My friend’s wedding is coming up this weekend, so the cakes were baked last week and are happily camping in the freezer, wrapped in plastic and tinfoil, awaiting transport to Vancouver in a few days. Baking the cakes was something I was a little worried about, despite the relative success of the trial run – would they bake evenly, would I have enough batter, would they taste good enough? Turns out all my fears were totally unfounded: the cakes turned out perfectly. They baked in flat, even layers (thanks so the wet towel/cake diaper trick) and they all baked in exactly 50 minutes, no matter which pan size. Even the big 10-inch baked evenly all the way to the middle without a heating core or anything.
Remember the confidence I had in my math skillz when I calculated how much batter I would need and how I would need to scale the recipe? I was fairly sure that I would end up with just shy of the right amount of batter, but I got that part totally wrong: I ended up with about 2 cups of extra batter, which is definitely better than 2 cups too little! This meant that I got to use the extra batter to make these sweet little shell-cakes:
I made one-and-a half times the recipe below and ended up with about 16 1/2 cups of batter, enough for two 10-inch, two 8-inch, and two 6-inch rounds, each 1 1/2 inches high when baked, plus a bunch of little shell cakes 😉 I mixed the batter in three batches (a half recipe each), then mixed them all together in one big bowl to make sure the batter was uniform. Some of the batter sat for quite a while because I could only bake two cakes at once, and I was concerned that the baking powder and baking soda would lose their leavening power before they hit the oven, but it didn’t seem to make any difference 🙂 Success!
Update: here’s my tutorial for how to frost and assemble the wedding cake from start to finish.
Lemon Butter Cake
Adapted from Cakewalk by Margaret Braun
This cake is delicious and lemon-y and has a texture similar to pound cake. The yield is for two 10-inch round cakes (about 4 1/4 cups of batter each), but I found I could use less batter per cake, as follows:
6-inch round: 1 1/4 cups
8-inch round: 2 1/4 cups
10-inch round: 3 2/3 cups
May 2016 update: For a vanilla version of this cake (and the ingredients in weights) see this post.
Preheat oven to 325˚F. Butter and flour your cake pans, and line the bottoms with parchment paper (*see note at bottom).
Sift together the dry ingredients:
5 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
In a mixer bowl, cream together:
2 cups unsalted butter, softened
4 cups granulated sugar
Beat until light and fluffy, then add:
6 large eggs
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. When the eggs are incorporated, stir in:
2 tsp vanilla extract
grated zest of 4 lemons
juice of 1 lemon
Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture alternately with:
2 cups sour cream
(Start and end with the sour cream – sour cream in four additions, dry ingredients in three additions.)
Scrape the bottom of the bowl periodically and stir until just mixed.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans and spread it level. Whack the bottom of the pan against the counter a few times to release any large air bubbles in the batter. Wrap the outside of each cake pan with a strip of wet towel.
Bake at 325˚F for 50 minutes, turning the pans half way through baking time, until golden brown on top and a skewer inserted in the centre of each cake comes out clean.
Let the cakes cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before removing from the pan, otherwise the cake will stick and you’ll end up leaving chunks behind in the pan. Peel off the parchment paper from the bottom and let the cakes cool completely on a wire rack before decorating or freezing.
To freeze, wrap each cake individually in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil to seal out the air completely. Should keep for up to 1 month in the freezer if properly wrapped. Allow to thaw before decorating.
*To cut a perfectly-sized round of parchment paper for the bottom of your pan: (sorry for the terrible pictures – bad lighting!)
Fold your parchment paper in half then in half again to form a square.
Fold the square in half on the diagonal…
then fold again to form a point.
Turn your cake pan over and place the point of the parchment paper in the middle of the pan. Mark the edge of the pan, and cut the parchment paper.
Unfold and you have the perfect circle for the bottom of your pan 🙂
What gorgeous cakes! I bet they taste amazing, cant wait to see the finished product 🙂
I can’t wait, either! 🙂
This is just so impressive. I bet it tastes amazing!
Good job Korena! Looks wonderful!
Mmmm, very impressive. I wish I could be at the wedding so I could have a taste! I can’t wait to see the finished product!
i can’t wait to smear this all over Dylan’s face…. then stick it in my mouth. 🙂
Heh, it better be a small piece ’cause there’s only 58 servings!!
can u plz tell me 2cup buter is equals to how many grams oR onz?
2 cups butter = 1 lb = 16 oz = 500 grams 🙂
talia asked: “hello sorry but i didn´t understand how many times i have to make the recipe to achieve el 6 pans 🙁 can u please explain me :)”
Sorry Talia, your comment got lost as I was making some changes to the blog, so I hope you check back to see this answer! I made the recipe 1.5 times to make the 6 cakes (2 x 6″ round, 2 x 8″ round, 2 x 10″ round).
Hi korena, instead of adding milk u add sour cream, looks good.
love the instructions… But how log it takes the cake to thaw completely before frosting? thank you!
I would thaw it overnight in the fridge to be safe – but you could actually frost it while still partially frozen.
I’m sorry, but the stupid tradition of smashing wedding cake in each others faces is just beyond childish! Be classy!!!! Don’t do it!
Ehhh, to each their own, especially on your wedding day! But I’d vote no smashing because I wouldn’t want to waste the cake 😉
@Stacy, I definitely agree with you. A wedding should be an elegant, classy event, and not act the way kids would in a school cafeteria. I’ve always thought smashing cake into the bride or groom’s face is just tacky and shows no class. I’ve been making wedding cakes for four decades, and would hate to think of one of my cakes being remembered for being smashed in someone’s face.
This cake looks absolutely wonderful, just what I was looking for! I’m getting married in June, and my fiance & I decided on a lemon pound cake sort of cake to serve with strawberries and whipped cream 🙂
Oh wonderful! This is a really yummy cake – not too delicate and not too dense. Congratulations on your impending wedding!
Wow,…the parchment paper trick is amazing!! Mind. Blown. :o)
I really need to learn how to make those towel cake rings.
