Lemon cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and prepare 2 8-9" cake pans with parchment paper and butter
2. Massage the lemon zest into the sugar until it looks fluffy. Add the melted butter and oil and whisk for 2 minutes. Then add the eggs and vanilla and whisk for another 1-2 minutes
3. Sift in all the dry ingredients and fold to combine
4. Lastly, fold in the sour cream and lemon juice
5. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans and bake for 25-28 minutes until done
6. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10-15 min, then turn onto a wire rack and let cool completely

Lemon curd:

1. Mix the water, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, salt, eggs and egg yolks in a nonstick pan, and stir and cook on low heat until they form a thick mixture that coats the back of a spoon
2. Remove from heat and mix in the butter until combined
3. Pass through a fine sieve mesh, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate until fully cooled down

Simple syrup:

1. Heat the water and sugar in a saucepan on medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let cool down fully

Cream cheese frosting:

1. Whisk the butter using the balloon whisk attachment of your stand mixer for 5-7 minutes until it is light and fluffy, and almost white in color
2. Add the sugar and vanilla, and whisk for another ~5 minutes until well combined
3. Add the cream cheese a little at a time, whisking at medium speed, until everything just comes together. avoid mixing too much after the addition of the cream cheese

Assembly:

1. Once everything has cooled down, start assembly. Trim off the domes from the cakes (i.e., level them off) and divide each cake into 2 even layers so you have 4 layers total
2. Place one layer onto a turn table and brush generously with simple syrup. Add a layer of cream cheese frosting, and pipe it around the edges to create a dam. Fill with a layer of lemon curd
3. Repeat until all layers are done. Coat the cake in a thin layer of cream cheese frosting as the crumb coat and let it cool until it is stiff
4. Frost the cake with the remaining cream cheese frosting in any decoration style you like, and top off with the remaining lemon curd
5. Decorate with candied lemon slices if desired, and serve!

Video Tutorial:

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