Preheat the oven to 350°F

Prepare your pans. You can use 8” or 9”round pans. I used two 8” pans. ⭐️Cut parchment paper circles to fit the bottom of the pans. ⭐️Grease and flour the pans. ⭐️Place the parchment paper circle in the bottom of the pans. ⭐️Grease and flour the parchment paper.

Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside. Also, prepare your lemon zest and set it aside as well.

Using a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk the oil and shortening until they are well blended.

Add the vanilla and lemon extract, then whisk again.

Add the room temperature eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition. ⭐️ Make sure that the eggs are room temperature. This will help the eggs blend well and this is essential for making the cake rise. ⭐️ Take your time with this step and make sure that the mixture is smooth, creamy, and an even yellow color.

Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. In the next series of steps, you will alternate adding the dry ingredients and buttermilk. You will have 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 additions of buttermilk. Start by adding the lemon zest as well as one third of the dry ingredients. Fold the batter by hand until no dry floury streaks remain. However, work slowly and gently with the folding step; do not overmix!

Add half of the buttermilk and repeat the folding process.

Add another third of the dry ingredients and fold again.

Add the remaining buttermilk and fold again.

Finally, add the last third of the dry ingredients and fold again.

Divide the batter between the two prepared pans. Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick tests clean.

Transfer pans to a wire rack and allow them to cool until they can be safely handled.

Remove the cakes from the pans and allow them to cool completely on wire racks. In the picture, the cakes are cooling upside down.

While the cakes cool, make the frosting. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy and smooth. This will take about 5 minutes. (I used a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, but a hand mixer would also work well here.) Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time and continue beating until everything is well blended and smooth. Add the lemon extract and lemon zest and beat again until everything is well mixed.

To decorate the cake, line a plate with strips of overlapping wax paper. Place one of the cake rounds in the middle of the strips.

Spread a thick layer of lemon curd onto the top of the cake, then stack the other cake round on top, and fill in any gaps with additional curd.

Frost the sides of the cake. When you frost the top, leave a circle of unfrosted cake. Then, fill in the circle with lemon curd, and decorate as desired. I used a frosting bag and tip to create rosettes as shown. I also added some candied lemon zest as decoration.

Refrigerate the cake until you’re ready to eat it. The cake will keep in the refrigerator for about four days. This cake did not last very long at the party! 🥳