We’ve all seen the gorgeous cakes pouring into Instagram and with a unique twist – a fault line down the center!

I’ve seen cakes filled with sprinkles, berries, cookies, and even macarons if you can believe it, but the versions I’ve loved the most have been filled with fresh lemon slices. I knew immediately I needed to give it a go. With a few tricks, this cake actually is pretty easy to put together. With my trial and error process, I know you’ll be able to create this look in no time.

STEPS FOR THE LEMON FAULT LINE CAKE:

  1. Layer and crumb coat your entire cake. I usually let my crumb coat freeze for about 2 minutes.
  2. Add on a layer of buttercream ONLY on the middle layer area of your cake. This will act as glue for your lemon slices.
  3. Press your lemons onto a paper towel to remove as much moisture as possible. Don’t squeeze them, just gently pat out all the excess juice that may be on the outside layer of the lemon slices.
  4. Press the lemon slices onto your buttercream layer. You do not need to cover the entire cake with lemon slices, just the middle section. Freeze for 5 minutes.
  5. Pipe on a thick layer of buttercream above and below the lemon slices. You’ll need a layer that is thicker “out” on the cake than the lemons. This helps with the visual effect that the lemons are inside the cake. Thick, thick, thick is best here, so make sure you have enough buttercream to go around.
  6. Use a cake scraper to smooth out the top and bottom buttercream layer. Make sure to avoid catching the lemon slices as you go around the cake, and to avoid filling in too much of the exposed middle layer.
  7. And that’s it! Freeze for about 5 minutes to set, then refrigerate until you’re ready to go.

A couple more notes:

  • Slice your lemon slices thin. The thinner your slices are, the less buttercream you’ll need to pile on the top and bottom to cover the lemon slices.
  • Patting off the moisture from the lemons is key. Extra moisture from the lemons will destroy your buttercream slowly, so preemptively getting some of that moisture away helps a lot!
  • When adding your lemon slices to your cake, make sure it’s an even layer that covers as much of the buttercream layer as possible.
  • Buttercream should be cold and thick, not soft and warm.
  • Work quickly – the lemons are very juicy and you don’t want them soaking through your buttercream before you finish.
  • Of course: remove the lemons from your cake before serving.

And that’s it! I am loving how this trend was created and has slowly evolved over time, too. It’s gorgeous and can be used in so many different ways. Hope this tutorial has helped, and for my more visual cakers… here’s a video below that hopefully will answer most of the rest of your questions:

Can’t wait to see what you create! As always, make sure to tag @bakingwithblondie on Instagram so I can see! Happy caking 🙂

~Mandy xo