No learning required: just cut a towel into strips, wet them, and wrap around the cake pan. Easy-peasy!
You bake it with the towel still on it?
Yes – the damp towel insulates the edges of the cake from baking too quickly, and as long as the towel is not touching the hot element of your oven, it will be fine in the oven.
Hi, Does the wet towel work on all sponge type cakes or just a batter mix?
That’s a good question. I’ve only ever used it on cakes that have a tendency to dome in the middle, ie: the outside edges bake faster than the center and it rises up. I don’t think it would hurt on a sponge type cake – it would just encourage more even baking.
Hi korena , can you tell me which buttercream or frost you use in this cake , please, and thank you
Hi Lupita, I used a cream cheese Swiss meringue buttercream frosting that didn’t work very well! I would recommend using this recipe instead – the same kind of frosting but a much better result: https://korenainthekitchen.com/2013/03/28/cream-cheese-swiss-meringue-buttercream-frosting-success/
Have you tried decorating a wedding cake with a cream cheese frosting? I’m thinking one layer rosette and one ribbon
Hi Patricia, I have not yet had another opportunity to decorate a wedding cake with cream cheese Swiss meringue buttercream… but I have successfully used it on non-wedding cakes!
They are gorgeous.Will try the wet towel wrap method.Thanks.
The wet towel wrap is the best cake baking trick I’ve ever learned!
I have been making my own towel wrap for a while but I really like the way you did it. It is thicker and you use a safety pin. I made mine with old towels and I just realized they are not thick enough. Thank you for sharing!
Can I do this with cake pops. And how would I wrap them? TY
Dorothy
Hi Dorothy, I have absolutely no idea, but a quick Google search gives me this: http://mightydelighty.blogspot.ca/2012/11/how-to-freeze-cake-pops-or-cake-balls.html
Hi Korena, I would like to make just 2 8″ rounds. Would I just use 1/2 a recipe?
Hi Kate, yup you’re right, half of this recipe would yield 2 x 8″ rounds.
Hi Koreana,
How do you keep your cakes from sweating when thawing? That is the biggest reason I avoid freezing! Thanks!!
Hi Eryn, I’ve never really noticed it being a problem. If there’s ever any moisture on the tops of my cakes, I just dab it off with a paper towel 😉 However if you thawed the cakes overnight in the fridge, they would thaw more slowly and re-absorb any moisture that might otherwise turn into “sweat”.
Hi Eryn.
It is condensation that causes sweating
Keep your cakes from sweating by keeping the cakes wrapped while thawing,
Hi I am wondering if you would need to measure out the ingredients first for three batches or do one at a time? Thanks! I have been baking for a while and I am looking for this in my future 🙂
Hi Brittney, I made 3 x half batches of the recipe as written to make the cakes pictured (which gave me a total of 1.5 x the recipe as written), and did each half batch one at a time. Does that make sense?
Yes, thank you!
If I wanted to do vanilla cake instead of lemon, would I just take the lemon components out and add vanilla?
Yes, exactly – the recipe already includes 2 tsp vanilla, so just omit the lemon zest and juice. You could add the seeds scraped from a vanilla bean if you wanted it to be really vanilla-y.
Hi, could you just add vanilla and almond extract or do you only have to add vanilla? Also do you have any recommendations for frosting great frosting recipes? Thanks!
Hi Brittney, you could add whatever flavour you want – vanilla, almond extract, whatever. Just omit the lemon juice and zest. As far as frosting goes, my favorite is Swiss meringue buttercream (this is a good recipe – it makes a ton so you can half it: http://sweetapolita.com/2011/04/swiss-meringue-buttercream-demystified/) and this is a really good cream cheese frosting: https://korenainthekitchen.com/2014/07/22/the-best-red-velvet-cake-with-magical-cream-cheese-frosting/
Hi Korean. Andbifbi want to do this cake in chocolate? Thanks
Hi Margaret, sorry for delayed response. I wouldn’t suggest trying to make this particular cake in chocolate – a good chocolate cake is more than just adding cocoa or melted chocolate to a vanilla cake recipe. These are my two favourite chocolate cake recipes: #1 is moist and VERY chocolatey: https://korenainthekitchen.com/2012/02/14/rebar-chocolate-cake/ and #2 is more fudgey: https://korenainthekitchen.com/2014/05/07/kades-birthday-cake/.
Ok. Question! lol. Does the recipe make enough batter for the 2 layers of each size? So about 14 cups of batter?
Hi Emily – to make enough batter for 2 layers of each cake (6″, 8″ and 10″ rounds) I made 1.5 times the recipe as written (in 3 half batches to fit in my mixer better). I used the amounts of batter per cake pan that I describe in the notes before the recipe. Hope that helps!
Great! Also, if I wanted to do a test cake using half the Original Recipe, what size pans do you think I could make with that batter?
For half a batch of the original recipe, you could use 2 x 8″ round pans. This is a really handy chart for baking pan conversions: http://dish.allrecipes.com/cake-pan-size-conversions/
Omg. This was the best looking cake. We have decided this lemon cake is our all time favorite. Thanks for putting the receipt and pics on line. Yum.
Glad you liked it!
Korena…where did you get the adorable she’ll mini cake pans??? So cute and I will be making a wedding cake for an oceanside wedding…would love to make these!!!
Hey Carlene, it’s a Nordicware pan… you can definitely find it online (http://www.amazon.ca/NordicWare-80137-Nordicware-Seashell-Pan/dp/B00198E98Q) and probably at decent kitchen stores 🙂
Hi, korene, your cake is amazing, But i have a question,could i substitute the sourcream For buttermilk? Thank you
Hi Roxana, I just did some Google research on buttermilk vs sour cream, and I wouldn’t recommend the substitution – sour cream and buttermilk have very different fat contents (buttermilk has almost no fat in in, whereas sour cream has lots) so substituting one for the other could alter the cake quite a lot. If you want to use buttermilk I’d suggest finding a pound cake recipe that is formulated specifically with buttermilk instead 🙂
Hi, love the idea of wrapping the cake tin in wet towelling. Is there a chance that the towel could catch fire?
