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Home » sweet things » cakes » Really easy lemon mascarpone cake (one cup, one bowl)

Really easy lemon mascarpone cake (one cup, one bowl)

20 Jun 17

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a slice of lemon mascarpone cake on a plate
Someone eating a slice of lemon mascarpone cake

To make this delicious cake, just toss everything into a food processor, then pour into two pans and bake. Finally, sandwich together with a delicious 2-ingredient lemon mascarpone cream. It’s cake perfection!

Lemon mascarpone layer cake - it's quick and easy cake perfection!

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned here before that I’m a bit of a layer cake snob.

I really don’t mind if it doesn’t look perfect (rustic rules), but I want it to taste as good as it sounds. And sadly I’ve tried many many cakes that just don’t make the cut.

Which is why I only post cakes here that I love; that are really easy to make; that I’ll make time and time again.

Like this really good, really simple chocolate orange cake which is one of the most popular recipes on the blog. Or this peanut butter, banana and chocolate chip cake which hits the spot every time. Because peanut butter and chocolate…. mmmm!

So you guessed it, I really really like and recommend this food processor lemon mascarpone cake. Mr. Scrummy often complains that I only make chocolate cakes, and until now I couldn’t really deny this (oops). But now I can honestly say that there’s another kind of cake on the blog that’s just as scrummy.

Lemon mascarpone layer cake - it's quick and easy cake perfection!

I get recipe inspiration from many places, but it’s especially nice when it comes from friends or family. Mr. Scrummy and I first tasted this cake when my friend Melinda brought it to our house. It’s always wonderful to see Mel, but especially when she comes with a homemade cake as delicious as this!

Essentially this is Nigella Lawson’s basic vanilla cake (otherwise known as Victoria Sponge) sandwiched together with a mascarpone and lemon curd cream. Just those two delicious ingredients. How easy is that?

One bowl, one cup!

This is also a one bowl cake with one cup each of sugar, butter and flour in it, so it’s insanely simple to make. You just whizz everything up in a food processor. Seriously, that’s it.

I bet you could remember this recipe after making it a couple of times. The resulting cake is light, buttery, and moist. Delicious.

Lemon mascarpone layer cake - it's quick and easy cake perfection!
The cake is light, airy and moist. I made it a second time soon after this, and added more cream. Even more perfect!

Pro tip: If you don’t have a food processor, no problem – just cream the butter and sugar together with a hand held whisk or stand mixer first, then add the other ingredients, but skip the baking powder.

Alternative ways to make this cake

If you wanted to you could make this very simple (but no less delicious for it) cake a bit fancier by topping it with strawberries, or even adding blueberries into the batter.

In fact Mel actually sent me a blueberry and passion fruit version of this cake.

I haven’t tried it yet but I can’t wait to. Instructions in recipe notes!

These are the sorts of pans (7 inch) I used for my 2 cakes

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Or browse all my desserts!

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Lemon mascarpone cake

A delicious vanilla cake that couldn’t be easier to make. Mix the ingredients up in a food processor, then bake and sandwich together with a 2-ingredient mascarpone lemon cream.
4.56 from 9 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Share by Text
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 25 mins
Cuisine British
Servings (click to change) 12
Author Helen

Equipment (affiliate links)

  • hand-held whisk
  • 7 inch sandwich cake pans
  • food processor
  • spatula

Ingredients (UK/Australia? Click below for grams/ml)

cups/ounces – grams/ml
  • 8 ounces butter (2 sticks) unsalted, soft
  • 1 cup sugar I used fine / caster sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 4 eggs large
  • 1 cup self raising flour self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder don’t use if mixing by hand
  • 3 tbsp milk (3 to 4 tablespoons)
  • icing / confectioner’s sugar to decorate

For the cream

  • 1 cup mascarpone cheese 1 cup mascarpone cheese
  • 4 tablespoons lemon curd or more, to taste*

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 355F / 180C. Line (with baking paper) and butter two 7” sandwich cake pans.
  • Process the soft butter and sugar together in the food processor for a few seconds, then add the vanilla, eggs, flour and baking powder and process until just combined and smooth (be careful not to over mix or your cake may end up too heavy). 
  • Pulse in the milk gradually until the mixture is a soft dropping consistency.
  • Pour the batter equally into the pans and bake for about 25 mins, until a metal skewer or knife comes out clean.
  • Cool the cakes for 10 minutes in the pans, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
  • Meanwhile, make the lemon mascarpone cream. Simply whisk the lemon curd into the mascarpone cheese, then spread thickly to sandwich the cakes together.
  • Just before serving, dust with icing / confectioner’s sugar.

