Inspired by Sansa’s favorite dessert in Game of Thrones, these Lemon Cakes are a delicious and zesty magic cake that separates into different textured layers as it bakes!
Sansa’s Lemon Cakes
It’s hard to believe I originally published this recipe for Sansa’s Lemon Cakes 5 years ago this weekend and we were all sitting down to enjoy the season premiere of season 4 of Game of Thrones.
And now, the final season is just a week away and I don’t know about you guys… but I am both so excited and not at all ready for this beloved story to come to an end.
I Can’t Believe This Is The End!
I’ve been living in the Game of Thrones fan world for almost a decade, I read the books between 2010 and 2012 and since we will likely never get another one of them – ahem – it seems as though this magical (and quite bloody) story is coming to its end.
And with just six episodes in the final season, Game of Thrones has a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time. And there are so many big things that need to happen:
- Tell Jon who he is.
- Rage against the Night King.
- Watch Nymeria and her pack tear up some wights (fingers crossed it will happen).
- Pray for a crazy appearance on Lady Stoneheart!
- Clegane Bowl!
- Brienne and Tormund – it needs to happen 😉
- Dracarys Cersei.
And so much more… seriously, so much – like how are they going to wrap all of this up?
Anyways, I should have updated this recipe years ago, because I soon realized that many of you don’t have time for 4-hour prep recipe, so I’ve made some slight adjustments to the original recipe to make it quicker and easier to whip up.
This cake still needs time to set after cooking, so make sure to account for that.
It’s still a Magic Cake. But What Is A Magic Cake?
You’re probably wondering what a Magic Cake is, right? Well, it’s a cake that is one batter, but it separates into three different layers as it bakes.
The end result is a light sponge layer on top, a creamy custard layer in the middle, and a dense layer on the bottom. It sounds pretty amazing, right?
Add some lemon zest and juice and you’ve got this deliciously tart version! This cake simply just melts in your mouth!
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How To Make Lemon Magic Cake:
It’s important to pull your eggs and milk out of the fridge an hour or two before baking so that they have time to come to room temperature.
Then, begin by preheating the oven and lining an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Cut slits across from each other on opposite sides of the parchment paper so it sits nicely in the pan.
Next, beat your eggs whites in a stand mixer or large bowl until stiff peaks form.
Transfer the egg whites to a separate bowl and then beat together the egg yolks, sugar, and water until pale yellow.
Add in the melted butter and vanilla and mix until combined.
Mix in the flour and then add the lemon zest and lemon juice and beat until fully combined. Then slowly add the milk while continuing to mix the batter.
Lastly, gently stir in the egg whites, but not completely. The final batter will be lumpy, this is okay – you want those lumps!
Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking pan and bake. Once baked, allow to cool to room temperature and then loosely cover and chill in the fridge for 4 to 12 hours for best results.
Do not put the warm cake in the fridge or condensation can form and ruin the sponge layer of the cake.
Check out this complete guide to Making Magic Cake.
These Lemon Cakes Are So Delicious!
When I started imagining this recipe, I wanted something more than the biscuits in the Game of Thrones cookbook or a standard cake, I wanted something impressive.
I wanted something that was going to wow, something that was worthy of all Sansa’s talk in the books.
I decided that a take on a Magic Cake would be perfect and I wanted to add some extra wow factors too!
So I decided Candied Lemons, powdered sugar, and whipped cream were necessary to really push this dessert out the moon door!
You can make your own candied lemons or I have personally started using the candied lemons from Trader Joe’s, they are super delicious and it cuts more than an hour off of the prep time for this recipe!
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We’ve come a long way in this story and it seems like things are still looking a bit bleak for our favorites.
But I have faith in the Seven Gods that we’ll get a good ending because The North Remembers, and we’ll get our “bloody” revenge!
Right? I mean, we just have to.
Eek! I’m just giddy thinking about this season… that seems a little dark, I know.
Matt is always telling me how weird it is for someone who loves cupcakes and pink so much to also love A Song of Ice and Fire (and other dark things) as much as I do! But hey, that’s me!
Who Will Win The Game Of Thrones?
Also, not to get too deep into theories because well, there’s likely not enough space on the internet for all that. 😉 But I have a strong feeling that Sansa will be one of the only ones left standing in the end.
And as annoying as she was in the early books and seasons, I’d say she about outdid herself with her revenge on Ramsay and Littlefinger, don’t you think?
