This Lemon Custard Cake is truly magnificent. Just 8 simple ingredients come together to make 1 batter that bakes into 3 layers all by itself! It's a guaranteed hit for all the custard fans.
¼cuplemon juice, freshly squeezed, not from a bottle
zest from 2 lemons, divided
1 ¾cupwhole milk, lukewarm
powdered sugar and extra lemon zest for topping
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325F, with rack on middle position. Line bottom of 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper and sides of pan. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine egg yolks with sugar and beat with paddle attachment on medium-high for 3 minutes, scraping sides down as needed.
Add butter and lemon extract and beat on medium 1 minute. Add flour and mix on low just until incorporated; don't over mix.
Add lemon juice and half of the lemon zest. Slowly add lukewarm milk and beat on low until batter is fully incorporated. Transfer batter to a large bowl and set aside.
Wash out the bowl of stand mixer and dry well (important for it to be clean before putting egg whites in.) Using whisk attachment, whisk egg whites on medium high 3-4 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Remove bowl from stand mixer.
Using a rubber spatula, gently add egg whites to the large bowl of batter, using a gentle and soft folding action until all whites are folded in - note that there will still be bits of egg whites visible in the batter; looks like tiny bits of cheese curds floating around. That's ok.
Gently pour batter into prepared baking dish and bake 45-70 minutes or until the top is golden brown and center of cake feels firm to the touch; don't start checking until cake has baked at least 45 minutes. Oven temps vary, so bake time will vary.
Cool cake completely to room temp. Sprinkle on the rest of the lemon zest. Cover and chill until ready to serve (cake tastes best chilled.) Right before serving, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Notes
Be sure to whip egg whites to stiff peaks, as the recipe states.
Be sure to very gently fold the whites into the batter. Go soft and easy so the egg whites get to do their job and keep the batter airy.
Let the cake cool completely at room temperature before popping it into the fridge to chill. This will keep it from cracking.
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