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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!

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