Hi Janelle, I guess you couldn’t completely rule out the possibility of the towel catching fire, but I’ve been doing the wet towel trick for several years now and it’s never happened to me. As long as the oven temperature isn’t super hot (and it shouldn’t be, for a cake) and the towels wraps don’t get anywhere near the heating element, you should be fine. I figure, people bake with parchment paper all the time and it doesn’t catch fire, right?
I want to try the wet towel trick what did you use to attach to the pan? Thank you for this post.
Hi Ellen, I used a metal safety pin to secure the wet towel around the pan.
Thank you!!!
Hi Korena,
I tried your towel trick my cakes came out perfect. I want to thank you so much!!!
Glad to hear!
Thank you SO MUCH for this!! I’m an avid baker, but have never attempted to make a wedding cake before. My sister’s wedding is in two weeks and I’m so happy I found your article. I probably made your recipe (and used your wet towel technique–brilliant!) five times over the yield the quantity of cake I needed. I now have your recipe memorized. Haha. Not only is the cake delicious, but it seems pretty resilient…like it’ll hold its own when I start stacking the tiers. Thank you for this post! I think you saved my life 😛
YAY I’m so glad the cake recipe worked well for you! That is a LOT of cake! And yes, it should be super resilient when you stack it – it was formulated specifically for that sort of thing by Margaret Braun, who is a wedding cake magician. Good luck with all of it – I’d love to see a photo when you’re done!!
Are the cake pans you’re using 3″ in height? Or are they the standard 2″?
Standard 2″ in height 🙂
Thank you so much for this tutorial!! I think i am still confused about the actual measures used for the cake. For example, for two 10″ cakes, did you use 3 2/3 cups together (to make two cakes) or 3 2/3 cups was used to make one 10″ cake. Thank you so much in advance!!
Hi Ines, these measures are per cake:
6-inch round: 1 1/4 cups per pan
8-inch round: 2 1/4 cups per pan
10-inch round: 3 2/3 cups per pan
I baked two of each cake. Does that help?
Yes, this helps a lot! Thank you!!
Hi, will this measurement be the same with a chocolate cake?
Which measurement are you referring to?
Well , Hello Korena. I read all the comments and got all my questions answered Thank you very much. I am making my nephews wedding cake and needed a yummy but firm and moist cake. Your recipe sounds like just what I need. Thank you
Awesome, I’m so glad the comments were helpful 🙂 Good luck with your nephew’s wedding cake! I’d love to hear how it turns out 🙂
Hi Korena,
I have one more question! How many cups of batter would you use for one 12″ round cake? Thank you in advance!
Hmmm. Wilton says to use 6 cups per 12″ round cake (http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-serving-guide.cfm)… but based on the amounts I used for the other cakes, I estimate you could use 4.25 or 4.5 cups of this batter per 12″ round cake.
I am trying to find ideas to make a 80th birthday cake for my ma. She just happens to love lemon! I pray I can pull something as awesome as that off!
This is a pretty delicious lemon cake – I hope it is what you are looking for 🙂
Hi! Thanks for the fantastic guide.
I’m using 6 inch, 9 inch and 11 and a half inch cake tins.
How many cups of batter would you recommend using for each cake tin?
Also, would greek yoghurt make a good substitute for sour cream?
Thank you!
For the 11.5″ round tin, I’d go with 4 1/4 cups of batter. For the 9″, I’d use 2 3/4 cups of batter. For the 6″, 1 1/4 cups. And yes, Greek yogurt would probably work well instead of sour cream (but make sure it is full fat yogurt, as sour cream contains a fair amount of fat).
Worked like a charm. I ended up using more batter for each tin though. Thank you very much!!
Is the amounts you’re using for 1.5 the recipe? I need to make 2 12′ cakes and I’m unsure if I need to double this recipe?
You could probably make the recipe as written and get 2 x 12 inch cakes from it just fine. The amounts as written are for one recipe, not 1.5 (I made 1.5 x the recipe to get 2 of each 6, 8, and 10 inch cakes).
One batch was enough for 2 x12 inch cakes. I filled it with lemon curd and people loved it!!
Hello! Do I need to use wooden posts to stack this cake?? Thanks!
Yes, if you are stacking this cake (or any cake) I would highly recommend using some kind of support system – wooden dowels or otherwise. They should go in each tier that is supporting something on top of it.
This recipe sounds so good can’t wait to try it I love lemon. I have to do a wedding cake soon and the bride wants red velvet & chocolate. If I use your recipe omit the lemon & use cocoa instead do you think it would be good?
Hi Bonnie, this is an excellent lemon cake (or vanilla cake if you omit the lemon) but I don’t think it would be very good as a chocolate cake – it’s not just as simple as adding cocoa powder, unfortunately! Most chocolate cake recipes (the best ones, anyway) have a very different formula/ingredients. But if you are looking for a great chocolate cake recipe, I can recommend this one: https://korenainthekitchen.com/2012/02/14/rebar-chocolate-cake/. And if you need a red velvet cake recipe, this one is great! I’ve also made it as a 3-tier wedding cake and it worked well: https://korenainthekitchen.com/2014/07/22/the-best-red-velvet-cake-with-magical-cream-cheese-frosting/
Thank you so much for the info about the chocolate. The recipes you sent sound heavenly. I hope to make a test cake of chocolate for bride to taste. She also thought about chocolate pound
cake instead of layers. I know the texture would be different do you think that would work as well. If I use your chocolate recipe how many batches would I need for 2 12″ layers & 2 6″ layers that are 2″ deep.
Hi Bonnie,
Chocolate pound cake would be really good, I’m sure!
