These meringue roses remind me of fine porcelain china, dainty and ultra feminine. Perfect on an occasion that requires something spectacular, even a bit over-the-top. Mother’s Day is one such time. It is the day when we give thanks to the women who raised us. I have been blessed with more than my fair share of extraordinary women, who have influenced how I walk through this world. They have shown me great generosity, shared their wisdom and loved me unconditionally. I only hope to possess these same qualities as I now raise my own children. I wanted to create something as unique and beautiful as these women, to reflect my deep appreciation, so lemon meringue cake it is.
Due to too many miles, I can’t be with my mom on Mother’s Day, but if I were, this is the cake I would present to her. She would love the tart layers of lemon sponge cake and lemon curd, balanced with the sweet meringue icing; to toast or not to toast is the question? Who am I kidding, I always toast, if for no other reason, I love my blow torch.
How to Make Lemon Meringue Cake
See me make the cake step by step here and find the full recipe at the bottom of this post!
Baking the Lemon Sponge
Preheat oven to 350°F, with rack in center of the oven. Line a Baking Sheet
Beat the sugar, zest, and eggs in a stand mixer using the whip attachment, on high speed for about 5 minutes. The eggs will be light in color and very thick.
Sift the flour over the egg mixture and fold it in carefully with a rubber spatula.
Pour into the prepared pan and quickly spread it out evenly.
Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
To make the Lemon Curd
In a large bowl, whisk together the yolks and sugar. Whisk in the lemon juice, salt and zest. Place the bowl over a medium sized sauce pot that has an inch of simmering water in it. Using a tempered rubber spatula stir the lemon mixture over the heat until it thickens. This can take 5 to 10 minutes. As the lemon curd thickens it should cling to the rubber spatula. It will be thick like a pudding.
Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Strain the curd into a container and cover with plastic. Put in the freezer for about 15 minutes, or until the curd is cold but not frozen. Remove and place in refrigerator until ready to use. It will be good for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
To assemble the cake
Cut the cake in 3 equal pieces along the long side of the cake. Place one layer of the cake on a platter. Spread 1/3 cup preserves on the cake, followed by 1/3 cup lemon curd. Repeat with the next layer of cake, preserves and lemon curd.
Finally, top with the last layer of cake.
To make the meringue
Whisk together the egg whites, sugar and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer. Rest the bowl over a pot of simmering water to form a double boiler.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl so that all the sugar is off the sides of the bowl. Continue to stir the mixture until all the sugar is melted into the eggs and you no longer feel any graininess when rubbed between your fingers, about 3-5 minutes.
Place the bowl onto your mixer, add the vanilla, whisk on high speed until the meringue is thick and glossy and the bowl is just warmer than room temperature, about 8 minutes.
Watch my short video to see how to create the meringue roses:
To decorate the base of the cake:
Use a large rose tip, to make the flowers and to pipe the striped base. Starting at the top edge of the cake with the narrow end of the rose tip facing up, pipe a continuous spiral all the way down the cake, being careful to overlap the previous stripe.
You can leave the meringue pristine and white.
Or, you can toast the meringue with a Self-Igniting Blow Torch, which gives it more flavor and the drama of the burnt edges.
Either way you and your mother will love it!
Here is a version I did for the Cooking Channel. It is made in 8-inch round cake pans.
If there is any cake left over, just stick a few skewers in the cake and then drape plastic wrap over them, this way you will not destroy the piped flowers.
Equipment
Ingredients
Sponge Cake
- 1 cup cake flour sifted 3 times
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 5 large eggs, room temperature
Lemon Curd
- 6 large egg yolks
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup lemon juice
- pinch salt
- zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup raspberry jam
Meringue
- 1 cup egg whites
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- pinch salt
Instructions
Lemon Sponge
- Preheat oven to 350°F, with rack in center of the oven. Line a Baking Sheet with parchment paper and grease the paper.
- Beat the sugar, zest, and eggs in a stand mixer using the whip attachment, on high speed for about 5 minutes. The eggs will be light in color and very thick. Sift the flour over the egg mixture and fold it in carefully with a rubber spatula.
- Pour into the prepared pan and quickly spread it out evenly. Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Lemon Curd
- In a large bowl, whisk together the yolks and sugar. Whisk in the lemon juice, salt and zest. Place the bowl over a medium sized sauce pot that has an inch of simmering water in it. Using a tempered rubber spatula stir the lemon mixture over the heat until it thickens. This can take 5 to 10 minutes. As the lemon curd thickens it should cling to the rubber spatula. It will be thick like a pudding.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Strain the curd into a container and cover with plastic. Put in the freezer for about 15 minutes, or until the curd is cold but not frozen. Remove and place in refrigerator until ready to use. It will be good for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Assemble
- Cut the cake in 3 equal pieces along the long side of the cake. Place one layer of the cake on a platter. Spread 1/3 cup preserves on the cake, followed by 1/3 cup lemon curd. Repeat with the next layer of cake, preserves and lemon curd.
