This Italian lemon cream cake is my version of the popular one from the Cheesecake Factory. This cake has fluffy vanilla cake layers, a filling of lemon mascarpone cream, and the outside of the cake has a lemon crumb topping. Powdered sugar is dusted over the whole cake for a pretty finish.
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🍋A perfect cake for spring
This Italian lemon cream cake is perfect for spring! It has a hint of lemon flavour, so it's not too strong of a lemon flavour, like some lemon desserts. The cake is made of vanilla layers, so the lemon is just in the filling and the crumb topping.
This cake can be made in advance to make it easier. I made the cake layers in advance and froze them. I made the crumb topping and the lemon mascarpone filling the day before I wanted to serve it. Assembling the cake was very easy after everything was prepared.
If you like lemon desserts, try my lemon meringue cheesecake, lemon lovers trifle, lemon pound cake loaf or fudgy lemon brownies! All these recipes are also perfect for spring!
🥘Ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Lemon - you will only need one for this recipe.
- Whole milk - you can also use buttermilk or 2% milk.
- Unsalted butter - If you use salted butter in this recipe, leave out the additional salt.
- Mascarpone cheese - Mascarpone cheese gives this cake an authentic Italian flavour. If you can not find it, you can substitute with cream cheese.
🔪Instructions
Cake layer
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set it aside and beat butter and sugar together in a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the beater attachment. Add vegetable oil and eggs, and mix to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Slowly mix in vanilla extract and milk.
Stir dry ingredients into the cake batter and then pour the batter into two greased and parchment paper lined 8 inch cake pans. Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 25-30 minutes. Allow the cake to cool in it's pan for 5 minutes, and then turn it out onto a wired rack to cool completely.
You can make the cake layers in advance. I froze mine for 2 days before I wanted to serve the cake.
Crumb Topping
Spread flour on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350°F (177°C) for 5 minutes. This cooks out the raw taste of the flour. Let cool for a few minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk cooled flour and powdered sugar together. Using a pastry cutter, forks, or your hands, cut in cold butter into the dry ingredients. You want the butter to coat all the dry ingredients and the size to be small. We don't want big chunks on our cake.
Stir in lemon zest and vanilla, and store it in the refrigerator to get it cold, about 1 hour.
Lemon Mascarpone Cream Filling
Whip heavy whipping cream in a large bowl to stiff peaks, and set aside. In another large bowl, mix mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, lemon zest and juice. Gently fold in whipped cream. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Assembly
Place one layer on a cake plate. Reserve ¾ cup of filling, and spread or pipe the rest of the filling on top of the cake. Place the second cake layer on top. Spread the reserved cake filling all over the top and sides of the cake.
Press crumb topping all over the tops and sides of the cake. Dust powdered sugar all over the cake. If not serving immediately, wait to dust the cake with powdered sugar. Powdered sugar will seep into the cake after awhile.
For more step by step photos, see the web story for Italian lemon cream cake.
✔️Expert tips
- Break up the steps by making the crumb topping, cake filling, and/or the cake layers ahead of time.
- While the mascarpone cheese gives this cake an authentic Italian flavour, you can substitute with cream cheese if you would like.
💭FAQs
You can freeze just the undecorated cake layers. The filling in this cake, would not freeze and thaw well. Wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and decorate the cake.
It's made of vanilla cake layers, a lemon mascarpone cheese filling, and a buttery lemon crumb topping.
Yes, because this cake has mascarpone cheese in it, it needs to be stored in the refrigerator. Take it out and leave at room temperature 2 hours before serving.
📖Related recipes
📋 Recipe
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Cheesecake Factory Italian Lemon Cream Cake
Equipment
- 2 8" round cake pans
- 1 baking tray
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 ¼ cup s granulated sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole milk room temperature
Crumb Topping
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter cold
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Cake Filling
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup mascarpone cheese room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
Vanilla Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line the bottoms of two 8 inch round cake pans with parchment paper and grease the sides.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
- Beat butter and sugar together in a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the beater attachment. Add vegetable oil and eggs, and mix to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Slowly mix in vanilla extract and milk until combined.
- Stir dry ingredients into the cake batter and then pour the batter into prepared cake pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in their pans for 5 minutes, and then turn out onto a wired rack to cool completely.