For the chocolate cake recipe I linked to, it makes 3 x 8″ layers, which is the equivalent of 2 x 9″ layers, each 2″ deep. For 2 x 6″ layers, you need half the recipe. For 2 x 12″ layers, I’d double the recipe. So for all the layers you asked about, you’d need 2.5 x the recipe, with maybe a bit left over for cupcakes (always better than not enough!). This chart might be helpful for determining batter amounts for pan size: http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-serving-guide.cfm
Hi, I have made cakes for years at home for family and profit. If you remove a cake immediately to a cake round. Then flip to upright cake, wrap in plastic coated freezer paper and place in freezer immediately it will remain moist and will be solid for leveling when ready to decorate. The steam allowed to escape when cooling on a rack is preserved. Losing that moisture in the cooling process is what makes cakes dry. Crumb sealing and decorating is much easier when the cake is firm.
Those are great tips – thanks for sharing!
do you think that I could add butter extract and leave out the lemon yest. My daughter in law want a butter cake for her wedding?
Hi Kathy, for a butter cake, just omit the lemon – no butter extract necessary! This cake is plenty buttery on its own.
The taste is amazing, i made them today and its my fav butter cake recipe from now on ! the only thing is that they didnt rise as beautiful as yours… Do you have some tips that could help.me achive better rising ? or maybe am doing something wrong 🙁
Grettings from Mex:)
Hi Eri, glad the cakes tasted good for you! As for rising – one good tip is to make sure you beat the butter, sugar, and eggs together until VERY light and fluffy. Second, maybe check the expiry date on your baking powder and soda – if they are old, they tend not to react as well to make things rise.
Hi, would this recipe work with orange instead of lemon?
Yes, definitely! Just replace the lemon zest and juice with orange. I bet it would be delicious 🙂
I made your cake and it turned out wonderful!! Lots of compliments on the taste!! Thank you! This will be the recipe I will use over and over!
Hi Debra – that is wonderful to hear!! I’m so glad it worked well for you 🙂
I always use the towel diaper method and it never fails! Love the shell cakes 🙂
Hi Korena, thanks for the idea for baking cake flat with wet towel. This was really helpful.
Just made this cake! Got the approval from picky fiance on taste. Thanks so much for the tutorial.
That’s awesome! You’re so welcome.
Hullo Korean can’t wait to try your cake today.l live in Africa please give me these measurements in grams can’t get cups
Hi Hellen, I’m sorry, I don’t have the measurements in grams. If you want to try to convert it yourself, this is a reliable source for converting volume measurements to weight: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart.html
hi i want to try out this cake recipe is there any way to make 1/4 of the batter.
Hi Ahjane, sorry for the late reply. Yes, you can make 1/4 of the batter (just divide all the ingredients by 4) and then bake it in 2 x 6″ round cake pans, or 1 x 8″ cake pan. For 1/4 of the recipe, you will need 1 1/2 eggs – for that 1/2 egg, you could either use just the yolk, or beat a whole egg together and then just add half of it to the batter (along with one whole egg, of course). Hope that helps. Good luck!
Hey Korena! I absolutely love this recipe. I will be making a 3-tier cake for my niece’s event, however, I need this cake to be white. Will skipping egg yolks ruin the recipe? Can I use egg whites only?
Hi Alex, this recipe was formulated to use egg yolks, which contain a fair amount of fat, so I’m not sure how the recipe would turn out without them. I’d use a proper white cake recipe instead if you really want the cake to be white. This one looks pretty good: http://iambaker.net/the-perfect-white-cake/ – you could omit the almond extract and add lemon juice and zest if you want. Good luck!
THIS IS SUCH A GREAT DIRECTORIAL! THANK YOU THANK YOU. THE ONLY THING MISSING IS A PRINTABLE RECIPE. DID YOU FIND STACKING THEM TO CAUSE THE BOTTOMS TO SINK IN AT ALL?
Hi Heather, I’m glad you found it useful! Check out this post on how I stacked the cake using dowels – it prevents anything from sinking or collapsing: https://korenainthekitchen.com/2011/08/30/the-wedding-cake/
Hi Korena, have you ever frosted a wedding cake and froze it for later? Whether with buttercream or fondant? If so, how did it turn out?
Hi Maria, no I haven’t ever frosted a wedding cake and then frozen it… I have a tiny freezer with not enough space for a frosted cake and I’d be concerned that the frosting would get marred in between storage and thawing, so I’m more comfortable frosting it at the last minute (I did work at a grocery store in high school and I know the bakery successfully froze buttercream frosted cakes… so it can be done). I haven’t worked a lot with fondant and have never frozen a fondant-covered cake… but this link might be helpful? http://rosebakes.com/can-freeze-fondant-decorated-cake/ Good luck!
Hello Korena, I have just joined pintrest and found your lovely cake. The tip with the wet towels I am just going to have to try, the recipes in cups are a bit strange to us accross the pond, weights would be easier thank you so much for sharing this, a little question though, how do you attach the fresh flowers on the cake and would the cream be safe to eat where the flowers were?
Thanks again JanC
England
Hi Jan, I hope the wet towel trick works out for you! I recently made this cake for my own wedding in September and converted the recipe to weights, but I haven’t gotten around to posting it yet… stay tuned! As for the flowers: to attach them to the cake I just stuck the stems into the frosting. You want to make sure that the flowers are non-poisonous (this means that the frosting where they touch is fine to eat) and also that they are hardy enough not to wilt without being in water.
Thank you again Korea, I have cut my towels up ready for the 6″8″and 10″ cakes I am making for a wedding on 5th April, it would be really helpful if you could give me the batter weights 8n grams or ounces for a 2″ deep cake in each tin. Love all your really helpful tips and recipes. JanC
Hi Jan, delayed response here… I’m sorry but I don’t have the batter weights. Your best bet is to fill each tin to 2/3 full and then write down how much it weighs so that you can duplicate it with the second cake of the same size. Good luck with the wedding cake – I’m sure it will be fantastic!
Oh. My. Goodness! This cake was amazing! Rave reviews all around. Thank you so much for sharing!!
Yay! I’m so glad to hear this!! 🙂
I wrap them hot when I’m freezing them. It traps that steam and keeps the cakes moist.
