for a generally secular and rather non-religious family {only one of four members attends church while everyone else is rather adverse to their own personal practice of religion, with a healthy dose of the First Amendment thrown in}, we tend to go crazy with the Christian religious holidays. By this, what I mean is that my avowedly atheist and generally antagonistic towards all forms of organized anything {church, state, parties or gatherings of all varieties} grandfather is surprisingly enthusiastic toward Christmas and Easter. I think he just enjoys tables laden with old-fashioned food, but that's just me.
In any case, while mom attended Good Friday services I was dispatched to gather some sort of festive decorations, as last year we did not show appropriate spirit for the holiday. Grandpa prefers we not look like "barbarians" when our lone holiday guest arrives. No joke. Apparently, there is egg dyeing to be done as well. For this holiday, I embarked on my most ambitious layer cake yet. Company arrived {my grandfather's equally outspoken, slightly younger first cousin} and I somehow conquered a four-layer, iced, syrup drizzled lemon cake.
This one is really for my dad: all too often he gets shunted aside in the dessert preference department as he'll eat just about anything. But, I've been dying to work on a serious cake and a springtime yellow one of many steps seemed just about perfect. While trolling through the Saveur website, this one called to me. It won't be overly sweet, with all the lemon zest and juice floating around, and it will be rich with the lemon curd based icing over everything. However, there were multiple issues with the whole process.
To begin with, this recipe uses a lot of lemons. Buy a large bag. I ended up going through ten small lemons, juice and zest from all. As a tip when juicing any citrus, roll the fruit either between your hands or with the heel of your hand along a countertop, thereby slightly squishing the fruit and making it easier to coax the recalcitrant little buggers to give up their nectar.
This is also a project to be spread out over a couple of days. I made the lemon curd {at 11pm, do not ask} and syrup Friday night for a cake to be served Sunday. Saturday afternoon saw the cake itself baked and cooled, the lemon curd turned into icing, and the actual layers and frosting assembled Saturday night. A cake like this really benefits from a night or at least a couple of hours in the refrigerator before serving, lest it not set and get sort of wobbly.
Lemon-Lemon-Lemonx4 Cake {vaguely adapted from Saveur}
Cake Batter:
2 sticks (or 1/2 pound or 16 tablespoons or 1 cup) butter, softened
2 and 1/2 cups flour
2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest, finely chopped
4 eggs
Syrup:
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
Lemon Curd Frosting:
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup lemon zest
1 teaspoon kosher salt
10 egg yolks
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 and 1/2 cups (or 12 tablespoons or 1 and 1/2 half sticks) butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
For the cake, first butter or grease or spray one nine inch springform pan {originally, the recipe called for two pans, but I both lack two pans and prefer to practice my cake cutting skills in unnecessary ways. Feel free to use the original method} Cream the butter, sugar, and lemon zest with an electric hand or stand mixer until light and fluffy, then add in the eggs individually and mix well. Next, alternate mixing in the milk & vanilla and the mixed together dry ingredients {typically, I toss the flour in, then top it off with the salt and baking powder, giving it a toss through the dry mix with my fingers, then bring in the mixer to work everything together} I found this batter to be particularly thick and ended up adding another quarter cup of milk or so to thin it out a bit.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for well over an hour, nearly an hour and a half {if using two pans, it will take about thirty minutes}
Set onto a cooling rack for about five minutes, then run a serrated knife along the edge of the springform pan. Remove the outer edge and allow the cake to cool for another half hour or so, then flip the cake upside down on your hand or a plate, depending upon the coolness of the cake, remove the bottom, then flip it back right side up onto the cooling rake to complete the cooling process.
For the syrup, simply mix together the sugar and lemon juice, then bring to a boil in a small saucepan. Set it aside and allow to cool. {I did this two nights early and refrigerated the syrup in a glass jar}
For the lemon curd {I did this two nights early, refrigerated the lemon curd, then completed the icing the night before}, mix together the sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, and salt in a large saucepan, then add in the yolks, mixing well, then finally the lemon juice. You will want to do this off of any heat. Once everything is well mixed, put the saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Allow it to boil for three minutes, or until it is rather thick. Set it to the side in a large bowl and allow it to cool.
Once cooled, mix together the butter and one quarter of the lemon curd in a separate large bowl until fluffy. Then add half of the remaining curd and mix again, finally adding the rest of the curd and the vanilla while whipping it all to something of a froth. this will take an additional three or so minutes.
To assemble the cake, first cut the chilled cake in half, then each half in half again to make four layers {you need only cut each half in half if you've used two pans to bake it}. To keep from getting icing all over your plate, place paper strips under the edges of the cake to protect the plate. Place one layer on your plate or cake stand, then drizzle it with two tablespoons of the lemon syrup. Frost it not quite to the edges with three quarters of a cup of the icing, then place the next layer on top and repeat. Once you've gotten the final layer sat on top, drizzle with the remaining syrup, then frost the top and sides with the remaining icing.
