moisture. You could definitely try it. If batter seems thick or dry, you could add a titch of wet to batter.
Hi!! Reslly want to make this cake but wondering: Can I substitute the coconut milk for almond milk 1:1?
Thanks!
M
Hi, Michelle! I haven’t tried doing that. Almond ilk is quite a bit thinner than coconut milk so I would add just a titch less. Let me know if you try it. 🙂
Hi there, you don’t say if the lemon curd is bought or made and also I am guessing it’s coconut milk for the cake but coconut cream for the topping??
Many thanks
Hi, Christina- I make the curd myself. You can see the link to the recipe that I use right in the recipe card. It says “one batch lemon curd (get recipe here)” Also, I use the full fat coconut milk for the cake. And yes, you can use either real whipped cream OR coconut whipped cream (which is made from the coconut cream at the top of the can.) Hope that helps. 🙂
HI. I made this and was so disappointed in how greasy and oily this turned out. The lemon curd is delicious but the cake is so heavy despite me using only 3/4!cup oil. I typically test try new recipes at half the volume but I made the entire recipe and wasted all my ingredients. I can’t eat this.
Hi, Claudia! I am sorry to hear that the cake did not work for you. This is basically the same recipe that I use for my coconut flour cake recipe- which is the most popular recipe on my site. Literally hundreds of people have made it and love it. You can see comments HERE. In the years since I’ve posted the recipe, there have been a couple of people who have said that it turned out greasy, and I cannot figure out why. I’ve made this cake countless times and have never had that experience. And hundreds of folks have made it and loved it. I’ve wondered if it is the type of coconut flour that you used??? This is literally our family’s favorite cake. A friend just made a big version and several mini versions of this lemon cake for a birthday party that turned out amazing. I wish that I had an answer for you. I would really like to know so I can avoid anyone else having that experience.
What can you use in place of eggs? I am allergic to egg whites.
I am not sure this cake will work without eggs. Coconut flour works best with eggs in the batter. I have not had success with coconut flour recipes and egg substitutes like flax egg or chia egg. But if you can do egg yolks, you can still eat the lemon curd, which is amazing just by itself. 🙂
The cake was a huge hit with my family. It all started when I over-bought lemons at a big box retailer and I was searching for a way to use them – I hate waste (I am my mother’s son). I found this recipe and decided to make it while watching a playoff baseball game. I am a amateur baker but here are three suggestions/warnings for prep instructions:
1) Make the lemon curd the night before – this cake needs the lemon curd to reach its full be amazing-ness!
2) Put the eggs out the night before!
3) I had to throw out the whipped cream because I added the honey before it thickened and so it never did. Had to start over. I am learning.
Again – loved the cake – so delicious and not a spec of chocolate.
Also I am happy you did not put any of those
Yay! So glad this cake was a hit. And I love that you are learning as you go. I’m learning as I go over here too. Yay for real food!! 🙂
This was splendid. I didn’t have parchment paper, so the cake broke apart during the transfer, but I simply put it back together and covered it up with the curd/cream, and no one knew. I couldn’t believe it when the coconut cream turned out so well. I added ~1 tsp maple syrup and some vanilla, and it was delicious. The sides of my cake didn’t look as great, so I just covered everything with the whipped cream. I will say that the cake is quite heavy with all the eggs and fat, and one piece will fill you up. Nonetheless, my non-Paleo, non-GF family got seconds — success! Thank you so much for the lovely recipe.