Korena, your photo shows the cakes wrapped & stacked. Silly question but you didn’t freeze them like that, right? And do you use a special type of plastic wrap? Thanks – can’t wait to try this!
Hi Debra, the cakes were wrapped individually and I just stacked them up for the photo 😉 No special plastic wrap – just regular Saran wrap or whatever the store brand is!
Thanks, Korena! In taking stock of my cake pans today I found several 8″ and 9″ pans, no 6″ which seem hard to find in stores. My 10″ pan is a springboard pan – hope that works! ?
I’m a pretty good baker but lack decorating skills. Trying to put together a duo themed cake for my son who is graduating medical school on 5/6 and just got married on 4/9.
Hmmm….any advice?
I got my 6″ pans at Michael’s Crafts, if that helps? The springform pan should be fine, this batter is quite thick so there’s pretty little chance it will leak.
I’m not that great at themed cakes myself… a safe bet is always chocolate decorations (like this: https://www.google.ca/search?q=piped+chocolate+decorations&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZgL-R-JnMAhUL1GMKHaK0CdAQsAQIJQ&biw=1280&bih=671) or fresh fruit, or fresh flowers…? Then the theme is just “delicious cake” 😉
Hello im speak very bad english, im from switzerland how much gramm is 4 cups suger?
Hi Nihal, 1 cup sugar = 200 g, so 4 cups = 800 g. This volume to weight conversion chart might be helpful: http://www.joyofbaking.com/printpages/WeightvsVolumeprint.html
Wow.. It is a nice cake and recpie. Could u pls give me the recpie in grams?it will be great help.thanks.
Hi Shrabani, sorry for the delayed response – I posted a vanilla version of this cake recipe in grams here: https://korenainthekitchen.com/2016/05/06/homemade-wedding-cake-part-i-vanilla-butter-cake-recipe/ – just omit the vanilla seeds and add the lemon juice and zest instead.
Hi. I bake my cake in microwave oven (convection mode). Is it safe to use wet towels in it? Won’t it get burned? I am scared.
Hi Monideepa, I have never used a convection microwave oven so I’m not sure about the safety. I can tell you that the point of the wet towel is to help the cake bake more evenly in a regular oven, however from what I’ve read, the microwave part of a convection microwave oven does that already, so the wet towel may not be necessary? That’s my guess, anyway.
This is by far the best tutorial on wedding cakes I’ve seen. I haven’t made a wedding cake in about 20 years. Things have really changed. It is June 2, out doors at 6pm in Delaware.
1. Will your cream cheese meringue hold a rosette. I typically just use a standard cream cheese icing. But I’ve never used it outdoors.
2. Also, is the cake moist?
3. And what do you do with all the left-over egg yolks?
Thank you for sharing this! I was trying my best to avoid the typical Wilton/crisco/buttercream. This sounds great.
Thank for the compliment! To answer your questions:
1) yes, it will hold a rosette (here’s proof: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/45458277465363553/)
2) yes, this cake is moist – when assembling, you can also brush a simple syrup on each layer for extra moisture and flavour.
3) haha, I don’t actually remember – I probably saved them to make lemon curd or something! You could just use pasteurized egg whites in a carton instead and save yourself the trouble of left-over yolks.
Best of luck with your cake!
A tip I learned from a cake decorating instructor is you don’t have to cool the cake before wrapping in plastic wrap. You can wrap it straight out of the pan and then cool before freezing it. The benefit is a the cake keeps the extra moisture and there aren’t as many crumbs on it.
Great tip – thanks for sharing!
By wrapping pan with a wet towel, keeps it Baking evenly , without center domeing in center?? Sounds interesting to try…
It works, I promise!
Hi! So I made exactly this three tiered two layer each cake for my cousins wedding coming up in a few weeks and its now happily waiting in the freezer. I am planning on frosting, filling, assembling, and decorating the morning of at the wedding. When do you think I should start to thaw? Should I thaw while it is still all wrapped up or take the plastic and foil off first? I am taking a bus from to philly to ny the day before the big day which is where the wedding is. Should I travel with the cake all wrapped up? I was thinking to tale the cake out the day before all wrapped, get on the bus, and have the cake sit out at room temp overnight the night before. Help? 🙂 your recipe made this whole process doable. THANK YOU!!
Hi Hannah! I’m so excited for your cake!! In terms of thawing and travel: definitely keep the cakes wrapped in the plastic and foil while thawing, until you are ready to assemble. Likely the cakes will need about 24 hours to thaw completely, so take them out of the freezer the day before, ie: the day you travel, still wrapped, and they’ll be fine. You could probably actually keep them in the fridge overnight before you assemble them (if they’ve fully/mostly thawed by then) – I find it easier to work with a chilled cake (less crumbs and it helps the icing to set up nicely). GOOD LUCK!! I’d love an update after the wedding 🙂
Thank you!!!!! I will absolutely update you!!!!
I am soooo amazed at the wet towel making a level cake…I just got my second pans out of the oven. I baked one 6″, one 8″, and one 10″ at the same time, did it twice. Your measurements are perfect. My cakes look just like yours “YAY”.I mixed 1.5x and it is perfect. I had about 2 cups left over that is in the oven now. I’m going to freeze them and decorate them next week for my parents 50th wedding anniversary, so now if the decorating goes well, I’ll be one very happy girl…The cakes came out of the pans perfectly, I have NEVER baked a level cake in my life, always had to trim them..lol..So just wanted to say Thank You and this is my new favorite recipe! Everyone reading comments, follow her recipe exactly and the cakes are beautiful….btw, I did the vanilla version…..and I mixed 3 half batches, my mixer wouldn’t have accommodated a whole batch either…:):):)xo……
Awww thanks Katt! I agree, the wet towel trick is pretty magical – I’m still always amazed by it 🙂
What a great recipe and full of really clear instructions! I have a big anniversary cake to make for my parents in law, which is tomorrow. I have made the cakes and they look great! Thanks for putting up the recipe. I know it would have taken a while for you to write it up, but I just wanted you to know that we all appreciate the fact that you did. 🙂
I’m so glad you found it helpful Marianne! I hope everyone loves the anniversary cake 🙂
Hi Korena, ok so I’m learning how to bake and decorate wedding cakes. I really like your lemon flavor cake recipe. What if I just want to bake a simple vanilla cake, do I just eliminate the lemon juice and just add vanilla flavoring or extract?