Crumb Topping
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Spread the flour out on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes to cook the raw taste out of the flour. Let cool for a few minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk cooled flour and powdered sugar together. Using a pastry cutter, forks, or your hands, cut in cold butter into the dry ingredients. You want the butter to coat all the dry ingredients and the size to be small. We don't want big chunks on our cake.
- Stir in lemon zest and vanilla extract. Store in the refrigerator until the mixture gets cold, about 1 hour.
Lemon Mascarpone Cream Filling
- Whip heavy whipping cream in a large bowl to stiff peaks, and set aside.
- In another large bowl, mix mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, lemon zest and juice. Gently fold in whipped cream. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.
To Assemble
- Place one cake layer on a cake plate. Reserve ¾ cup of filling, and spread or pipe the rest of the filling on top of the cake.
- Place the second cake layer on top. Spread the reserved cake filling all over the top and sides of the cake.
- Press crumb topping all over the tops and sides of the cake. Refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Break up the steps by making the crumb topping, cake filling, and/or the cake ahead of time.
- While the mascarpone cheese gives this cake an authentic Italian flavour, you can substitute with cream cheese if you would like.
Margit
can you refrigerate the crumb topping for a day or two
Nina
Hi Margit! Yes, you can refrigerate the crump topping for a day or two. You may need to break it apart a bit before using, as it may clump together.
Janice MacWilliam
there are no instructions to bake/cook the crumble before coating sides and top of cake, just cooking the flour to get rid of raw taste
Lou Easley
The layer after baking is too thin to cut horizontally. Does not look anything like layers in picture. Followed instructions exactly. Might have to bake a second layer…
Nina
Hi Lou! Was your baking powder past it's best before date? Did you use cake strips on the outside of you pan?
Linda
This sounds delicious, Nina. I have made tiramisu with lemoncello and it is very similar to the one at Cheesecake Factory. I am going to try your recipe. Thank you for posting.
Nina
Thanks Linda! Let me know how it turns out 🙂
ELIZABETH
Oh, what a disappointment! I followed the recipe exactly, I believe, and I was so disappointed when I took the cake out--it barely rose at all. There was no chance I could cut it in half. On the other hand, the cake was fairly good, and the mascarpone/lemon filling was delicious. I didn't really see the point of the crumb topping and only used a small bit of that. The taste of this was pretty good, but I was hoping for a lovely little birthday cake and instead ended up with a mess on the plate. I might blame the age of my baking powder for the lack of rise, but I don't seem to be the only person who had this issue with it.
Nina
Hi Elizabeth! The lack of rise seems to be from your baking powder. If it's expired, it won't work. I hope you try it again with new baking powder 🙂
Marty
this looked so good. it just wasn't. I made this for birthday party. this cake was incredibly dry. I was embarrassed.
Nina
Hi Marty! I'm sorry the cake turned out dry for you. Did you make it ahead of time? Cakes dry out in the refrigerator. Did you bake the cake layers too long? Without more info, it's hard to pinpoint why this happened.
Marty
I want to make this for my son's b day. can I use cake flour instead of reg flour?? need to know before Oct 28th. thank u
Nina
Hi Marty! Cake flour can be used as a substitute for all purpose flour in cakes. It will make your cake have an extra light texture. Let me know how it turns out! 🙂
pamela
haven't made this yet but am planning to. question about the crumble - is it not cooked other that the brief time you put flour in oven?
Nina
Hi Pamela! You need to cook the flour for several minutes in the oven before adding it to the other crumble ingredients. Uncooked flour can cause an illness as it is a raw ingredient. Also cooking it gets rid of the flour taste.
Kathy
Loved this cake! The only thing i might change is putting lemon flavoring in the batter, but I love lemon. It will definitely go in my recipe favorites! Thank you for sharing.
Nina
That sounds so good Kathy! There's no such thing as too much lemon flavour!!!
Taylor
I accidentally left it out over night before realizing I need to refrigerate. Do you think it’s safe to eat?
Nina
Hi Taylor! I'm so sorry but I don't recommend eating it. Anything with dairy in it shouldn't be left out for more then a few hours. The cake layer and crumb will be fine to eat though. It's just the filling that will be unsafe.
