It is starting to feel like Fall around here. This last weekend, I went to Pennsylvania with a couple of friends. I wore a jacket almost the entire time. It was brisk.
One of my friends and I went white water rafting. It was a rush. I have done white water rafting before, but this was the most exciting section of river I have ever rafted. It seemed like the rapids were almost constant.
It was loads of fun. It is nice to get away from the city too. I made this cake for a barbecue a few weeks ago. It was with my old coworkers. One of my coworkers doesn't like chocolate. Very weird, I know. I made a lemon cake so she could have some too.
The recipe came from a booklet from America's Test Kitchen called Great American Cakes. I used a recipe from this booklet to make a confetti layer cake earlier in the summer.
The ingredients for the cake are 4 large eggs, 1/2 cup whole milk, 2 cups cake flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons lemon extract, and 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest. For the filling, I used about 2 cups lemon curd.
For the frosting, I used 20 tablespoons unsalted butter, 4 to 5 cups confectioners' sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoon heavy cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon lemon extract, 1 tablepoons grated lemon zest, and 1/4 cup lemon juice. The original recipe only called for 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, but I did not think that was enough.
To make the cake, I whisked together the milk, lemon extract, vanilla extract, and eggs.
I added the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a stand mixer. I stirred it together with the paddle for a few seconds.
I added the softened butter one piece at a time. I mixed continually. I continued to mix until the batter looked like coarse sand.
I added the remaining egg and milk mixture. I stirred for about 30 seconds.
I then mixed in the lemon zest.
I poured the batter evenly between two nine inch cake pans. I lined the cake pans with parchment and greased the pans. The directions said to use eight inch pans, but I just reduced the baking time a little bit. I baked the cakes for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
While the cakes baked and cooled completely, I made the frosting. I added the softened butter into stand up mixer. I whipped this until smooth. This took about a minute.
I beat in the lemon and vanilla extract. I also beat in the heavy cream.
I gradually beat in the confectioners sugar. I kept adding confectioners sugar until the frosting reached the desired consistency.
I then mixed in the lemon zest and lemon juice.
I cut the cooled caked in half.
I laid on half onto my serving plate. I added about a half or three fourths of a cup of lemon curd on top of the first layer. I spread it out evenly. I added the top of that cake and spread on another half to three fourth cup of curd. I added the next half and then the same amount of lemon curd. I added the remaining cake half cut side down on top of the lemon curd.
I covered the cake in a thin layer of frosting to capture all the crumbs. You are supposed to let it cool in the fridge after this step, but I didn't have enough space in my fridge. Instead I proceeded to cover it with a thicker layer. I first added the frosting on top of the cake.
I evened the frosting on the top and pushed extra frosting onto the sides. I spread out the frosting on the sides, adding extra frosting when needed. Once it was thoroughly coated, I smoothed out the sides as best as I could.
This was an utterly scrumptious cake. It was so bright, lemony, and fresh.
Every component and tang and citrus flavor. The cake was tender and moist.
The curd was a little sour and sweet. It was creamy and smooth. It melded and infused a little into the cake layers.
The frosting also carried a good lemony kick. It was luscious and mousse-like. All the components married wonderful well together. It was decadent and delightful. Each bite was like having a party in my mouth.
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