03.13.15
Meyer Lemon Cake with White Chocolate Mousse

Happy Happy Friday!!
Yes, yes I know, I need to stop with the lemons already. I am sorry but I am a bit excited for Spring. It was a long and COLD winter. But don’t you worry, this is the last lemon recipe for a while. The meyer lemon obsession ends with this Meyer Lemon Cake with White Chocolate Mousse. I saved the best for last for sure. First of all, it’s a small cake so no judgement when you eat it all and secondly, MEYER LEMON + White Chocolate = WHOA! Happy feelings in your tastebuds and belly!

The fact that meyer lemons are a bit sweeter than regular pucker in the face lemons makes them a great match for white chocolate. This cake is a one layer 6-inch cake filled with the juices and zest of meyer lemon. A soft and crumbly lemon cake gets even better when topped with a light mousse frosting. A whipped cream mousse with lemon zest and melted white chocolate is used to finish off what is a perfect cake in my opinion.

If you make only one cake this spring season, it HAS to be this cake. I promise you it will be a great surprise how wonderful it is. This recipe is from a new cookbook I’m loving – Dessert For Two: Small Batch Cookies, Brownies, Pies, and Cakes
by Christina Lane. Dessert for Two takes well-loved desserts and scales them down to make only two servings. Genius right? Yeah, go check it out and you will find many recipes you will enjoy.
Prep Time
40 minutes
Cook Time
35 minutes
Total Time
1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
For Cake:
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3/4 cup all purpose flour
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1/8 teaspoon salt
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¼ teaspoon baking soda
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6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
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½ cup granulated sugar
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zest and juice of 1 meyer lemon
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1/8 teaspoon almond extract
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1 large egg, room temperature
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¼ cup buttermilk
For White Chocolate Mousse Frosting:
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1 cup heavy whipping cream, divided
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2 ounces white chocolate, chopped
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1 tablespoon powdered sugar
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1 lemon, thinly sliced for decoration
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line a 6-inch round pan with parchment. Grease the parchment too.In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda.In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes on medium speed. Add lemon zest, juice, almond extract and egg, beating until just combined.Reduce speed to low and slowly add a third of the flour mixture to the batter. Add 2 tablespoons of buttermilk and beat until just combined. Add another third of the flour and mix. Add the rest of the buttermilk and finally the last third of the flour. Scrape down the side of the bowl as needed. Do not overmix.Transfer batter into prepared pan. Bake cake until lightly golden or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30- 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cake cool in pan for at least 10 minutes before turning over on to a cooling rack.To make mousse frosting:Place a medium bowl and whisk beaters in the freezer for at least 10 minutes to chill. In the meantime, combine the chocolate and a fourth cup heavy cream in a small heatproof bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds or until cream starts boiling. Do not stir the chocolate, let sit for at least 2 minutes.Remove the bowl from the freezer and pour in the rest of the heavy cream. Using an electric mixer, beat the heavy cream until soft peaks forms. Add the powdered sugar and beat until combined.Whisk the chocolate and cream until smooth and slowly pour the melted white chocolate into the whipped cream mixture, while beating continuously. Beat until incorporated.Use the frosting to frost the cake. Cover and refrigerate cake for at least two hours for mousse to set before serving. Top with lemon slices.
Notes
From Dessert for Two, with author's permission.
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White chocolate mousse frosting? Heck yea! And you can keep the lemon recipes coming, you are using Meyers after all and they are wintery haha.
That is true!! Doesn’t count yet for the real lemons 🙂
I’ve been all about the lemon desserts lately! Love the lemon white chocolate combination!
I’m loving the lemon recipes! You keep making me excited for spring with all the bright citrus!
Thanks Jen!
Lovely, just lovely! I’m all for lemon, so feel free to post as many lemon recipes as you want (hint, hint…)! 😉
Hhaha thanks Lexi! I can’t stop myself even if I tried 😉
What a perfect flavor combination and a beautiful cake!
Thanks Matt!
Beautiful cake, Z! All these lemon recipes are definitely getting me ready for spring! Love the lemon and white chocolate combo!
Thanks Kelly!
Z, gorgeous cake!!! and I love how to photographed it!! I totally have lemons on the brain and will be baking a lemon cake this weekend. . but I might just use a box mix so I can get my fix!!! oh the horror!!! 😛 but dude, totally pinned this one to make this later!! looks sooo good!!!!
Hey getting the fix is the most important 😉
I love how “you” photographed it . . 😛
Almost every year, my husband asks for a lemon cake for his birthday and I am constantly on the lookout for a recipe to top last year’s. I’m pinning this for this year’s cake!
That’s a great idea. It’s a really nice lemon cake and I love the small yield for just two 🙂
Yummy! Looks amazing. Lemon cakes are one of my favorite 🙂
This cake is so gorgeous! I love that beautiful lemon flavour!
Thanks Jess!
I am obsessed with Christina’s book! And with this cake. The combo of white chocolate and lemon is a-mazing.
Thanks Steph!!
Lovely cake, looks really moist as well
This cake looks so moist and tender, and the white chocolate mousse is the perfect thing to compliment that fresh meyer lemon flavor! 🙂
This cake is absolutely perfect seriously! I love that you won’t quit with the lemons. You do lemons right!
Hahha I do love me my lemons!!
This looks amazing! I have a question about the heavy cream. The ingredients say 1 cup of heavy cream, divided, but the recipe appears to read that you put one cup in to melt with the white chocolate, and another to whip. Is it 1/2 cup each, or should I use 2 cups heavy cream total? Thank you!
Hi Christin, sorry for the confusion there. It’s a total of 1 cup heavy cream but you will use a fourth of a cup to melt the white chocolate and the rest to whip up to soft peaks. Hope that helps!
So, I had to make this 3 times and it never once came out right. The mousse curdled so i had to throw it away.
I am so disappointed. I ruined my daughter’s 12th birthday
Hi Kristen, I am sorry to hear this. Was the issue only with the mousse or the cake as well? The mousse should not curdle as there is no lemon in the recipe. Are you overbeating the heavy cream? If you do it will curdle and turn into butter. Also, are you letting the melted chocolate cool slightly before adding it to the whipped cream? These are just some brainstorming as it is hard to tell what went wrong when I am not in your kitchen.