Carol Holmes
I don’t usually have any problem with my cakes rising but i did with this recipe. My first attempt was so thin that I ended up having to make another layer. Having said that the finished cake was absolutely delicious and I will definitely make it again but would double the cake ingredients next time.
Nina
Hi Carol! I'm glad you enjoyed this recipe. Try using cake baking strips next time so the cake bakes evenly so there is no discard.
Jenny
Delicious recipe. Light, creamy and nice taste of lemon. Easy to follow instructions. Next time I will do 1 1/2 times quantity for the cake as it was quite shallow. I also halved the crumb topping (as other comments have suggested) and there was still plenty.
Ideal dessert cake to serve for guests for dinner with fresh berries on the side
Nina
I'm so happy you enjoyed this recipe Jenny!
Jody Shepson
OK, I'm confused and I'm about to make this! The list of what you'll need says 1 8" cake pan. The directions say to grease 2 8" pans and line with parchment. It never says to cut the one layer horizontally. To assemble, you put one cake on the plate, then the second cake later. So....is it ONE cake cut in half, or TWO 8" cakes?
Nina
Sorry for the confusion Jody. It's one 8" cake that gets cut in half horizontally to make two layers. I amended the recipe.
Ronda
Love this recipe! I used the cake strips. They work great but I did learn that where the strip overlaps itself the cake doesn’t rise so you end up with with a sloped side. Next time I’ll let the extra fabric hang loose instead of tucking it in. Also, the directions don’t state this clearly enough—put a circle of parchment paper in the bottom and grease the sides.
Nina
Hi Ronda! I fixed the recipe to word it better. Thank you for pointing that out 🙂
Hart Julie
The recipe call for (1)8” round. I only own 9”rounds. Could I double it using (2) 9”rounds.
Nina
Hi Julie! Doubling the recipe will give you more than you need for two 9" cake pans. You can make cupcakes with the remaining batter though.
Diane
I made this by following the recipe exactly as directed and my crowd reported it was delicious! I'm GF, so I did not personally eat it, however, I tasted the filling and it was wonderful. Will be making again.
Nina
Hi Diane! That's wonderful to hear!
Donna Womack
I made this cake yesterday. It was delicious! Everyone enjoyed it! Followed the recipe as written. No changes are necessary!
Nina
I'm so happy to hear this Donna 🙂
Linda
I am in the process of making this cake. Even though it calls for baking the flour for the crumb topping first, I'm concerned about putting the crumb topping on the cake without the crumb topping being baked. Will it taste like raw cookie dough? I have made crumb toppings in the past that I put on muffin batter and then bake but I have never put crumb topping on an already cooked cake or muffin.
Nina
Hi Linda! The crumb topping will taste like raw flour if you don't bake it. It's also really bad to ingest raw flour. As this crumb topping is put on the cakes after they are baked, it needs to be pre baked.
Nicole
Then why is it just the flour that's baked. Most other struesel toppings are baked on the cake or baked on a pan then put on the cake. It doesn't make sense to just bake the flour. Is that right?
Nina
Hi Nicole! The streusel goes on the cake after the cake is assembled and frosted. The flour is baked to make it safe to eat uncooked.
coleen
still not completely sure of cake strips, how big and moistened with what? how does this help cake not to dome?
Nina
Hi Coleen! Cake strips are all pretty much a standard size. You soak them in water and then twist them to remove the excess water. Then they wrap around the exterior of the cake pans.
Cake strips help to keep the cake at a consistent temperature so they cake will bake level. Without cake strips, the pan gets hot and bakes the outside of the cake faster than in the middle. That's how the dome happens.
I found my cake strips on Amazon 🙂
dj
Would a box vanilla cake work too?
Nina
Hi dj! Yes definitely a box cake will work with this recipe 🙂
Christine
This looks very good.Please send me the website .Thank you
Nina
Thank you Christine 🙂
Gabi
Love love loved this cake. Nice and light, I could eat the entire thing myself. Unfortunately, I had to bring to a party, where it was the first dessert gone.
Nina
Thanks for the wonderful review Gabi! 🙂