Who do you think will sit upon the throne in the end – or will the throne even still exist?
Regardless of what comes in the next couple of months, make sure you enjoy each episode with Sansa’s Lemon Cakes in hand!
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Lemon Magic Cake
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This post was originally published on April 6, 2014, and was updated on April 7, 2019, with slight recipe adjustments, written content, and photos.
Sansa’s Lemon Cakes
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients:
- 4 large eggs separated/room temp
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cold water
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups whole milk room temp
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
Lemon Whipped Cream:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons Instant Lemon Pudding Mix dry
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Topping:
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 9 Candied Lemons
Instructions
Cake Directions:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and line an 8x8-inch pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and transfer to a separate bowl.
- Add the egg yolks, sugar, and water to the mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes until foamy and pale yellow.
- Add the melted butter and vanilla and beat for another minute, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the flour and beat until fully incorporated.
- Add in the lemon juice and zest and beat until thoroughly mixed. Slowly add in the milk while mixing until fully incorporated.
- Gently stir in the egg whites 1/3 at a time but not mixing them completely. You want lumps of eggs whites in the batter so the cake bakes properly.
- Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 50 to 70 minutes, the top of the cake should be golden brown and firm to the touch.
- Remove from the oven and let the cake cool completely to room temperature and then store loosely covered in the fridge for 4 to 12 hours before best results.
- Dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar. Slice cake into 9 slices and top with the lemon cream recipe below or just plain whipped cream and candied lemons.
Lemon Cream:
- Add ingredients to a stand mixer or in a bowl and beat on medium-high until you have a light and fluffy cream. Pipe onto cake slices and top with candied lemons just before serving.
Notes
- Cake should be made the day it is served.
- Adapted from Kitchen Nostalgia
- 4 large eggs, separated/room temp
- 1 tablespoon cold water
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup salted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 1/2 cup lemon simple syrup (leftover from candied lemons)
- lemon whipped cream
- candied lemons
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Whip egg whites until stiff and transfer to a separate bowl.
- Beat egg yolks, vanilla, sugar, and water until light fluffy yellow.
- Add butter and beat for another minute or so.
- Add flour and beat until fully combined.
- Add in milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and lemon syrup until thoroughly mixed.
- Beat in egg whites on low until just incorporated, the batter should look a little clumpy, that's okay.
- Pour batter into a greased 8-inch pan, you can also use a 10 inch round pan, but the layers won't be quite as distinct, like in mine.
- Bake for 60 minutes, remove from oven and let set in pan for at least three hours.
- If you are making small cakes, use a biscuit cutter to cut them out of the large cake.
- Top with the lemon cream and candied lemons.
Nutrition
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Reader Interactions
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Comments & Reviews
Sarah says
Do you thinl this recipe work as a cupcake?
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Sarah, I don’t think so, sorry.
Shannon Urzua says
I am in the middle of this recipe right now! 50 to 70 minutes in the oven is a big window do you have any tips to know that it’s done. I read one comment or say it came out to wet, and I do not want that happening to mine!
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Shannon, sorry I’m just seeing this. The cake top should be firm and spring back a bit when touched with a finger. I know it’s a big difference, I have always found that 60 minutes works for me, but others seem to need more or less time depending on their oven.
Ian says
I tried this recipe today to see if everything works out well before the new season, but I have the same problem with the cake being very wet inside. I followed the recipe exactly but it was still wet inside and inedible. What may have gone wrong? Should I increase the oven temperature?
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Ian, thanks for leaving your comment, I just went and looked at my recipe notes again and I had a type in calling for 1/2 cup of lemon juice, it should have been 1/4 cup and has since been corrected in the recipe. However, this amount of liquid shouldn’t have caused your cake to be so wet it was inedible, so chances are it was underbaked. Ovens are hardly ever calibrated and therefore your oven could run cooler or hotter than mine. So I wouldn’t increase the temperature unless you have a calibration thermometer to test it with, but would instead try baking it for longer. You don’t want to risk burning the top and undercooking the bottom. The bottom will be soft, but still sliceable. I hope this helps you troubleshoot.
John says
My wife favorite character is Sansa, and I would like to surprise her with this cake. However, she has a gluten allergy. Do you know if this would work with a good gluten free flour blend?
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi John, for the safest results I would use a 1 for 1 gluten free flour like Bob’s Red Mill, I am not sure how this would turn out with other gluten free alternatives such as almond flour or tapioca flour.