Notes

Only slightly adapted from Nigella Lawson’s recipe for Victoria Sponge. Lemon mascarpone cream also adapted from an idea from Nigella!
*This is how much lemon curd I added to the mascarpone, but taste and add more if you like!

No food processor?

If you don’t have a food processor, no problem! Just cream the butter with the sugar with a stand mixer or hand held mixer, then slowly add the other ingredients.
I’ve made this cake several times both in the food processor and with a stand mixer. The food processor method is faster (BUT this is debatable, depending on how easy your food processor is to clean!).
A couple of times though I over mixed the batter in the processor, which led to a slightly heavier cake. Just make sure you use soft butter so that everything combines easily and quickly in the processor. To be super safe you could even combine the sugar and butter for a few seconds first before adding the rest of the ingredients as described in the recipe.
Above all only process until everything is nicely combined and smooth. Please let me know which method you followed and how your cake turned out!

Blueberry and passionfruit version!

If you like you can make a delicious blueberry and passion fruit version of this cake.
Simply add approximately 100 grams / 3.5 ounces blueberries to the batter before baking. Sandwich with whipped cream, then make a passion fruit icing for the top. Scrape out the contents of 2 passion fruit and sieve to get the juice (if you put the flesh, seeds and juice in a blender first and give it a quick whizz before sieving then you release more juice). Mix with 100 grams / 3.5 ounces icing sugar, then drizzle or spread the thick icing over the top of the cake.

Nutrition

Calories: 367kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 4gFat: 26gSaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 114mgSodium: 187mgPotassium: 82mgSugar: 20gVitamin A: 820IUCalcium: 63mgIron: 0.4mg
Tried this recipe?Let me know if you liked it!

By Helen all recipes, cakes, Helen's favorites, party food, Quick and easy desserts, Spring, sweet things

Comments

  1. Em says

    10 Jul 20 at 3:02 am

    Hi, I don’t suppose you have the measurements for the ingredients do you ? I’m in the UK and I use measuring scales for my baking I notice the measurement for the butter is given but the other ingredients are in cups . Thank you

    Reply
    • Helen says

      10 Jul 20 at 2:17 pm

      Hi Em! There’s a button just under where it says ‘ingredients’ that you can click to get the measurements in grams/ml (metric). I hope you enjoy the cake – it’s one of my favourite!

      Reply
      • Em Baines says

        10 Jul 20 at 2:24 pm

        Perfect! Thank you so much, not sure how I missed that 🤦‍♀️
        Looking forward to making the cake and might even have a go at making the lemon curd to mix in with the mascarpone

        Reply
        • Helen says

          13 Jul 20 at 10:52 am

          How did it go, Em? I hope you liked it!

          Reply
          • Em says

            28 Jul 20 at 2:37 pm

            Hi! Sadly not made it yet, it’s on hold as my hand mixer burnt out due to lockdown over use ! I’m researching the best replacement but many models are out of stock. But this cake is certainly at the top of my list when I get my replacement hand mixer 😊

          • Helen says

            30 Jul 20 at 9:27 am

            Hi Em! Generally I’m a big fan of Breville appliances, but I’ll let you into a secret… once I desperately wanted a hand mixer for a particular recipe and for some reason was finding it hard to find a medium range one. In the end I bought one for 5 pounds (I was in the UK at the time), and guess what? It’s been great and is still going strong after a few years!!! Hope you like the cake when you do eventually find a mixer you like!

  2. Savannah says

    12 Apr 20 at 11:13 am

    3 stars
    Used all purpose flour with a 1.5 tsp baking powder as a replacement for self rising flour, however, the cake didn’t rise as much as shown in the picture. I made the lemon curd and mixed with mascarpone and that came out very good.

    Reply
    • Helen says

      12 Apr 20 at 11:16 am

      Hi Savannah! Hmmm… I”m not sure what the exact way to make sr flour is, but maybe the amount of baking powder/soda needs tweaking? I hope you’ll give this another go! Happy Easter!

      Reply
  3. Joleisa says

    07 Feb 19 at 4:59 am

    5 stars
    Well, ssshhhh, I’m in a competition and plan to use this recipe! Fingers crossed it works really well and I win. Pray for me.
    Loving this blog by the way.

