Published March 1, 2007.
Most layer cake recipes are made with hefty butter cake layers, but we suspected that the light, fresh flavor of lemon would be better served by something more ethereal. After trying recipes for sponge cake and classic yellow cake, we found that white butter cake was the perfect compromise for our lemon layer cake recipe: a cake nicely flavored by butter yet still light, with a fine crumb and tender texture.
The filling can be made a day ahead and refrigerated, but it will become quite stiff; fold it with a rubber spatula to loosen it before spreading onto the cake. For neater slices, dip a knife into hot water before cutting the cake. Leftovers can be stored covered in the refrigerator, with the cut side of the cake covered tightly with plastic wrap, for up to 3 days.
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