Hi Sylvia, yes, for a vanilla cake, just use vanilla instead of lemon juice. I actually posted the vanilla version recently here: https://korenainthekitchen.com/2016/05/06/homemade-wedding-cake-part-i-vanilla-butter-cake-recipe/
Hi Korena
Will definitely try the towel trick…crazy
My question is more about freezing.
Life is busy, and if I can break the task up into baking one day and decorating another…wow
But…when do you wrap the cakes?
Do they completely cool out of pans, start to get fine crust…..need help with this one
Thx
Hi Annette, sorry for not responding sooner! I wrapped the cakes once they were completely cool, out of the pans. A few people have suggested wrapping the cakes while they are still warm, to retain more moisture, but I’ve never found that necessary. Good luck!
Beautiful cakes. My question is how do you get a smooth icing and flat sharp edges on the rims of you cakes
Hi Betty, this video shows the method I use for frosting a cake to get smooth frosting and sharp edges: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-oDixMmims. It’s also important to have a cake decorating turn table and a long, flat metal spatula. Hope that helps!
I made this cake tonight as a trial run for my friends wedding cake. I loved it!! It was so yummy and turned out great! We are using this as a naked cake. I was happy to find out about the towel trick.
One question. Is there any changes for high altitude?
Hi Kelsey, I’ve never done any baking at high altitude, so I don’t have any advice. This seems to outline the common advice for high altitude baking though: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-bake-at-high-altitudes-101352
Is the wedding at a high altitude location? If so, one thing I can suggest is to bake the cakes ahead of time at sea level (or wherever you were when you successfully made them for the trial run) and freeze them, and then take them with you already baked to assemble at the wedding. Then you don’t have to worry about it! Good luck 🙂
Hi ms korena like to make this one but I would asked I’d this is ok for fondant…..
Hi Vanessa, I don’t have a lot of experience working with fondant myself, but yes, I think this cake would work underneath fondant.
Thank you for the recipe heheheheh it taste real good evenue the batter itself omg really love it…..thank you ms. Korena
One question is this ok with chocolate frosting just asking…….
Can you use just egg whites for a white cake? Should I increase number of eggs used?
Hi Pam, if you want a white cake with just egg whites, then I’d suggest looking at a white cake recipe instead… I’m honestly not sure how this one would turn out without the egg yolks. Maybe try this one: http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/224671/white-wedding-cake
Good luck!
Hi Korena, I’ve made your amazing cake before and hade rave reviews!! I’m making it again for two weddings. I’ve never baked 10″ rounds, is there a cooking time difference between the 6″ and the 10″?? Also, im making a three tier cake with 3 layers each. How many do you think that will serve?
Hi Stephanie, sorry for the late response! I found no difference in baking time between the 6, 8 and 10 inch round cakes, surprisingly!
If you are doing 3 tiered cakes, I think you could probably estimate that the whole thing will feed 1.5 x as many people, but that will totally depend on how the cake is cut. You’d need to make the slices smaller, as they will be taller.
Hi korena! Is there a baking time difference between the 6″, 8″ and 10″ cakes?
Nope, no difference in baking times, but your experience may vary! I’d start checking all of the cakes for doneness around 40 minutes and adjust the total baking time as needed.
Thank you so much!!! Do you have any other wedding cake flavor suggestions/recipes aside from the amazing lemon and butter cake?
My own wedding cake was vanilla cake (using this recipe as a base) with chocolate ganache, blackberry filling, and vanilla buttercream frosting: https://korenainthekitchen.com/2016/05/06/homemade-wedding-cake-part-i-vanilla-butter-cake-recipe/
And I made this carrot cake wedding cake for a friend last summer: https://korenainthekitchen.com/2016/09/10/naked-carrot-wedding-cake/
The lemon butter cake recipe is pretty versatile though – you could add any number of flavours (other citrus, lavender, tea…) and then any kind of filling and frosting you can think of, really!
Can I use the wet towel trick on my tube pan. I use it to make pound cake in not angel food cake?
You certainly could, but I’m not sure it would be necessary with a tube pan. The point of the wet towel is to insulate the edge of the cake from baking faster than the middle of the cake, which can cause the middle to dome up. A tube pan is hollow in the middle so the cake is going to bake more evenly anyway, but the wet towel trick wouldn’t hurt it.
Thank you. Thought it would help my cake. For some reason pound cake is not baking right. Will let you know if it helps.
I am making a test batch for my sisters wedding, and I currently have it in the oven. I thought the recipe was for 3 cake tins at 6,8, and 10 inches. SO with that said i doubled the amount in each tin that was suggested not knowing (because i didnt read comments and questions) that it is for 6 tins or 2 batches of 6,8, and 10 inches. do you think ill be able to cut them in half once cooked to make the layers?
As long as you baked the cakes thoroughly they should be fine to slice into layers… although I hope they didn’t overflow the pans in the oven!
Hi, my name is Sophe and I was so relieved to find a blog like this. This is an amazing recipe! I’m so glad I found this because I’m planning on making my sisters wedding cake (even though I’m only 14) and it’s a little tough seeing how young and inexperienced I am, but I am super excited and ready to take it on. I need to be super prepared and this will take a lot off of my hands. I do have one question and it may have already been answered but I was wondering how many people this would feed. Sierra (my sister) wanted two cakes and she’s planning on 250-ish people so would this cover at least half?
