This is lemon at its finest. This Triple Lemon Cake is made with tender, flavorful lemon cake, filled with creamy lemon pastry cream, and finished with luscious lemon cream cheese frosting. Every bite is bursting with fresh lemon flavor, from the cake to the filling to the frosting.

You know those days when life hands you lemons?

The first thing I do is call my mom. That always helps. And since my mom brings me lots of lemons from her wonderful lemon trees, I usually have plenty of lemons to work with.

For a while, I made lemonade. Chatting with my mom and enjoying a cold glass of lemonade seemed like the perfect solution.

That worked for a few years.

I even tried adding vodka to the lemonade, but that made it a little challenging to get on with the rest of my day without consequences, especially that early in the day.

So I moved on to lemon cookies.

I cannot tell you how many lemon cookies I’ve baked. Then came the teenage years. Wow. My parents warned me about the teenage years, but apparently not enough.

Between hormones, schoolwork, learning to drive, dating, and all the other things that come with the teenage years, I needed more than lemonade.

I needed cake.

And not just any cake.

Lemon cake.

This is where my Triple Lemon Cake comes in. It’s moist lemon cake layered with smooth lemon pastry cream and covered with lemon cream cheese frosting. Basically, lemon from beginning to end.

And honestly, my solution is working pretty well.

Anyone who stops by gets a slice and helps me cope with all this fun!

Lemon Cake, Lemon Pastry Cream Filling and Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting @createdbydiane

A Cake for Lemon Lovers

If you love lemon desserts, this cake does not hold back. The lemon cake has plenty of fresh lemon flavor, the pastry cream adds a creamy lemon-filled layer between the cakes, and the lemon cream cheese frosting adds another sweet and tangy layer of lemon goodness.

It’s a little more special than a simple lemon cake, but the combination is completely worth it.

I still call my mom, of course. And with Mother’s Day around the corner, I think I’ll be making her one of these.

After all, it’s the least I could do considering she made it through the teenage years with me!

How I Layer and Decorate the Cake

To layer and decorate the cake, I use a lazy Susan. I place a few pieces of wax paper underneath the cake so I can easily slide them out when I’m finished decorating.

I fill a piping bag with the lemon cream cheese frosting and use a round tip to pipe a ring of frosting around the outside edge of each cake layer. This creates a dam that keeps the lemon pastry cream from seeping out the sides.

I also added a little food coloring to the lemon cream cheese frosting so it would match the color of the lemon pastry cream. Having the frosting and filling the same color gives the cake a seamless look when you cut into it.

As I slowly turn the lazy Susan, I smooth the frosting with a large offset spatula. Then I use the same piping bag to pipe small dots around the top and bottom edges of the cake.

I like the simplicity of this cake, but I wanted to add something pretty to the top.

So I went out into my yard to see what I could find.

Lavender was the perfect choice. It adds a pretty pop of color without worrying about it wilting right away, and the contrast between the lavender and yellow is beautiful. I love lavender!

Just be sure that any flowers you use for decorating a cake are food safe and have not been treated with pesticides.

What Size Pans Can I Use?

I baked this cake in three 6-inch round cake pans, which makes a beautiful tall layer cake.

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3 from 2 votes