Elderflower and Lemon Wedding Cake, celebrating with Meghan and Harry

elderflower and lemon wedding cake

Ok, so this elderflower and lemon wedding cake is completely spur-of-the moment and unlike me. I am usually not that girly type of girl, sorry, you know, like pink, sprinkles, princess, etc. But somehow when I watched Meghan and Harry getting married, I was touched. And I felt like making their weddding cake, a very small version of course. Especially since elderflowers are finally blossoming here in the north of Germany. We seem to always be lagging behind, whereas in London apparently they are in full blossom, they are only starting here. So I decided to make my own elderflower syrup and give this wedding cake a go.

elderflower and lemon wedding cakeMind you, this is my very first three-tier cake and no, it is not the original recipe, I deviate in many aspects. It is simply a wedding cake inspired by Meghan’s and Harry’s wedding cake and since the top tier actually was baked in a muffin tin, you can probably imagine it to only feed about 12 people or so. The bottom cake is a 24cm (9inch) cake tin, the top  is only a cupcake. A mini version, yet a celebration of these flavors nonetheless. Elderflower and lemon, sweet versus tart, white and yellow happily married in this symphony of spring.

elderflower and lemon wedding cakeThe easier version of this cake would simply be a 24cm (9inch) two-layer cake, so if you don’t have any small cake tin, just go for that. Remember, enjoy the flavors when you eat this, sipping a cup of tea and celebrating spring, love, and hope. Like I did. To Meghan and Harry!

elderflower and lemon wedding cakeCredit: Lemon cake with slight adjustments from Sally’s Baking Addiction, lemon curd from Sally’s Baking Addiction

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Elderflower and Lemon Wedding Cake

Serves: One 24 cm ∅ springform with two layers or three-tiers if using smaller top tiers
Cooking Time: 1hr preparation + 25-28min of baking

Ingredients

  • Lemon Cake
  • 280 grams of sifted all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • Zest from one lemon (you will need about 4 organic lemons in total for this recipe)
  • 280 grams/milliliters of buttermilk
  • 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 220 grams of butter at room temperature
  • 200 grams of regular sugar
  • 3 eggs at room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract, see here how to make your own

  • Simple Syrup
  • Elderflower syrup to brush the cakes with

  • Lemon Curd
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 80 grams of regular sugar, very sour, increase amount to 160 grams if you prefer a sweeter flavor
  • Zest from three large lemons
  • Juice from three large lemons
  • 80 grams of butter

  • Frosting
  • 250 grams/milliliters of heavy cream
  • 8 tablespoons of elderflower syrup
  • 350 grams of mascarpone
  • For decoration further elderflowers, fresh flowers, and a lemon

Instructions

1

For the cake line a 24cm (9inch), 15cm (6inch) and a muffin tin with parchment paper and grease the sides. Alternatively line two 24cm (9inch) cake tins if you want to make a one-tire cake. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

2

Sift the flour with baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest in a bowl and set aside.

3

Mix the buttermilk with the lemon juice and also set aside.

4

Now beat the soft butter with the sugar for a few minutes, add one egg at a time and incorporate fully, add the vanilla extract last until combined.

5

Alternating the flour mix with the buttermilk, add the rest in three turns. The cake mix will be very thick.

6

Pour into prepared tins and bake, take out muffin at about 12 minutes, the smaller cake at 20min and the biggest cake at 25-28min. All should look golden on the top. Let cool completely before taking out of the tins and wraping in plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge. You can prepare the cakes the day before, chill in the fridge until further use.

7

Meanwhile for the lemon curd place all ingredients except for the butter in a medium-sized pot. Make sure you check beforehand that the pot fits, without touching the bottom, into a large pot as you will have to thicken the curd in a double-boiler. Pour water about 4-5cm high into the large pot and bring to boil. Then reduce temperature so that water simmers. Make sure the water is not too hot, but really only simmers.

8

Now place the pot with the egg mix on top and check whether you find it too sour. If you do, feel free to increase the amount of sugar. Start whisking. Whisk all the time. It takes about 10 minutes for the curd to start thickening, so don't increase the temperature too early as otherwise the egg yolks will curdle. If it doesn't thicken after ten minutes, increase the temperature gently. Once you have the consistency of a thick sauce, take the pot out (still stirring) and slowly add the butter. I usually cut the butter into 4-6 pieces and add one piece at the time. Transfer to a jar and chill.

9

For the frosting place heavy cream and elderflower syrup in a bowl and beat until soft peaks form. Add the mascarpone cream and beat until stiff peaks form. Chill until further use.

10

To assemble the cake first cut all three cakes in half using a serrated knife. Brush the bottom layer with the elderflower syrup. Then pipe a ring around the edges with the mascarpone cream (see pictures) and fill the middle with lemon curd. Place the second half of the cake on top, brush again with elderflower syrup and frost the top and sides with further mascarpone cream. Assemble the medium and smallest cake seperately in the same manner before stacking on top of each other. Use additional lemon curd to create a bit of a "dripping cake", see pictures. Decorate with fresh flowers and lemon slices.

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6 Comments

  • Reply
    Simone von zimtkringel
    Wednesday May 23rd, 2018 at 09:41 AM

    Liebe Jenny,
    wow! Wow! WOW! Ich bin absolut begeistert und ordentlich beeindruckt! …und freue mich natürlich unheimlich, dass du beim Marktspaziergang dabei bist!
    Liebe Grüße
    Simone von zimtkringel

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Wednesday May 23rd, 2018 at 09:44 AM

      Danke Simone! Sie sieht viel schwieriger aus als sie zu machen ist, der oberste Teil ist ein Cupcake, ist also wirklich eine Miniversion. Es hat sehr Spaß gemacht mitzumachen, tolles Blogevent!

  • Reply
    Britta Koch
    Thursday June 21st, 2018 at 10:49 PM

    Ein wahres Meisterwerk!

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Friday June 22nd, 2018 at 06:44 AM

      Ganz lieben Dank!

  • Reply
    Henriette
    Sunday June 26th, 2022 at 01:54 PM

    Ein Geschmackserlebnis, mit dieser Torte kann man glänzen. Ein Highlight auf der Kaffeetafel, ich hatte sie zum 20. Hochzeitstag geschenkt. Ich finde auch nicht zu aufwendig, ich werde sie öfters backen. Vielen Dank für das tolle Rezept.

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Sunday June 26th, 2022 at 02:11 PM

      Oh, das freut mich sehr! Wenn du magst, kannst du mir auf Facebook, Insta oder per info at jennyisbaking punkt com noch Bilder schicken!

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