http://artisancakecompany.com/recipes/cake-and-buttercream-recipe/

I use this recipe for my lemon cakes with gluten free flour, lemon zest and oil then fill it with lemon flavour smbc and lemon curd after drizzling it with limoncello. It's out of this world. So lemony. Alternatively, I fill with raspberry compote instead of lemon curd... if I use fondant on this (for a wedding cake for example...) I'll ganache with white ganache then I flavour the fondant with some lemon oil. Never had a complaint yet...

My only advice is- don't overbeat the mix or it WILL sink. Gently gently is the idea. And don't fret if the mix curdles at the end- it still comes out the oven fine. Leave to cool in the tins and chill before filling as per advice on the site. 

My grateful thanks to the original poster.

Here's my very popular lemon cake recipe.

LEMON CAKE  -  Makes three 8 x 11/2 inch layers.

Lemon flavoring component.....

ZEST OF TWO LEMONS

1 TABLESPOON LEMON EMULSION [I use Lorainnes]

1 TABLESPOON VEGETABLE OIL

1 TABLESPOON WATER

1/2 TEASPOON LEMON KOOL-AID POWDER

2-3 DROPS YELLOW FOOD COLORING IF DESIRED

Mix these ingredients together in a small covered bowl and let sit for a couple hours.  Since the zest contains both water and fat soluble essences, this mixture will help draw out a strong lemon flavor punch.

For the cake...

4 CUPS WHITE LILY AP FLOUR (500g) [only brand I use, but use whatever you like]

1 1/2 TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER

3/4 TEASPOON BAKING SODA

3 CUPS SUGAR

3/4 CUP BUTTER or SHORTENING, ROOM TEMP

2 TABLESPOONS OIL

2 CUPS BUTTERMILK, ROOM TEMP

4 LARGE EGGS, ROOM TEMP

1 TEASPOON VANILLA

Preheat oven to 325 F.  Grease the bottoms of three 8 x 2 inch pans, line with parchment, then grease and flour pans.  I also use Magi-Cake Strips!

Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and butter or shortening in the bowl of a stand mixer and use the WHISK ATTACHMENT to blend the butter/shortening into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like coarse sand.

Add the buttermilk (still using the whisk attachment) and mix on low to combine.  Scrape down bowl, then mix on medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes.

Stop and scrape down the bowl again, then add the eggs, lemon mixture and vanilla and mix for an additional 1 1/2 minutes.

Stir well with a spatula to make sure all ingredients are well mixed, then divide batter evenly between pans (I use a scale).

Tap pans a couple time on counter top to release large air bubbles then bake until cakes test done.

Cool in pans 5 minutes, remove from pans and wrap completely in plastic until ready to use.

Layer can be wrapped and frozen for several weeks if desired.

*I use the WHISK ATTACHMENT rather than the flat beater to mix all my cakes!

Wow, that sounds fantastic Jeff_Arnett.  How many cups of batter does your recipe make - I would like to add your flavoring to my own recipe?

I too have had trouble finding a lemon cake I love but I tried Rock Recipe's lemon velvet cake and I loved it. I generally always use a butter recipe but was at my wit's end when I tried this.  The changes that I make are that it calls for 2/3 cup of oil and 1/3 cup of shortening.  Using clarified butter I substituted 1/3 of the oil for melted butter.  That way it has butter too.  I also peeled my lemon zest and put it in the food processor with the sugar until the sugar is really nice and lemony yellow and the zest is nearly invisible.

I'm not sure how many cups of batter the recipe make....I weight...over the years I've just fined tuned my recipes yield the amount of batter I need.  The lemon component is enough to flavor a standard 8 inch layer cake recipe.

Of course CC won’t let me edit my post…that should say “I pan by weight”…

I know, that darn edit button is just a tease. 

An 8 inch layer cake, OK, I can work with that.  I love the flavor that regular lemon zest and juice brings out, but it is still very subtle.  I'm thinking that your concoction will have a more bold lemony flavor ... the kind with a kick!  Thanks again for sharing.

Nancy

I also,recently used the Rock Recipes Lemon Velvet Cake. Everyone loved it, I followed the recipe, except I also added 1tsp creme bouquet (Magic Line Brand), it was fantastic. I had to make another the following week, for another friend who tasted it at the reception.  And my granddaughter who is a sworn chocoholic, has requested this cake for her graduation cake.  This will be my go to lemon cake. Here's the link....

http://www.rockrecipes.com/lemon-velvet-cake/