Looking for the perfect cake to celebrate Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s upcoming nuptials? This lemon and elderflower tiered cake is worthy of a Royal wedding!
Seems like most of the world is totally swept up with the excitement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding – only a week away at the time of posting this lemon and elderflower cake recipe!
Harry and Meghan, ever the royal rebels, have chosen an unconventional flavour for their wedding cake: lemon and elderflower. Unconventional because, in the UK at least, traditional wedding cakes are tiered fruitcakes, although I would say these days fruitcake is definitely an old-fashioned choice.
When I got married, I had a row with my mother because I chose – shock horror! – chocolate for my wedding cake flavour. It wasn’t even chocolate cake, but a type of chocolate mousse gateaux.
Bear in mind I got married on a Greek island and had limited choices when it came to my patissier. I can tell you it was totally delicious and my guests all went back for seconds, so take that mum.
But my wedding was modest by everyday standards, let alone Royal standards. I think that’s partly why we are all so fascinated by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding, it’s a joyous event at a global scale.
And we have been lapping up all the little details that have been announced, the Royal wedding cake flavour being of particular interest to all keen bakers everywhere.
Lemon and elderflower seems a very appropriate choice for a spring wedding, even a Royal one. The flavours are quite subtle though, especially the elderflower. You can use elderflower cordial or elderflower liqueur if you don’t mind adding a little buzz to your cake.
I created a tiered cake which consists of a 23cm/9in base and a smaller 15cm/6in cake for the second tier. You can choose whether to make a tiered cake or not, as you will see I have split the recipes below.
I chose to use a mascarpone frosting for my royal wedding cake – simply because this is very much an accessible choice for most people. An Italian buttercream would be a more stable choice for a wedding cake however.
You can hop on to the chocolate cake with blackberry buttercream and adjust the buttercream recipe I used there, replacing the blackberry syrup with elderflower cordial and lemon juice.
Decorating the cake with fresh flowers is the easiest way to create wow factor, just make sure you use unsprayed flowers or edible flowers. A big shout out to Jo of Beards and Daisies for supplying the most beautiful flowers.
How to make a lemon and elderflower wedding cake
I used my favourite cake recipe here, one that uses the reverse creaming method. It ensures a tender crumb and it’s super easy to make in a food processor or a stand mixer using the paddle attachment. For a video demonstrating the cake recipe take a look at my vanilla layer cake with blackberry buttercream.
The dry ingredients are mixed together first to combine. The butter is added next and pulsed until you have a sandy texture. Eggs are added next and mixed in – this would be a good spot to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
Finally you add the milk and lemon zest and process/mix until the batter is completely smooth. Definitely scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and mix again so that everything is mixed in evenly.
I have added A LOT of lemon zest to bring out the lemon flavour and also brushed the layers with a lemon syrup. If you want a stronger lemon taste, you can add some lemon curd between the layers, just make sure it is within a border of mascarpone frosting so that it doesn’t leak out.
The bottom tier is baked in one 23cm/9in springform cake tin and then sliced in half. The easiest way to do this is with a cake leveller and a serrated knife, but make sure the cake has cooled down completely first.
You can use the smaller cake recipe to create 12 cupcakes instead of a layer cake. Fill the cupcake cases 2/3 of the way and bake for 20 minutes. Use the elderflower mascarpone frosting or your favourite frosting.
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- 165 g | 5.8oz plain all purpose flour
- 165 g | 5.8oz caster sugar
- 1/2 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 100 g | 3.5oz cold unsalted butter cubed
- 2 medium eggs
- 100 ml | 3.5 fl oz whole milk mixed with 1 tbsp lemon juice
- zest of 3 unwaxed lemons
- 100 g | 3.5oz sugar
- 100 ml | 3.2ml lemon juice
- 450 g | 1lb mascarpone
- 200 g | 7oz icing sugar
- 100 g | 3.5oz double heavy cream
- 4-6 tbsp elderflower cordial
- Preheat the oven to 180C | 350F. Spray 3x15cm (6in) cake tins with cake release and line the bottoms with baking paper.
Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the cubed butter and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add the eggs and pulse again until mixed in.
- Add the milk and lemon zest and blend for 2-3 minutes until the batter is smooth. You may need to scrape the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula to make sure everything is well blended.
- Divide the batter into the prepared tins and bake for 20-25 minutes. The cakes are ready when springy to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack.
- Make the lemon syrup: combine lemon and sugar in a saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves completely. Transfer to a bowl or jar. Brush the cakes with the syrup while it is still a bit warm.
