Chiffon cakes are one of our favorite styles of cake. We love the light layers with alongside of a creamy filling. For this version, we are making a lemon curd chiffon cake. It has our classic chiffon layers. We make these by making one round and slicing it into thin pieces. After we make the layers, we layer in lemon curd. We do half lemon curd and half lemon curd cream. The final cake it topped with whipped cream that gets swirled with a little more lemon curd.

Components of This Lemon Curd Chiffon Cake

This lemon curd chiffon cake is three simple components: a classic chiffon cake base, homemade lemon curd, and vanilla bean whipped cream. Here’s the breakdown of each part:

Chiffon Cake Layers The base is our go-to chiffon cake. It gets baked as one 9-inch round, then sliced into four thin layers. Chiffon cake is naturally light and airy thanks to whipped egg whites, which makes it the perfect match for a rich, creamy filling like lemon curd while stay very light. We use this in our all time favorite Halekulani cake recipe here.

Homemade Lemon Curd We prefer to use real lemon curd, made from scratch with fresh lemon juice (we prefer meyer lemons since they have a less tart flavor), whole eggs, and egg yolks for extra richness. This is the component sets in the fridge for 3-4 hours, so should be made first or the night before.

Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream A simple whipped cream flavored with vanilla bean paste. Part of it gets folded directly into the lemon curd to create a lighter lemon curd whipped cream filling, and the rest is reserved for the whipped cream topping and lemon curd swirl on top of the cake.

Lemon Curd Chiffon Cake

Prep Time 2

Cook Time 40

Cooling 3

Total Time 5 40

Servings 12

Ingredients

Cake:

¾ cup cake flour
⅓ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
⅓ cup water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 egg whites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
¼ cup sugar

Whipped Cream:

3 cups whipped cream
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
2 tablespoons sugar

Lemon curd:

1 ¼ cups lemon juice we prefer meyer
Lemon zest of 2 lemons
6 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
1 ½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups salted butter

Instructions

Lemon Curd:

In a saucepan that a bowl can sit on top of or double broiler, pour about 2 inches of water and bring it to a simmer. (The bowl should be able to sit on top without touching the water)
In a bowl, add lemon juice, eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and salt. Place the bowl on the saucepan and whisk the curd continually until the mixture becomes very think, this will take about 10-12 minutes (or it is 180° F on a thermometer.)
Remove the bowl from the saucepan and cool until it reaches 140° F, stirring from time to time to release the heat.
While it is cooling, cut butter into 1-tablespoon cubes. When the curd is ready, whisk in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until melted after each piece.
Once all the butter is added, the curd will be pale yellow and thick.
Pour into a bowl and press a piece of plastic wrap on top to prevent the curd from forming a skin. Set in the fridge for 3-4 hours or overnight until set before using in the cake.

Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Sift together the flour, ⅓ cup of the sugar, salt, and baking powder into a medium bowl.
Add in the egg, water, and oil and mix until no lumps remain.
In a second bowl with a hand mixture or in the base of a stand mixer, mix the egg whites with the cream of tartar
With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour in the remaining ¼ cup of sugar. Whip the egg whites and sugar together until a meringue forms.
Fold the batter together with the meringue and pour into an ungreased 9 inch cake pan. Do not line or grease the cake pan or it will fall out when it cools. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. It will be golden brown on top
After baking, invert the cake onto a cooling rack to cool

Assembly:

Prepare the whipped cream by whipping together the whipped cream, vanilla bean paste, and sugar until medium peaks form
Take 1/3 cup of the lemon meringue and reserve for topping.
Take the remaining lemon meringue and divide it in half (After this step, there will be 3 bowls in total – 1/3 cup for topping and two even bowls for filling)
Take 1 cup of the whipped cream and fold it into one of the filling lemon curd bowls.
Cut the cooled cake in 4 even layers. We like to do this by cutting it in half and then each in half again. They will be thin.
Between every layer add 1/3 of the lemon curd filling
On top of the curd add 1/3 of the lemon curd filling cut with whipped cream. We like to use an acetate round to reinforce this so the filling doesn't spill out.
Once all the layers are filled, set in the fridge for 1 hour to set
Once set, top with the remaining whipped cream and remaining 1/3 cup of lemon curd (we like to swirl this into the whipped cream on top)