For something more festive, lightly colored shredded coconut makes lovely grass and small candies could turn the cake top into an Easter garden. However, the cake is delicious enough entirely on its own.
"Be well. Do good work. Keep in touch." - Garrison Keillor
In any case, while mom attended Good Friday services I was dispatched to gather some sort of festive decorations, as last year we did not show appropriate spirit for the holiday. Grandpa prefers we not look like "barbarians" when our lone holiday guest arrives. No joke. Apparently, there is egg dyeing to be done as well. For this holiday, I embarked on my most ambitious layer cake yet. Company arrived {my grandfather's equally outspoken, slightly younger first cousin} and I somehow conquered a four-layer, iced, syrup drizzled lemon cake.
This one is really for my dad: all too often he gets shunted aside in the dessert preference department as he'll eat just about anything. But, I've been dying to work on a serious cake and a springtime yellow one of many steps seemed just about perfect. While trolling through the Saveur website, this one called to me. It won't be overly sweet, with all the lemon zest and juice floating around, and it will be rich with the lemon curd based icing over everything. However, there were multiple issues with the whole process.
To begin with, this recipe uses a lot of lemons. Buy a large bag. I ended up going through ten small lemons, juice and zest from all. As a tip when juicing any citrus, roll the fruit either between your hands or with the heel of your hand along a countertop, thereby slightly squishing the fruit and making it easier to coax the recalcitrant little buggers to give up their nectar.
This is also a project to be spread out over a couple of days. I made the lemon curd {at 11pm, do not ask} and syrup Friday night for a cake to be served Sunday. Saturday afternoon saw the cake itself baked and cooled, the lemon curd turned into icing, and the actual layers and frosting assembled Saturday night. A cake like this really benefits from a night or at least a couple of hours in the refrigerator before serving, lest it not set and get sort of wobbly.
Cake Batter:
2 sticks (or 1/2 pound or 16 tablespoons or 1 cup) butter, softened
2 and 1/2 cups flour
2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest, finely chopped
4 eggs
Syrup:
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
Lemon Curd Frosting:
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup lemon zest
1 teaspoon kosher salt
10 egg yolks
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 and 1/2 cups (or 12 tablespoons or 1 and 1/2 half sticks) butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
For the cake, first butter or grease or spray one nine inch springform pan {originally, the recipe called for two pans, but I both lack two pans and prefer to practice my cake cutting skills in unnecessary ways. Feel free to use the original method} Cream the butter, sugar, and lemon zest with an electric hand or stand mixer until light and fluffy, then add in the eggs individually and mix well. Next, alternate mixing in the milk & vanilla and the mixed together dry ingredients {typically, I toss the flour in, then top it off with the salt and baking powder, giving it a toss through the dry mix with my fingers, then bring in the mixer to work everything together} I found this batter to be particularly thick and ended up adding another quarter cup of milk or so to thin it out a bit.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for well over an hour, nearly an hour and a half {if using two pans, it will take about thirty minutes}
Set onto a cooling rack for about five minutes, then run a serrated knife along the edge of the springform pan. Remove the outer edge and allow the cake to cool for another half hour or so, then flip the cake upside down on your hand or a plate, depending upon the coolness of the cake, remove the bottom, then flip it back right side up onto the cooling rake to complete the cooling process.
For the syrup, simply mix together the sugar and lemon juice, then bring to a boil in a small saucepan. Set it aside and allow to cool. {I did this two nights early and refrigerated the syrup in a glass jar}
For the lemon curd {I did this two nights early, refrigerated the lemon curd, then completed the icing the night before}, mix together the sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, and salt in a large saucepan, then add in the yolks, mixing well, then finally the lemon juice. You will want to do this off of any heat. Once everything is well mixed, put the saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Allow it to boil for three minutes, or until it is rather thick. Set it to the side in a large bowl and allow it to cool.
Once cooled, mix together the butter and one quarter of the lemon curd in a separate large bowl until fluffy. Then add half of the remaining curd and mix again, finally adding the rest of the curd and the vanilla while whipping it all to something of a froth. this will take an additional three or so minutes.
To assemble the cake, first cut the chilled cake in half, then each half in half again to make four layers {you need only cut each half in half if you've used two pans to bake it}. To keep from getting icing all over your plate, place paper strips under the edges of the cake to protect the plate. Place one layer on your plate or cake stand, then drizzle it with two tablespoons of the lemon syrup. Frost it not quite to the edges with three quarters of a cup of the icing, then place the next layer on top and repeat. Once you've gotten the final layer sat on top, drizzle with the remaining syrup, then frost the top and sides with the remaining icing.
For something more festive, lightly colored shredded coconut makes lovely grass and small candies could turn the cake top into an Easter garden. However, the cake is delicious enough entirely on its own.
"Be well. Do good work. Keep in touch." - Garrison Keillor
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