Creamy and tart, lemon cake filling takes minutes to make. Brighten cakes and desserts with sunny homemade lemon custard.
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Making your own lemon cake filling is easy and it tastes so much better than canned lemon filling. The lemon custard makes a great dessert on its own, too.
How long it takes: 20 minutes to make, 1 hour to chill
Equipment you’ll need: saucepan, bowl, lemon zester and juicer
Servings: makes 1 ¼ cups
Do you love the tartness of lemon and the creaminess of pudding? Do you enjoy bright and light desserts? Well, who doesn’t, right? Lemon cake filling, made from scratch in your own kitchen, will be appreciated by everyone. It’s versatile enough to use in a lot of different desserts or to serve in a dessert bowl, without any embellishment.
Why You’ll Love this lemon cake filling
- It’s easy to make. While making lemon cake filling yourself may seem daunting, it’s really not difficult at all. You’ll be able to make this custard-like filling in 15 minutes. You won’t need any special equipment and you won’t need to learn any fancy cooking techniques.
- It’s yummy! Lemon filling is so good, you’ll want to leave a fair amount of it in the pan for the cook’s enjoyment. Hey, I’m talking about you! Don’t deny the urge to sample what the pan has to offer. That’s your bonus.
How do you make lemon filling from scratch?
Lemon cake filling is a one-pan recipe. You’ll need a small saucepan and a whisk. Choose a silicone whisk if you’re using a nonstick saucepan.
The ingredients are basic:
- lemon juice
- butter
- egg yolk
- sugar
- cornstarch
- salt
- water
Mix the dry ingredients in the pan and blend in the egg yolks. The mixture will be thick and kind of lumpy. Whisk in the water. This should smooth out the egg mixture.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. It’s important to stir the whole time!
Stir in the butter and lemon juice, adding a bit of lemon zest, too, and you’re done! It’s so easy.
What's the difference between lemon filling and lemon curd?
Lemon filling or custard is usually thickened with cornstarch and can be cooked in a regular saucepan. Lemon curd is richer, with more egg yolks and lots of butter, no water or cornstarch, and is usually made in a double boiler. They can be used pretty interchangeably.
How to use lemon Cake filling
- Fill a layer cake.
- Serve it in a bowl with a dollop of whipped cream.
- Make lemon custard tarts with pre-baked pastry shells or mini phyllo cups.
- Layer it in a trifle with angel food cake or pound cake, with sliced fresh strawberries or blackberries.
- Fill cupcakes. Make your cupcakes extra special with a hidden jewel of lemon filling.
What flavors of cake go well with lemon cake filling?
Lemon cake filling goes well with white cake (try my white cake with lemon filling and lemon cream cheese frosting!), yellow cake, or lemon cake. Try it layered in a trifle with pound cake, angel food cake, or lady fingers.
Lemon cake filling will keep in the fridge up to a week, tightly covered.
More Lemon Recipes
Lemon Cake Filling
Ingredients
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 egg yolks
- ¾ cup water
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ⅓ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Have all your ingredients ready before you begin. Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in a small saucepan. Add egg yolks and mix until egg yolks are completely mixed with dry ingredients. Whisk in water until mixture is smooth.
- Cook over medium low heat until just boiling. Mixture will be quite thick. Immediately remove from heat and stir in butter. Gradually whisk in lemon juice until smooth. Stir in zest.
- Pour into a bowl and cover the surface of the filling with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Makes 1 ¼ cups.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
I’m excited to try this! I plan on using as a filling in a white layer cake. Do you recommend piping buttercream around the perimeter of the bottom cake layer to contain the lemon filling or will it hold it’s own? Thanks!
It wouldn’t be a bad idea, especially if you aren’t serving it immediately.
Just had a request gor my grandsons wedding cake to be lemon . Since i will have to freeze and transport, will this filling be ok to freeze ?
I haven’t tried it, but I think that should work! Might want to do a test run before the wedding, though. ;)
I am making lemon macarons. The lemon curd recipe I have is too soft for a macaron filling. Do you think this would be a good filling for them?
I think so! The longer you cook it, the thicker it will get, so give it a little extra time. You could also try adding an extra tablespoon or two of cornstarch, but I haven’t tried it so I can’t guarantee perfect results.
I’m making my mom a white cake with lemon filling for her birthday. Do you think that this will spread in the middle and pair well with the white cake?
Yes, that would be absolutely perfect! We did that here: https://www.rachelcooks.com/white-cake-with-lemon-filling-and-lemon-cream-cheese-frosting/
I made this cake filling and thought it had a very nice flavor. The problem I ran into was that it thickened up so much that after it cooled it was not a spreadable filling. It was very jelly like and came apart in clumps. What is the normal texture of this filling when cooled? Any advise for what I could have done wrong?
Hmm, it does get thicker when cooled, but it shouldn’t be clumpy. Maybe you cooked it too long?
This recipe is delicious and easy to make. I rate it 4/5 stars only because it was not sweet enough, so I’ll add more sugar next time I make it. Was perfect with lemon cream cheese frosting and unsweetened coconut I covered frosted cake with.
I’m glad you liked the filling! I don’t have a big sweet tooth so that might be why it’s not overly sweet. ;) I love the lemon + coconut combo, yum!
This happened to me and all I did was add some heavy whipping cream and it was a perfect cake filling and the consistency was great.
I want to try this. I have made curd before and did not like the “eggy” aftertaste. Could milk be substituted for the water in this recipe to make it more creamy? Thank you!
Maybe! I haven’t tested it that way but it might work well!
Can this custard be kept at room temperature, since it doesn’t contain any milk?
Since it has eggs and butter in it, I’d store it in the fridge.
Very easy to make and tastes great!
So glad to hear it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
Please give quantities in metric measurements too so the rest of the world can try your recipe(s). Many thanks
Thanks for the feedback, Janet! I’m growing my team but it’s still very small so we do the best we can!
sounds divine!
It really is!