Morgan says
Hi there! I’m planning to be making these for my premiere party this Sunday and also because Sansa is my fav character! Anyways, I noticed you updated the recipe. Would it still work to cut them out in a different shape rather than just slicing them? I have large square cookie cutters with a scalloped edge that I would like to use, If I do that – should I wait until the cake completely cools before I cut and decorate?
Thanks 🙂
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Morgan, yes I updated the recipe so it was fewer steps and time to prepare – better for all those people not thinking ahead for the weekend 😉 You should still be able to cut them, but yes, let cool completely and maybe even put in the fridge for an hour or so before cutting and then let the cake come back to room temperature for serving.
Morgan says
Just an update – the cake was a huge success!
Instead of using the cookie cutters, I decided to slice instead. They cut beautifully and tasted even better.
I brought extras to work the next morning, and my co-workers loved them as well!
Not sure why people say the cake does not turn out for them – the recipe was easy to follow and turned out beautifully! I will definitely be making them again for non-GoT related parties!
Pam says
I made this cake and it came out very wet inside even after over 60 mins of baking and 3 hours cooling (pretty much inedible except for the top layer). I used an 8 inch square pan, and followed directions exactly. Any ideas on what may have gone wrong? I would really like to try again because the flavor was excellent.
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Pam, I am retesting and going to slightly alter the recipe again today to make it a little quicker to make, so check back tomorrow evening or Monday morning as I will have the updated recipe ready then!
Kaylee says
Hoping to get a response quickly, I have exactly 6 hours before our game of thrones party and I’m last minute baking! EEK
Can I make these in a cupcake tray? I don’t have any metal cake tins, and I much prefer baking in metal over glass (heat distribution) but I only have metal cupcake tins.
Will they bake the same?
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Kaylee, Sorry for the delayed reply and unfortunately, I’m really not sure as I’ve only ever made them in a cake pan.
Diane Mueller says
I made these for my Game of Thrones premiere party and my boyfriend went NUTS over them. Admittedly, when I was making it I thought it was going to be a dud due to being the most liquid cake batter I’ve ever used but I was so so so pleasantly surprised at how they did turn out.
I used my petit four pans instead of cutting out circles from a bigger pan (because I hate waste if I can prevent it) and they worked brilliantly. It’s one of the only batters that released from these pans without any problems and was able to retain all the minute details of the molds.
Is there another flavor you can recommend for this? I’d like to make them again for Thanksgiving, but wanted to try something more fall-flavored than lemon (not pumpkin)
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Diane, I’m so glad you enjoyed the cakes! I haven’t tried it with any fall flavors but am hoping to make a maple version in a few weeks! So stay tuned! This would work well with any citrus fruit though!
Joyce says
Hope I get a response by the morning. The lemon sansa cake is cooling. How do I used cutters? Do I take the cake out of the pan and then use the cutter? I’m at a loss.
Rebecca says
What kind of pan did you use? You don’t have to use a cutter if you don’t want to and want to avoid waste, you can just slice. If you would like to use the cutter, I would recommend cutting them out while they’re still in the pan since moving the whole thing out would likely result in a broken cake. Just make sure that the cutter you are using is taller than the cake so that when you cute the pieces out the whole cutter isn’t submerged in the cake. Hope that makes sense.
Maria Phelan says
The recipe sounds wonderful and the photos look delicious. I want to try it out. Do you have a recipe for lemon simple syrup. Thanks for your help.
Rebecca says
Hi Maria, the simple syrup is actually made during the lemon candying process: https://www.sugarandsoul.co/candied-lemons/
Shiina says
Hi,
I would like to make this cake in advance for a party. Do you think I can freeze it and take it out the day before?
Rebecca says
Hi there, I honestly don’t know, I’ve never tried it, but if you do I would keep it as a whole cake and slice it up after it’s thawed.
Melissa says
Hi! I found your post on Pinterest as I’m planning a GoT party for this season’s release. I was wondering if these cakes could be made in advance or if that would adversely affect the texture. Thank you! 🙂
Rebecca says
They definitely should be consumed fresh and they do take a long time to make. I believe I linked to my friend Maggie’s recipe as well and her’s takes less time and can be made the day before, that might be more what you’re looking for!
Laura says
Can you use muffin tins to bake them, if you don’t have a biscuit cutter? Or is it better to leave it as a whole cake?
Rebecca says
I would do the whole cake.