- Finally, top with the last layer of cake.
Meringue
- Whisk together the egg whites, sugar and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer. Rest the bowl over a pot of simmering water to form a double boiler.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl so that all the sugar is off the sides of the bowl. Continue to stir the mixture until all the sugar is melted into the eggs and you no longer feel any graininess when rubbed between your fingers, about 3-5 minutes.
- Place the bowl onto your mixer, add the vanilla, whisk on high speed until the meringue is thick and glossy and the bowl is just warmer than room temperature, about 8 minutes.
Decorate
- Use a large rose tip, to make the flowers and to pipe the striped base. Starting at the top edge of the cake with the narrow end of the rose tip facing up, pipe a continuous spiral all the way down the cake, being careful to overlap the previous stripe.
- You can leave the meringue pristine and white. Or, you can toast the meringue with a Self-Igniting Blow Torch, which gives it more flavor and the drama of the burnt edges.
- If there is any cake left over, just stick a few skewers in the cake and then drape plastic wrap over them, this way you will not destroy the piped flowers.
Hi- Are there any recipe changes/ cook-time changes to note if using the 8″ pans? The link to the Recipe on the cooking channel seems to have disappeared. Many thanks.
Hi Mari! I found the recipe on the internet archive. Here is a link. Enjoy!
I’ve looked high and low and cannot find rose piping video.
Here it is! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBemIxW8QOk
Absolutely gorgeous, those roses are stunning!
Oh, man, Zoe. Those toasted roses are very cool. Want!
love your site — i’m just getting started on my blog — hope mine looks as wonderful as yours one day
So so so beautiful! I love the videos, thank you so much for this tutorial!!
looks good i want to eat it now
Hi Zoe,
Me again. What can I say…WOW. I love it. And I’ll try it. Thank you very much.
Sue
Hi Zoe,
Just found out the post of piping roses with buttercream frosting.. and thanks again … Thanks for explaining in such a way that even a newbie like me can understand..
Regards
Najla
Great Najla,
Look for more flower piping posts in the future! 🙂
Thanks, Zoë
Hi Zoe,
Thanks a lot for the video tutorial… and loved the cake decorating video series too.. Can we use Buttercream frosting (with butter and icing sugar) to make these roses?
Thanks
Hi Najla,
Absolutely! They will be lovely in buttercream!
Thanks, Zoë
Che bellezza! Bravissima!
Oh, Zoe, you have given me another reason to be happy to be alive. I love this so much.
Oh Sophistimom,
What a lovely note!
Thank you! Zoë
Thanks so much Zoe. I look forward to learning more about the sponge/genoise. I’m going to try this again with cake flour.
Hi Zoe,
The cake and the meringue roses are wonderful. I tried to make one for my daughter’s birthday. The sponge cake, meringue were very successful but I couldn’t be able to manuplate the roses as beautiful as yours, altough I watched the video several times. So I decided to decorate the cake with only four roses that I could able to resemble a flower. If there is a hint ,or if there is a more simple method for it, would you please describe ?
Thanks
I made this sponge cake and it came out flatter than a pancake. I followed the recipe to a T. What could have gone wrong? Could humidity have something to do with it?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Hi Corinna,
My apologies, I took one look at the recipe and knew what your issue was. I forgot to write what kind of flour in the recipe. You need to use cake flour or it will be much too dense. I will do a post on making a sponge/genoise, it can take a bit of finesse, but given the right technique and the right list of ingredients it will go together well.
Thank you for letting me know! Zoë
Thank you! The video is perfect. I am going to try this!!
I have to try this!!! So glad I came across your site. I can make this gluten free, and with meringue roses, I can make BEAUTIFUL gluten free decorated desserts now!
SO beautiful! Wow! Thanks for the great video too!
We didn’t do much baking at cooking school, but looking at this sweet cake, oh how I wish we had.
Hi Zoe
You’re right…I would love this cake! Thank you for all that you do, all that you are, and thank you for being my daughter. I feel truly blessed. Love, Mom
Zoe, this is an amazing blog site (my most favourite one) and this cake is stupendous! Any mother would be tickled pink and very proud to receive such a wonderful cake. You have done bread books but do you have any plans to do a dessert book? I would be in line to buy it first day out and send copies to all my cooking friends. Happy Mother’s Day to you – enjoy those boys everyday!
This is exactly what my mom would like too… and those roses are gorgeous! I love lemon desserts…
So pretty! I looooove the tast and texture of meringue.
This looks so elegant! Haven’t made roses but now I’m inspired.