- Make the frosting. Put the icing sugar and cream into the bowl of your stand mixer and stir together to combine.
- Add the mascarpone and mix on low speed and then maximum speed for about a minute until fluffy.
- Add the elderflower cordial and scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Mix again on maximum speed until the frosting holds firm peaks.
- Transfer frosting to a piping bag fitted with a round tip and pipe over the cake layers. Sandwich together and then frost the top and sides, using a palette knife and side scraper to smooth the frosting. I wanted a naked cake effect so the sponge is visible through the frosting.
Chill in the fridge if you are using as a top tier otherwise decorate with flowers or frosting and serve.
You only need one batch of lemon syrup if making the tiered cake.
You can use this recipe to make 12 cupcakes. Divide the batter between 12 large cupcake cases and bake for 20 minutes.
If you serve this cake on its own you will get about 8 slices.
- 350 g | 12.3oz | 2 3/4 cups plain all purpose flour
- 330 g | 11.6oz | 1 2/3 cups caster sugar
- Zest of 3 lemons
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 large eggs
- 200 g | 7oz | 3/4 cup + 1 heaped tbsp cold unsalted butter cubed
- 200 ml | 7fl oz | 3/4cup + 2 tbsp whole milk
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 100 g | 3.5oz sugar
- 100 ml | 3.2ml lemon juice
- 450 g | 1lb mascarpone
- 200 g | 7oz icing sugar
- 100 g | 3.5oz double heavy cream
- 4-6 tbsp elderflower cordial
Preheat the oven to 170C | 340F. Spray 1 23cm (9in) springform cake tin with cake release and line the bottom with baking paper.
- Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the cubed butter and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Add the eggs and pulse again until mixed in, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Add the milk, lemon juice and zest and blend for 2-3 minutes until the batter is smooth. You may need to scrape the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula to make sure everything is well blended.
Divide the batter into the prepared tins and bake for 50 mins - 1 hour. The cake is ready when springy to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack. Cool completely then level the cake (if needed) and carefully slice in half using a large serrated knife.
- Make the lemon syrup: combine lemon and sugar in a saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves completely. Transfer to a bowl or jar. Brush the layers with the syrup while it is still a bit warm.
- Make the frosting. Put the icing sugar and cream into the bowl of your stand mixer and stir together to combine.
- Add the mascarpone and mix on low speed and then maximum speed for about a minute until fluffy.
- Add the elderflower cordial and scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Mix again on maximum speed until the frosting holds firm peaks.
- Transfer frosting to a piping bag fitted with a round tip and pipe over the cake layers. Sandwich together and then frost the top and sides, using a palette knife and side scraper to smooth the frosting. I wanted a naked cake effect so the sponge is visible through the frosting.
- Chill the cake in the fridge until firm and then position the smaller cake in the centre of the base layer. Decorate with fresh flowers, lemon slices or extra frosting.
If you are making a tiered cake you only need one batch of the lemon syrup.
This recipe will yield 12-14 slices as a single tier.
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Caroline says
Hello, made the top tier cake but am sure it had desiccated coconut in the ingredients last time I made it? Has the recipe changed slightly? If so could you remind me how much coconut was in the original. Many thanks
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Caroline – I removed it from the list of ingredients as it was there in error. Although you could add it (with the other dry ingredients) if you wanted to, it would not change the overall texture or taste of the cake.
Megan @ MegUnprocessed says
This cake is gorgeous! Bravo!!! I’m really curious to taste this flavor combo!
Marilyn says
Definitely going to try this, but I see that you have coconut in the list of ingredients for the top tier, but I don’t see where you incorporate it into the cake. Is it used as decoration?
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Marilyn – this must be a mistake on my part. Although you could add it if you wanted to! I will edit x
Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) says
This is a gorgeous cake! Meghan and Harry would be lucky to have it!!
Lucy Parissi says
I think they probably would go for something a bit more grand! 😉
Kate - gluten free alchemist says
Sounds perfect! I am assuming of course that you got the royal commission for the cake?! If not….. they are truly missing out. This looks divine.
I’m all for alternative wedding cakes….. fruit is so yesterday! I too had a chocolate cake at my wedding…… It got some raised eyebrows from the parents sure….. but they certainly didn’t refuse a slice (or three….)!
Lucy Parissi says
I have no idea why my mom got so upset I think she wanted a WHITE cake. I wanted the tastiest option! I am sure I would have been much more opinionated had I been married post blog!
Kate - Gluten Free Alchemist says
I agree…. Tasty wins over any day xx
2pots2cook says
I do !