Hi Sophe – I’m so glad you’re finding this post helpful 🙂
250 people and 2 cakes – that is a LOT of cake and a pretty huge baking project! I wish you luck! The cake in this post was meant to serve about 60 people, but it actually could have served 80, and the number of servings depends on a few things. Is the cake going to be the only/main dessert at your sister’s wedding? If there is other dessert being served, then you can serve smaller pieces of cake… but if it’s the only dessert, then you’d want slightly larger pieces. I like to use this chart to help estimate serving sizes: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/45458277468235243/ – with this cake’s 6, 8, and 10 inch tiers, you could get about 80 wedding-size servings, and if you add a 12 inch tier on the bottom you could get 136 wedding-size servings, which is close enough to half of the 250 guests your sister is planning on (not every person will eat cake, most likely – especially if there are other desserts).
Another option is doing one tiered cake for display/cutting, and then make up the rest of the servings from large sheet cakes held in the kitchen. It tastes the same but is much less work for the baker than making 2 fully tiered cakes! Not sure if your sister would consider that?
I hope that helps – I’m happy to answer any other questions 🙂
It’s been a couple months and plans for her wedding are getting more or less real-er. She wants a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting the exact same size but I can’t seem to find a good recipe. I tried one just yesterday and let’s just say I had to clean the bottom of my oven. The cake was super crumbly and overflowed out of the pans! Anyway, do you have any ideas for a chocolate wedding cake? I am planning on making extra sheet cakes of both chocolate and lemon for her wedding because we will need extra. I’m making a semi-naked wedding cake, if you’ve heard of one, for both chocolate and this cake. Will this cake be dense enough for that? I don’t want it to crumble. I looked at Pinterest and found that you can freeze it with a crumb coat. Is that a good idea? (Sorry for all the questions.)
Hi Sophe,
This lemon cake will definitely be sturdy enough for a semi-naked frosting look, and yes, I think freezing it with the crumb-coat will probably work just fine. Just allow the cake to thaw overnight in the fridge before you finish decorating it and serve it.
For a chocolate cake, I have had good success with this one – it’s fudgy and really delicious but not crumbly, and pretty easy to make: https://smittenkitchen.com/2013/09/fudgy-chocolate-sheet-cake/. I’m thinking that the recipe as written, or maybe 1.5 x the recipe as written, would give you the same amount of cake as the lemon butter cake recipe as written. Probably better to err on the side of too much/extra cake than not enough!
Good luck!
They taste awesome. The test run was great. So this weekend I’m making my kid sisters wedding cake. Awesome recipe. P.S. I used vanilla instead of lemon. She my sister and she’s picky. Lol. Congrats to her!!!
That’s great to hear Christine – I hope your sister loves her cake 🙂 Congratulations to her indeed! (PS, I have a vanilla version of this cake posted here: https://korenainthekitchen.com/2016/05/06/homemade-wedding-cake-part-i-vanilla-butter-cake-recipe/)
Brilliant! So glad I ran across this on Pinterest! My son and his wife will have their 20th wedding anniversary late September. I was their wedding coordinator, florist, caterer (did this for many weddings) and created couple’s visions on the cheap. I plan to make a smaller version 3-tier cake and decorate similar to their wedding cake. Plum and silver were their colors. I used pansies, purple hydrangea, plum roses, etc. to decorate the cake. I made a wire initial “H” for the topper and wire-wrapped purple lavender on it (so much fun!). Your wedding cake was beautiful (as was the one you made for Vancouver wedding). Anyway, my son is now gluten intolerant. Wondering if you have any info/ideas on how to convert the vanilla cake to gluten-free?
Oh wow, their cake sounded lovely and they are so lucky to have you making another one, 20 years later! In terms of converting this cake to gluten free, you could try replacing the flour with a gluten-free baking mix/flour blend that is formulated to be like all purpose flour – I’ve heard good things about these ones: https://www.cup4cup.com/products/ and http://betterbatter.org/products/gluten-free-flour. It might be worth testing the recipe (with a small batch) using gluten free flour to see how it works. Alternatively, find a recipe for a gluten-free vanilla pound cake and use that instead?
Thanks so much, Korena! (Now I know why I kept seeing your name spelled wrong in a lot of the comments~annoying spellchecker!) I will definitely try both your suggestions! Since we’ve all gotten off sugar, I’ll also have to experiment with alternatives. And, unfortunately, I love dessert more than anything. My experience is that It’s not true that dessert cravings go away when you get off sugar and eat only healthy, organic! Thanks, again.
We’ve made about 10 of these cakes for weddings – using all of these tips. The ONLY thing that worked EVERY SINGLE TIME was chilling the batter before baking it. Craziest thing. We finally figured this our around cake 6
Did this batter make all six cakes or did you have to repeat or make extra batter to make them all?
Hi Chantal, I made 1.5 x the recipe as written to make all 6 cakes.
Can I replace sour cream ….just like milk or some think else…thanks
I would suggest using plain yogurt or maybe buttermilk instead of the sour cream. I have not tried this though, so can’t guarantee how it will work.
I just finished testing this cake for my sisters wedding! The flavor is great! My only issue is the cake turned out with a lot of holes. Is this normal? Do I just need to bang the cake pan more before baking? Thanks!
Hi Adreanna, you could certainly try banging the cake pan more before baking to knock out any large air bubbles. A few other suggestions: make sure you don’t over-mixing the batter (this can cause large holes/tunnels); make sure your dry ingredients (the baking soda and powder especially) are well sifted together so that they incorporate evenly into the batter; make sure your eggs are at room temperature so that they emulsify properly with the creamed butter. Hope these help!
Do you leave the towel on while the cakes cool?
Doesn’t really matter – I usually cool the cakes in the tin for 10-15 minutes (with the towel on because things are too hot to take it off) and then turn them out into a cooling rack.
Any ideas, on how it would turn out, with a quality, one-to-one, gluten-free flour?
I could try it with cupcakes, but would I wrap the cupcake pan, with the wet towel? It looks so delicious.
Hi Tina, I have not tried it with a gluten-free flour but if you have one you like/trust, I see no reason why it wouldn’t work.
For cupcakes, you don’t need to worry about wrapping the pan with a towel – a dome on top of a cupcake is actually a good thing 🙂
I have been trolling the internet for a suitable large quantity cake for weeks! I’ve finally found it thanks to you! I’ll be making it this week for a 50th anniversary.
