Lemon Layer Cake

This gluten free lemon layer cake is the perfect spring bake! The soft tangy lemon sponge combined with citrus frosting is delicious. The frosting is so good that some of us in the office ate it straight out of the bowl with a spoon… We decorated our cake with seasonal flowers, fresh berries and Nugglets.

If you like the look of this delicious sponge why not try some of our other recipes? Like this Raspberry Cake or our Lemon Drizzle

If you recreate this recipe don’t forget to tag us @livias on Instagram!

 

 

SaveSave

SaveSave

ingredients

Lemon sponge

  • 210g cashew butter (3/4 cup)
  • 500ml coconut milk (2 cups)
  • 70g coconut oil (1/4 cup + 1 tbsp)
  • 375ml maple syrup (1 1/2 cups)
  • The zest of 8 lemons
  • 250ml lemon juice (1 cup/8 lemons juiced)
  • 550g ground almonds (5 cups)
  • 300g buckwheat flour (2 cups)
  • 130g coconut sugar (1 cup)
  • A pinch of salt
  • Coconut oil for greasing the tins

Lemon frosting

  • 280g soaked cashews (2 cups)
  • 250ml maple syrup (1 cup)
  • The zest of 2 lemons
  • 120ml lemon juice (1/2 cup)
  • 70g virgin coconut oil (1/4 cup)
time
5 hours
prep:
40 minutes + 4 hours
cook:
1 hour + 20 minutes
level
2
Easy
method
  • Makes one 2 tiered cake that serves around 20-30 people.
  • Both the cakes and frosting can be made the day before, simply cling film your cakes once they’ve cooled and store on your kitchen counter. Keep your lemon frosting in the fridge overnight.
  • Turn on your oven to 180 degrees Celsius/350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Put coconut milk and coconut oil in a pan and heat up on a low heat until the oil is melted.
  • Place your cashew butter in a big bowl and add 1/2 of the coconut milk mix. Whisk until your cashew butter is smooth and fully incorporated in the coconut mix. Add another 1/4 of the coconut milk mix and whisk to combine. Repeat with the last of your coconut milk mixture.
  • Add the maple syrup, lemon juice and lemon zest to your wet mixture and whisk.
  • In a separate bowl: combine the ground almonds, buckwheat flour, coconut sugar and salt.
  • Add your dry mix to your wet and mix until everything is combined.
  • Grease your two tins and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Pour your lemon cake mix into your tins (we did 1.1kg in the small tin, 6.5-inch tin (17 cm), and 1.35kg in the big one, 7.5-inch tin (20 cm), but you can eye-ball it if you want to).
  • Bake on the middle shelf for 40 minutes, cover your cakes in foil so that they don’t burn and carry on baking for another 40 minutes.
  • For the lemon frosting: blitz the soaked cashews, lemon juice, lemon zest, maple syrup and coconut oil in a blender until it becomes a smooth mixture. Scrape down the sides a few times and carry on blitzing until you reach your wanted consistency. Pour it into a container and leave it in the freezer for 30 minutes to set.
  • Stir your frosting every 30 minutes until if firms up (it takes about 3-4 hours). When it’s firm leave it in your fridge, ready for when you need it.
  • Coat your cake in icing and put your small layer on top of the big one (we used a wooden skewer in the middle of both sponges to ensure that the top one wouldn’t slide of). Decorate with anything you want, we used fresh flowers, raspberries and nugglets for that summer feeling.
  • The cake is best served fresh but can be stored in an air-tight container on your kitchen counter or your fridge for 2-3 days.
Log in to get a shopping list.

Please log in or create an account to send yourself a shopping list.

Sign in