Lemon Poke Cake

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Featuring a soft, moist lemon sponge base filled with a zesty lemon filling and a creamy homemade whipped topping, this lemon poke cake is the perfect dessert for Spring!

Prep Time25

Cook Time35

Total Time1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 704kcal

Author: Katalin Nagy

Equipment

Ingredients

Lemon Sheet Cake

300 g Granulated sugar
Zest of 2 Lemons
113 g Unsalted butter at room temperature
110 g Oil
3 Eggs at room temperature
240 g Greek Yogurt at room temperature
1 teaspoons Vanilla extract
375 g All purpose flour
½ teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking powder
1 teaspoon Baking soda

Lemon filling

300 g Lemon curd store-bought or homemade lemon curd
170 g Condensed milk

Whipped cream frosting

460 g Heavy cream 36% fat content, cold
150 g Mascarpone 41% fat content, cold
60 g Powdered sugar sifted
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Lemon Sheet Cake

Preheat your oven to 350℉ / 175℃ (no fan) and grease a 9x13-inch / 22x33 cm pan or line it with parchment paper on the bottom and sides for easy removal.
Finely zest the lemons into a small mixing bowl using a microplane grater then massage the lemon zest into the granulated sugar for a minute.
In a large bowl, cream the softened lemony butter and sugar together for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Add the oil, followed by the room-temperature eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Finally, stir in the room-temperature yogurt and vanilla extract.
Sift the dry ingredients—flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt—into the butter mixture. Gently fold them in with a rubber spatula until just combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Avoid overbaking, as it can cause the cake to dry out.

Lemon filling

Mix the lemon curd with the condensed milk.
As soon as the sheet cake is done baking, take it out of the oven and use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke holes all over the top. Pour the lemon curd sauce over the hot cake, making sure to focus on filling the holes. Set aside 1-2 tablespoons of sauce for later use as decoration.

Whipped cream frosting

Place very cold 36% fat-content heavy cream and cold 41% fat-content mascarpone into a mixing bowl, along with the sifted powdered sugar. Use an electric hand mixer to whip for about a minute, then add the vanilla extract. Whip the mixture again for about 2-3 minutes until fluffy.
Once the sheet cake has cooled to room temperature, spread the frosting on top. To create the marble decoration, place dollops of lemon curd sauce on top of the frosting and gently swirl it into the whipped cream. For the finishing touch, pipe additional whipped cream on top and garnish with lemon and mint or basil.
Serve the lemon poke cake fresh. Any leftovers can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.

Notes

Ingredient notes:

Measure your ingredients with a digital scale for accuracy.
All cake ingredients must be at room temperature to properly emulsify: eggs, butter, and yogurt.
For the frosting, both the mascarpone and the heavy cream need to be high in fat. The low-fat versions won't whip up correctly because they contain more water.
Make sure to check your store-bought lemon curd ingredient list; it should have mainly lemon, sugar, and eggs. Alternatively, use my popular homemade lemon curd recipe.

Technique notes:

Baking this cake takes 35 minutes in my oven. However, you should focus on the texture, not the time. Apply the toothpick test (it should come out clean) to avoid overbaking your cake - that would result in a dry texture.
Whipped cream frosting is very easy to overwhip. When whipping, stop as soon as the mixture has reached a fluffy consistency and stiff peaks. It won't get stiffer after this point. In fact, if you overbeat it, it will only get runnier, and then it will break.

Nutrition