Kat says
How long should I bake it in a 7inch round pan? I did not have an 8inch available. The candied lemons and syrup smell divine. I used some lemon syrup in with the water i used to boil the lemons for the candied lemons. Perfect lemonade!
Rebecca says
Those candied lemons are amazing, I use them on everything! As for the pan, I’m not entirely sure, It’s going to make it thicker, so I would start with an extra 10 minutes and see how it looks. If you find that the edges are starting to brown but the middle still looks really soft, loosely cover with aluminum foil and that will protect the edges while cooking the center. The recipe was adapted from this traditional Magic Cake – You may want to keep it as a whole cake where it will be thicker. http://www.kitchennostalgia.com/desserts/cakes/magic-cake.html
Jade says
The cakes look so good but it sounds so very sweet, but I’m going to try.
fickrj5@gmail.com says
They are sweet, but small portions is the key to these. They have a ton of lemon flavor too!
Maq says
hi! so these are little cuties — but I tried making them last night and they came out — well, they did come out in three layers, at least, but it was a layer of custard almost like flan, a thin cakeylayer, and then meringue like top. the top two look like how your cakes turned out, but the custard certainly doesn’t.
the whole time I was making it I was wondering if it was supposed to be as liquid heavy as it is (what with melted butter, 1 1/2 cups milk, juice from a single lemon, egg yolks, etc) with only 1/2 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup of flour to counteract it, or if maybe i did something else wrong? but by the time i was pouring it into the pan to bake it was almost total liquid due to the additions
i also let it bake (covered so the meringue-like layer wouldn’t get over done) for an extra half hour and the flan layer still never became cake-like
so i guess I was wondering if you had any idea what could have gone wrong or any suggestions for the future?
Maq says
though! i do wonder if that’s how it’s supposed to be? just the pictures look all the way crumbly to me so it makes me worried i messed it up bad XD
fickrj5@gmail.com says
Hey there,
Have you tried the cake, how does it taste? What size pan did you use?
I remember thinking the same thing about how heavy it was with all the liquid, but it should come through fine. I’m a little bit confused about you references to the layers? You said that the top to layers look fine, which should be your custard/sponge cake layers, but then you said the custard didn’t? Some of the photos look crumbly because when I used the biscuit cutters to cut them out some of the top sponge cake layer crumbs came down the side. The custard layer should be the biggest layer and then a thin crust layer on the bottom and a think sponge cake layer… I’m not sure why yours got a meringue layer.
From what I can make out, your cake sounds like it came out correctly. But maybe you were just confused about the proportions of the different layers?
Jaime says
These look SO good! Saw the link to this page while drooling over some of your cookie recipes and wondered…Sansa? Could that be GoT Sansa? 🙂
Here’s to enjoying baking and pink AND GoT!!! I haven’t seen any of the new season yet but I’m hoping to soon!
fickrj5@gmail.com says
I’m so glad you spotted them! It was such a fun post and recipe to work on. I’m a bit of a Game of Thrones junkie so I’m sure it won’t be the last GoT inspired recipe! I’m thinking a Red Viper cocktail 😉 You’ll definitely have to catch up… it’s been an awesome season!
Ellen says
I was going to make this recipe as well tonight, looks yummy! I can’t access the link for the lemon syrup as well. 🙁 thanks!
fickrj5@gmail.com says
Sorry, I had linked to it twice in the post and only updated the first one, both have been fixed. Thanks for letting me know and enjoy!
Nikki says
The simple syrup link still isnt working…
fickrj5@gmail.com says
Let me try to fix it again, so sorry about that.
Sarah says
Hi,
This looks like a delicious recipe that I’m trying to create today! The link to the candied lemon slice and lemon syrup is not working unfortunately. But just wanted to say keep up the great posts! This is the first lemon cake I’ve seen that looks so juicy and yummy!! Excited to try it out!
Happy Eating,
Sarah
fickrj5@gmail.com says
Sarah,
Thank you so much for letting me know, when I transferred my blog to wordpress some of the links broke, I’ll go correct it now! I hope you love them as much as I do!
Brandi White says
I made these yesterday and loved them! I’m not an experienced baker, but they still turned out great. The lemon creme was a wonderful addition. When I candied the lemons, they stayed more of a gummy texture than a hard sugar. Is this correct or should I have done something different? They were still great, but just wanted to make sure.
Rebecca says
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Brandi! Yes, the lemons should be chewy 🙂