Lemon Rosemary Chiffon Cake with Elderflower Glaze and Cream Cheese Frosting is a perfect cake.
Funny enough, making it is how I spent my summer. Ok, not quite, but I rarely tweak a recipe over and over until it’s perfect these days. I rely on instinct, semi-homemade, go to favorites, and takeout if I’m being honest. But this summer I decided I wanted to make a perfect cake. Here it is: Lemon Rosemary Chiffon Cake with Elderflower Glaze and Cream Cheese Frosting.
What is a Chiffon Cake and Why is it so Great?
For me, a chiffon cake is the ultimate. Chiffon cakes rely on beating egg whites separately from the rest of ingredients to achieve an almost sponge cake like texture. I prefer the chiffon family to the sponge cake family because chiffon cakes don’t skip the fat. This chiffon cake uses butter a combination of butter and olive oil to achieve a best of both worlds taste and texture. I also layer citrus on citrus throughout this cake, sometimes in unexpected places. My Lemon Rosemary Chiffon Cake with Elderflower Glaze and Cream Cheese Frosting could use store bought buttermilk, but instead, I combine milk with lemon juice so you get extra lemon juice instead of another acid.
This cake is worth the effort.
I’m not going to lie, this is a two mixing bowl recipe and it’s plenty of work. But, this Lemon Rosemary Chiffon Cake with Elderflower Glaze and Cream Cheese Frosting is definitely a perfect cake.
- 2½+ cups cake flour*
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar (divided)
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup milk (any milkfat works)
- 3+ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons lemon zest (2-3 lemons)
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced
- 6 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- * I sub 2 T cornstarch for 2 T all-purpose flour when I don’t have cake flour, which is always.
- Glaze
- ½ cup elderflower liquor or syrup
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1+ tablespoons lemon zest (2 lemons)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoons vanilla (optional)
- 2 ½ cups confectioners sugar
- optional candied lemons (I buy them at trader Joe’s) and fresh rosemary to garnish
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease two 8 inch (or 9) round cake pans. Dust pans with flour and tap out excess any excess.
- Make glaze by combining the sugar, lemon juice and elder flower liquor. Set aside.
- In a stand mixing bowl with a paddle attachment combine the butter and 1 ½ cups sugar. Turn on a low speed and let run. Add lemon zest.
- In a measuring cup combine milk and lemon juice. It will curdle. Set aside.
- To butter and sugar mixture add: olive oil, vanilla if you so choose, rosemary (unless you already added it to the buttermilk) and egg yolks. Beat for a couple of minutes.
- In another mixing bowl on your stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat egg whites at medium speed until foamy. With machine running, stream in the remaining ¼ cup sugar. Beat at high speed just until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- Add baking soda, baking powder, and salt to the butter mixture and mix briefly. Add the cornstarch and half the flour to the butter mixture.
- Add in the homemade buttermilk (milk and lemon juice).
- Add the rest of the flour and beat until just incorporated.
- Scrape down the bowl and ensure it’s incorporated with as little mixing as possible.
- Using rubber spatula, gently fold in the egg white mixture until just incorporated. Be gentle! The air staying in the batter is the whole point.
- Divide batter evenly between your prepared cake pans.
- Place pans on a cookie sheet pan and bake on the center rack in the oven at 350° F for 20-25 minutes. Unless you’re absolutely certain your over is very even, rotate pans halfway through. The cake will begin pulling away from the edge of the pan. You can use a toothpick to ensure the batter isn’t still wet in the center.
- Cool cakes in pans for 5-10 minutes.
- Using a skewer poke holes all over the whole surface of both cakes.
- Pour glaze ½ of the glaze evenly over the surface of each of the two cakes. Allow to cool completely (about 1 more hour) before frosting.
- Frosting: Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until combined and creamy. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
- Place one cake on a platter. Top with about ⅓ of the frosting. Spread evenly. Place second cake on top. Frost the cake. Garnish with rosemary and lemon slices.
Photos to Help Navigate your Baking
Aerial visual of the light, creamy texture you should see after you beat the butter, sugar, eggs, etc.
Check out the tiny little fingers on my cute little sous chef. We decided to add the rosemary to the buttermilk and it worked well. You can do this too.
Meringue: visual of the egg whites and sugar.
Do I have to Make those Gorgeous Lemon Slices by Hand?
NOPE! I’m a little obsessed with these Trader Joe’s lemon slices because they’re so awesome for cocktail and dessert garnishes. 
Added bonus, this cake looks a little rustic and there’s visible lemon in the frosting so if some crumbs sneak into the frosting, it’ll still look great.
Wow This looks fantastic. Looking forward to tasting it in your kitchen.:)