I was going for a moist, fluffy, light lemon cake. My results, Chunky. Apparently. I would call it dense. It was not dry, it just wasn't light, or fluffy.
I did do a few things that I did like. I made a lemon infused simple syrup, that was tasty! (Especially in the Lemon Drops I was required to consume following my non success.) But I didn't take a picture of the syrup. I took this one instead. I just love it!!
While I let my cakes cool, I made a lemon curd (no picture) and Raspberry Puree that would be used to tint and lightly flavor my frosting. That was easy to make. Puree Raspberry (or your fave fruit), and strain to get all the seeds out (you dont need to strain, although for raspberries I recommend it). And then mix a 1/4 of a cup or so into your fave frosting recipe. I was using a simple buttercream. 2 sticks (1 cup) of butter, 1 lb of powdered sugar. Where you would normally add a few tablespoons of milk to reach desired consistency, I added the raspberry puree. The frosting received rave reviews!
My next task was putting all the components together. Cake Layer one. Spread a little of the Lemony Simple Syrup onto the top of the cake. Outline cake with frosting to attempt to keep filling inside. Spread Lemon Curd. Spread Seedless Raspberry Jam (not homemade).
Rinse and Repeat. Really you don't rinse anything. It just sounded witty at the time. That time has passed.
Top Layer of course still gets the lemony syrup but does not get any filling. It does however get a big ol' scoop o' frosting!
I don't generally use any kind of a fruit filling. So this was kind of new for me. I may have overfilled. Because this happened when I tried to frost it.
There do you see it? The layers slid! Slid!! The only other time any cake layer of mine slid was when I let the crazy Side O Beef drive with a Black Forest Cherry Cake in the car. That made me cry a little. I don't want to talk about it.
It may have looked slightly askew, but my taste testers were geared up a ready for a sample. I wish I had a picture of their excited faces. Instead, I have this.
That is my wonderfully fancy cake cutter that everyone is jealous of. Admit your jealousy freely, it will help you to move on. That is my Lemon Drop that everyone is jealous of. Admit your jealousy freely, it wont help you move on though. You need to drink one first. That would also be my cluttered counter top. Nobody is jealous of that. They all just feel sorry for me. Oh, and that, my lovely friends, that is a container of bacon grease. It was my New Years resolution. Pioneer Woman made me do it, and I am never going back!
Let's Dig In!!
This is where the SoB says, "Wow! That Looks Chunky!" Lovely isn't he? Although I will (again) mention, I need his criticism. Nobody else really gives it to me. They Ooh and Aah and then go throw up in silence so as to not hurt my feelings. What lovely taste testers I have! My mother in law even tried to tell me that she went to "The Place" where they had this cake that I was trying to replicate, and she tried to tell me that mine was better! HA! I love her. Her lies make me happy.
Time for a piece of cake...Chunky Cake.
It wasn't a bad cake. It really was pretty tasty. I just couldn't get past the texture of the cake, as it was not what I had intended. But I realized my mistake. In my attempts to "wing" it with a recipe. I tried to replace some of the milk liquid with some lemon juice. A fine idea. Except when you add them together. Being as that created a buttermilk. And that does not make for a fluffy cake. I am going to attempt another lemon cake. But at the suggestion of a wise man, I may be trying a Lemony Goodness Lemon Drop Cake. How tasty does that sound? I will keep you updated on my endeavors.
Next time, I promise something useful for you all. A recipe. An easy, tasty, inexpensive recipe! Also, I promise it wont be a week until I post it.
Peace out Homies!