    Reply
    • Helen says

      07 Feb 19 at 12:31 pm

      Oooh, really hope it turns out well for you, Joleisa! The main tip I have is not to overmix once you add the flour. This really is a super delicious cake so I hope you like it! (you’re going to do a trial run before the competition, right?!)

      Reply
  4. Oscar says

    29 Dec 18 at 1:36 am

    Hi, I just finished making this cake and I was wondering the best way to store it after letting it cool down . I already put the mascarpone filling so can it be stored in the refrigerator for 1 day? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Helen says

      31 Dec 18 at 10:23 am

      Hello Oscar! It will be absolutely fine in the fridge for a day. I’d just recommend taking it out of the fridge an hour or so before you want to eat it so that it comes back to room temperature.
      I’m guessing you’ve already found out this for yourself by now though. Hope you enjoyed it!

      Reply
  5. Isadora Guidoni says

    05 Jul 17 at 9:25 pm

    Hey, Helen! This is an amazing recipe, thank you so much for it. Each bite equal a happier tummy.

    Reply
    • Helen says

      06 Jul 17 at 1:20 pm

      Hi Isa. I agree! I love this cake!

      Reply
  6. Marissa says

    27 Jun 17 at 11:51 pm

    You should be a layer cake snob – you’ve mastered it! It’s funny that you said you’d choose this over chocolate cake. 100% me too! My favorite cake in the world is vanilla cake with vanilla frosting, lol! But I love the addition of lemon here and you can never go wrong with mascarpone.

    Reply
    • Helen says

      01 Jul 17 at 1:59 pm

      Hi Marissa! Well, I’d take the chocolate cake too, but I like this (almost) just as much! 😉

      Reply
  7. Lorraine @Not Quite Nigella says

    26 Jun 17 at 10:49 am

    I’m now rather desperate to make this cake Helen! It looks so light and fluffy! 😀 I’ll let you know how I go!

    Reply
    • Helen says

      01 Jul 17 at 2:00 pm

      Please do, Lorraine! It’s really just a simple Victoria Sponge recipe with the filling added, but somehow it tastes amazing!

      Reply
  8. marcie says

    25 Jun 17 at 10:12 pm

    I’m a cake snob…if I’m inhaling all those calories it’s gotta be worth it. 🙂 I normally go for chocolate but citrus desserts are right behind it! This looks so light and I love that you can make it in the food processor! The mascarpone is such a lovely touch and I can tell every calorie of this would worth it!

    Reply
    • Helen says

      01 Jul 17 at 2:01 pm

      Ha – totally agree, Marcie! I only want to eat delicious things if I’m going to be naughty. 🙂

      Reply
  9. [email protected] says

    25 Jun 17 at 2:07 pm

    There’s nothing better to me than a lovely lemon cake and I love the idea of making it in the food processor, must try this.

    Reply
    • Helen says

      01 Jul 17 at 2:03 pm

      Hope you do, Janette. If you do I think you’ll make it time and time again. 🙂

      Reply
  10. mira says

    22 Jun 17 at 3:42 am

    This cake looks gorgeous Helen! So easy to make, too! I’m with you, I don’t care how the cake looks, it needs to taste delicious and preferably be made from scratch 🙂 Can’t wait to try this, love mascarpone and the combination with lemon curd is so delicious!

    Reply
    • Helen says

      25 Jun 17 at 11:50 am

      Thank you so much Mira. I pat myself on the back when I make a cake I really like. Of course, NOWHERE NEAR as beautiful as the cakes you make!

      Reply
  11. La Torontoise says

    21 Jun 17 at 1:13 pm

    Wow!! Helen! I love this easy recipe!! Can not be easier than this!
    Have a good week!

    Reply
    • Helen says

      25 Jun 17 at 11:51 am

      Thank you so much! I hope you have a great week too. 🙂

      Reply
  12. Bec Young says

    21 Jun 17 at 2:13 am

    This looks super yummy Helen! Hope your move to Oz goes really well!

    Reply
    • Helen says

      25 Jun 17 at 11:52 am

      Hi Becky! Thank you so much! I just made this again yesterday and it was just as yummy. Thanks so much for the good moving wishes. Maybe some day either you will make it over to visit us or we will make it over to you. Would love to see you again some time soon! 🙂

      Reply

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