Recipe: Lemonade Cake
Birthday cakes should be decadent. "First birthday" cakes should be extra decadent! I made this cake for #Kid4's first birthday and it was rich and moist, and turbo-charged with lemon. It is a family favourite, and well worth the effort.
Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease and flour, or line with parchment, two 9" (8 cup) round pans. I use springform pans.
Ingredients:
1/2lb (227g) butter
2 cups (500g) white sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup (125ml) lemon zest (approx 6 lemons)
3 cups (480g) all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 tsp (2.5ml) baking powder
1/2 tsp (2.5ml) baking soda
1 tsp (5ml) salt
1/4 cup (60ml) lemon juice
3/4 cup (177ml) buttermilk
1 tsp (5ml) vanilla
Zest the lemons, set aside. Juice all the lemons, set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy - about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, blending thoroughly between each egg. Add the lemon zest. Set aside.
In a second bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a measuring cup, combine 1/4c of the fresh lemon juice (reserve the rest for the syrup - recipe follows below), buttermilk, and vanilla.
Incorporate half the flour mixture into the batter, then add the liquid ingredients, and finish with the rest of the flour mixture. Divide the batter between the two pans. Bake at 350F for approximately 25-30 minutes, or until they test done.
Allow cakes to cool in pans for 15-20 minutes, then remove from pans and place on a cooling rack on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with lemonade syrup.
Lemonade Syrup:
Over low heat, combine:
1/2 cup (125ml) lemon juice
1/2 cup (125g) white sugar
Stir until sugar has dissolved. Set aside.
Buttercream Icing:
1/2lb (227g) butter, room temperature
1/2lb (227g) vegetable shortening
1 tsp (5ml) vanilla
pinch of salt
2lb (908g) icing sugar, sifted
5 tbsp (75ml) milk
Cream together butter and shortening, with the salt. Add the icing sugar one cup at a time. The mixture will appear quite dry by the time it is all added. Add the milk a little at a time until the icing reaches spreading consistency. Divide in half.
Use half of the frosting to ice between the layers and as a base layer on the cake. Spread thinly on the cake surface and allow the icing to set for about 20 min.
Take the remaining icing, adding a little more milk if necessary, and divide it -- use half to ice the cake, and place half into a decorating bag for accents.