Skip to main content

Lemon Cake Layers

This cake has a special place in my repertoire.  It gets requested by aunt Marg for her birthday every year and it never fails to please.  The recipe I follow comes from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook and the one I've linked from marthastewart.com is a slight variation.  The cake is tender, lemony & so scrumptious.  I'll show you how I assembled and decorated these layers for aunt Marg's cake in my next post.  Bookmark this and make it for your next special occasion.




The ingredients are carefully measured out.  Make sure the eggs, butter & sour cream are at room temperature.  Click here for the recipe.

Yield: Two 9"x2" rounds




As I've said before, I always beat my butter before adding the sugar whenever I make a butter cake.



Recipes always say to cream your butter & sugar until pale & fluffy.  This is what pale & fluffy should look
like.  Don't rush this, for it makes a tender cake.



Although this step isn't taken in the recipe, I like to add my zest soon after I've creamed the butter & sugar.  This will help release the essential oil from the lemon rind.  Don't forget to scrape down your bowl.




Add your eggs one at a time & beat well after each addition.  This is done at medium speed.




You want to emulsify the mixture, so it's very important to let each egg do so before adding the next.  You may need to scrape down your bowl.




The lemon juice & sour cream get mixed together.




This rich, thick batter has all of the eggs incorporated.  It's time to add the flour & sour cream mixture in
alternating stages. 




With my spoonula, I alternately add my dry ingredients with my sour cream mixture, beginning and ending
with the dry. 




This is what your finished cake batter should look like.  It's thick, creamy, sweet & ready to be baked.




Promptly divide your batter among your 9" baking pans and pop them into your preheated 350F oven.  As you can see,  I like to weigh my pans filled with batter so that I get even results.  This is definitely a good thing.  The layers bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.





The cake layers out of the oven, cooling on a rack.  Deliciously golden!


These layers can be frosted with just about any icing (don't forget to remove the piece of parchment paper).  A dark chocolate ganache, some seven minute frosting or even a simple dusting of confectioner's sugar would do.  In Martha's Baking Handbook, she uses a lemon buttercream that is so good and so addictive, I suggest you make it.  I'll show you how it's done in my next post.  Cheers!

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank You for Posting!

Popular posts from this blog

Antique Salt Cellars

There was a time when salt cellars played an important role on the dining table for the host or hostess.  As a result of it being such an expensive commodity several hundred years ago, salt was seen as a luxury and it was the well to do that made salt cellars quite fashionable & a status symbol for the home.  A single salt cellar usually sat at the head of the table and was passed around throughout the meal.  The closer one sat to the salt cellar, the more important one was deemed by the head of the household.  Smaller cellars that were more accessible and with an open top became a part of Victorian table settings.  Fast forward to the 20th century when salt was no longer a luxury and when anti caking agents were added to make salt free-flowing, and one begins to see salt cellars fall out of fashion.  Luckily for the collector and for those of us who like to set a table with Good Things , this can prove to be a boon. Salt cellars for the table come in silver, porcelain, cut glass
50 comments
Read more

Collecting Jadeite

With its origins dating back to the 1930s, jadeite glassware began its mass production through the McKee Glass Co. in Pennsylvania. Their introduction of the Skokie green & Jade kitchenware lines ushered in our fascination with this jade color.  Glassmakers catered jadeite to the American public as an inexpensive alternative to earthenware soon after the Depression, both for the home and for its use in restaurants.  The Jeanette Glass Company and Anchor Hocking introduced their own patterns and styles, which for many collectors, produced some of the most sought after pieces.  Companies marketed this beautiful glass under the monikers of jadite , jadeite , jade glass , jad-ite , jade-ite , so however you want to spell it, let it draw you in for a closer look.  If you want a thorough history of the origins of jadeite, collectors’ pricing, patterns & shapes (don’t forget the reproductions in 2000), I highly suggest picking up the book by Joe Keller & David Ross called, Jadei
48 comments
Read more

A Tour of Turkey Hill with Martha Stewart and Friends

Martha Stewart led an intimate tour of her former Westport, Connecticut home and gardens for a few of my friends this past weekend.  From the photographs I've seen of that special day, it was an experience that will be remembered for a lifetime by those who were in attendance.  As much as I regret not going to this momentous occasion, my friends were kind enough to allow me to share their amazing photographs here on the blog. Let's take a tour of Turkey Hill with Martha Stewart and a few of my friends. Without the kindness of Jeffrey Reed, Dennis Landon, Darrin David, Anthony Picozzi and Colin Eastland, this post would not be possible.  It must also be stated that the fundraising event was graciously hosted by the current owners of Turkey Hill, the Bergs. Many thanks to the Berg family for opening up the property. Turkey Hill is the Federal style home that was purchased, renovated and landscaped by Martha Stewart and her then husband, Andy, back in 1970.  It was he
17 comments
Read more