Lemon Layer Cake

 

This has become my favorite cake. It began as a quest to find a wonderful Lemon Layer Cake recipe. I never found one. But I did find many recipes and out of that muddle I ended up with this. I love it.

 

Please be sure use real ingredients. Real butter. Crisco shortening. Cake flour. And freshly squeezed lemon juice. All those things do make a difference in how the final product tastes.

 

  Lemon Layer Cake

 

1 cup butter, softened

½ cup solid shortening

3 cups sugar

5 eggs, room temperature

2 ¾ cups + 1 tablespoon cake flour

¾ cup milk

¼ cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon extract

¾ teaspoon baking powder

 

Cream together butter and shortening. Add sugar and continue to beat until completely smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each one until well blended. Slowly add flour and milk, alternating between the two. the lemon juice, vanilla extract and lemon extract. Add baking powder last.

 

Line four cake pans with wax paper, using butter generously to coat the bottoms and sides. Divide batter evenly between the four pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until a wood toothpick comes out clean. Remove from pans and let the layers cool.

 

Frosting

 

Two 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, softened

1 cup butter, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

¼ cup lemon juice

Yellow food coloring

 

Beat cream cheese and butter until well blended. Slowly add powdered sugar and lemon juice. Add yellow food coloring to the shade of yellow you prefer. It doesn’t take much.

 

Spread frosting between cake layers and on the top and sides of the cake. Serve immediately or refrigerate. This cake also freezes well.

Candy Cane Cake

This recipe comes from the December issue of Country Living magazine. It has many wonderful recipes and a section on vintage toys and ornaments. I especially loved that. I hope you enjoy the Candy Cake Cake and that you take time to check out Country Living magazine.

I Do recommend that you not use substitutions in the ingredients.  For example, don't substitute regular all-purpose flour for cake flour or margarine for real butter. The same is true for using imitation vanilla flavoring instead of pure vanilla flavoring. Sometimes those substitutions don't matter but cakes just taste better when you use the real stuff.

Candy Cane Cake

3 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
6 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Lightly grease three 8-inch round cake pans and line with parchment. Grease parchment. (I use waxed paper instead of parchment paper.)

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high until pale and fluffy. It takes about 3-4 minutes. Add egg whites, one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour mixture and buttermilk, alternately, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat only until just combined.

Divide batter evenly among the prepared pans.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes, then invert onto racks to cool completely.

7-Minute Frosting

4 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon corn syrup

Bring 2 inches water to a gentle simmer in the bottom of a double-boiler. Place egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, salt, water and corn syrup into the top boiler.. Place boiler over saucepan and cook, whisking on low speed with a hand mixer, until mixture registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer. This takes 8-9 minutes.

Remove top pan and continue to whisk on medium speed until thick, glossy peaks form. This takes 2-3 minutes.

Assembling and Decorating

3 candy canes, crushed (about 1/4 cup)
Store-bought peppermint bark, roughly chopped


Place one cake layer on a cake stand or plate. Top with 1 cup frosting and sprinkle with half of the crushed candy canes. Place second cake layer on top of that and top with 1 cup frosting and the remainder of the crushed candy canes.

Cover top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. Press peppermint bark into the frosting on the sides of the cake.

White Sheet Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

This recipe comes from the September 2013 issue of Southern Living. I rarely ever need a sheet cake recipe. But when I do, it seems that I'm always adapting. I love that is for a sheet cake.

 

The frosting isn't new. This recipe has been around for ages. I would suggest that you refrain from adding all the milk until you're sure you will need it. I've found that with the weather here in the South, sometimes you don't need as much as you do at other times.

 

This issue of Southern Living also includes a wonderful tutorial on how to make a Caramel Sauce and some more fabulous recipes.

 

White Sheet Cake

1 1/4 cups butter, softened
2 1/4 cups sugar
7 large egg whites, at room temperature
3 1/2 cups cake flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until fluffy. Gradually add egg whites, one-third at a time, beating well after each addition.

Sift together cake flour and baking powder. (I just use a whisk.) Gradually add to butter mixture alternately with 1 cup water, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in vanilla. Pour batter into a greased and floured 13 x 9-inch pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. This takes about 1 hour. Remove from pan to a serving platter. Spread top and sides of cake with frosting.

 

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 (16-oz) packages powdered sugar

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.

Stir together milk and vanilla. Gradually add powdered sugar to butter mixture alternately with milk mixture, beating at low speed just until blended after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

If desired, add food coloring to tint to your favorite color.

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

The pumpkin patch at our church is filled with pumpkins of all sizes. It’s just another sign that fall is in the air. The kids absolutely love it and it’s just so much fun to watch them picking out their special pumpkins. Because they’re so affordable, parents can purchase a larger one for decorating and cooking and each child can get a smaller one for as low as 50 cents per pumpkin.

This recipe is perfect for days like this. Instead of walnuts, I would use pecans. Of course, I’ve spent two days picking up pecans and I’m all about using what you have. This recipe comes from the October 1990 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine. Yeah. I have seriously kept it that long. Give it a try.

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups sugar
1 ¼ cups salad oil
3 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 16-oz. can solid-pack pumpkin
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In large bowl, measure all ingredients except walnuts and frosting. With mixer at low speed, beat ingredients until just mixed. Increase speed to high and beat 5 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Stir in walnuts. Pour batter into 10-inch tube pan.

Bake cake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool cake completely on the rack. Frost cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Refrigerate.

Makes 16 servings.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 3-oz. packages cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2-3 teaspoons milk

In small bow, with mixer at medium speed, beat cream cheese and vanilla flavoring just until smooth. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar and 2 to 3 teaspoons milk until it has a thick spreading consistency.