Thank you!
Debs
Yay! I hope it turns out well for you!
Can i use unsweetened youhurt in place of sour cream as that’s unavailable in my country
Yes, unsweetened yogurt could be used in place of sour cream!
Hi, this recipe seems lovely. How much batter do I need for a 14 inch cake pan?
Hi Mei, this chart might be helpful to answer your question: https://www.wilton.com/wedding-cake-guide/cms-wedding-cake-data.html – it says you will need about 10 cups for a 14″ pan. For this recipe, you could probably make one full batch of batter for a 14″ pan.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Be blessed
Hi Korean, I need to make 4 tiers 6,8,10,12 but 4 inches high. Can I just fill the pans 2/3 to achieve that height? If I read your posts correctly they would only be the height of 3 or 31/2 inches high per 2 layers.
Hi Trini, using 2″ deep pans, each cake layer will be about 1 1/2″ high when baked, and when filled and stacked and frosted, each tier will be about 4″ high. If you use taller pans (3″ deep rather than 2″) you could use more batter and have taller layers.
Hi!
I’m planning on making this for my wedding in early September, but am wondering about your frosting. Do you think it would hold up outside in warm weather or would it likely melt?
Thanks!
Hi Julia, which frosting are you referring to? I can tell you from my own experience that regular Swiss meringue frosting will hold up just fine outside at a wedding in early September. See this post for a good recipe: https://korenainthekitchen.com/2016/05/19/homemade-wedding-cake-part-ii-fillings-and-frosting/
As long as your cake is well chilled before the wedding (ie, overnight), it will be fine for several hours out of the fridge. Just don’t put it in direct sunlight or anything, and if it’s really warm, keep it chilled until it is ready to be displayed. Honestly cake tastes best when it’s at room temperature vs straight out of the fridge, so it is actually better to have it sitting out before serving.
Can this cake be covered in fondant?
Sure!
Hi Korena, gorgeous looking cake. I’m from the UK my oven is fan assisted and the cooking times have to be reduced, is the oven you used fan assisted?
Hi Jill, since posting this recipe I have acquired a convection oven (fan assisted) and have found that by reducing the temperature by 25 degrees F, the baking times are about the same. So with a fan assisted oven, you’d bake this recipe at 300 degrees F for the same amount of time, but maybe start checking 5 minutes before the stated time.
Waaoooh this was so educative and well detailed that all my questions are answered
Yay!
Great recipe, thank you! Is your wet towel method the same as the Wilton Cake Tin Wraps?
Hi Lynne, yes, the wet towels achieve the same thing as the Wilton Cake Tin Wraps 🙂
How to use frozen cakes ?? On tge day of the event
Hi Zenis, you thaw the cakes before the event, to assemble and decorate them. Freezing just allows you to bake them ahead of time.
Definately going to try theses cakes, photos to follow
Approximately how much buttercream will I need for this cake I’m always coming up short
Hi Margaret, sorry for the delayed response. Here is a good resource for estimating how much frosting you will need for different sized cakes: https://www.wilton.com/wedding-cake-guide/cms-wedding-cake-data.html (note that this gives the amount for a two-layer cake, so if you are torting the cakes and making 4 layers, you will probably need 50% more frosting per cake).
Hello I was wondering if I were to make this cake a naked cake about how much frosting would I need? As well as extra to pipe a border around for a filling to stay in.
Hi Stephanie, this chart will give you a good idea of how much frosting would be needed between each layer for a naked cake: https://www.wedding-cakes-for-you.com/wedding-cake-icing-chart.html. If you are using some other kind of filling and only piping a frosting border around the edge of the cake to hold in the filling, you’ll probably need half as much (or less, but I’d err on the side of too much!).
You’re an EFFING genius for that bottom of cake pan parchment paper cutting hack! Thank you.
Glad it was helpful for you! I can’t remember where I picked it up originally but it’s definitely one of the best tricks I know 😉
I am planning to do a gluten free version of this recipe. Any suggestions?
Hi Ashley, I think as long as you use a good quality gluten-free flour mix, you should be fine!
Did you use cake support under your tiers?
Yes – you can see how it was done in this post: https://korenainthekitchen.com/2011/08/30/the-wedding-cake/
I always use the Wilton pvc cake supports and on the bottom cake I also use bamboo dowel supports which I sharpen one end to ensure it pierces through drum and stays flush with the other supports on top end. Second tier only Wilton supports and on third tier, I pierce it in the center with a wooden dowel which goes through the 3 cakes and pierces drum also. This ensures that your 3 tier cake will not move during transport. I then add cake to a shipping box and tape flaps together in the open position and cover open area with cling wrap. Hope this tip helps.
Hi, I really want to try this recipe! one question, for the eggs, only the yellow without the white? or the whole egg.
Hi – the recipe calls for 6 whole eggs (yolks and whites together).
I am differently going to try this for my granddaughters 8th birthday
Good luck – I hope she loves it 🙂
Can this be made into cupcakes?
Sorry, I might be replying too late but yes, you could bake this as cupcakes. Start with maybe 20-25 minutes baking time and check them with a toothpick to gauge doneness.
Hello! Do you think this recipe could be a base for various flavor cakes? For example : follow the recipe until you get to the lemon and then instead of adding lemon – add clear vanilla and almond extract to make a white wedding cake? Or any other flavor you desire?
Hi! Yes it definitely could – in fact I made a vanilla version of this recipe for my own wedding cake – you can see the recipe for the vanilla version here, and you could certainly add almond extract too 🙂 https://korenainthekitchen.com/2016/05/06/homemade-wedding-cake-part-i-vanilla-butter-cake-recipe/
Hi Korena, thanks for sharing this recipe! You mentioned to turn the pans halfway through baking? Do you mind clarifying what this means please?
Hi, it means just rotate each pan 180 degrees so that it bakes evenly. Often the front or back of the oven is hotter and rotating the pans ensures a more even bake.