Lovely Lemon Buttercream Cake!

There really isn’t anything more satisfying than cake is there?  Cake, and coffee after a good meal… need I say any more?

Lemon flavors are really popular in our house, especially with my husband Darryl! The one way to his heart  is through CAKE! I have to admit.  I love, love, love cake.  I mean love. Now just to warn you this is not a healthy cake by any means. Cake is one of those things that in my opinion should never be made healthy. Cake is cake and it should be made  the way God designed Cake to be.  Sugary, Buttery, and with lots of icing!!!  Take your comments and complaints with this concept at the comment section if you have any objections!  🙂

Today’s feature:  Lemon cake with lemon Curd, Black berry filling, and topped with lemon buttercream. Are you drooling already?  Oh, I know I am and so is Darryl right beside me… Just please don’t drool on my new computer. That would not be cool.

When I make this type of cake I really like the old-fashioned look with a really casual approach to putting the icing on. This is not the type of cake to stress about. It’s just cake.

So here it is. I know some of my family has been begging me for this recipe. So it’s out of the vault and into all of your hands.

Perfect Party Cake  ( Lemon Cake)

(Recipe from:  Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from My Home to Yours (page 250))

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk with 4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

To Make the Cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
Beat in the extract, then add one-third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean
Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.
Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream
Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.
The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.
Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.
On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.
You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

I should note, I did not make the above recipe of swiss buttercream. I went with the conventional buttercream made with icing sugar. If you need a good recipe for this type of buttercream just speak up.

Now the Biggest secret to baking good cakes… Make them often to perfect your abilities…. Yes, you heard me right.

Have fun and don’t forget to lick the spatula clean. That’s what we do in our home, How about you?