Ruffled Lemon Cake

I think I need a partner. A kitchen partner. You know, one of those creative types. Because, man oh man, I am not skilled in the “make it look pretty” department.

Let me introduce you to my newest victim: the ruffled lemon cake.

I have been itching to make this cake for weeks, wanting to save it for a special occasion. Mainly because I hear eating a whole cake by yourself makes people look at you funny. Anywho. If dear Angela’s baby shower wasn’t the perfect occasion to make a frilly, pastel-colored treat, I don’t know what would be.

Each individual component (cake, filling, icing) came out great, and they tasted oh-so yummy in my tummy. To the point where, after a day of biking many miles to and from the wineries in Woodinville, I opted to eat frosting for dinner instead of a real meal. It’s calcium, right?

At this point, I was feeling good. Like this cake might actually be impressive. And then, I started to decorate.
The ruffle tip was not working well for me, the frosting was too warm and didn’t hold shape, and the filling kept oozing out the sides. I finally gave up on ruffling the sides, learned to cool the frosting, and tried to salvage our little friend.

The result was a lopsided, heap of a dessert that surprised you with a delicious tang and its smart little wit. Recipe is a keeper, but I’ll be accepting applications for a decorator! 

Just for laughs, here is what the cake was supposed to look like verses what it actually looked like. Can you tell which is which?

Ruffled Lemon Cake
Recipe from Kitchen Magpie

Cake
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of butter
1 1/2 cups of white sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups of cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup of milk
4 tbsp lemon zest
1/4 cup of lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans. 
3. Beat together your butter and sugar…then add in your eggs and vanilla. 
4. Whisk together your dry ingredients… 
5. Grate your lemon zest. 
6. Then beat the lemon zest into the butter/sugar mixture. 
7. Squeeze the lemon out until you get 1/4 of a cup. 
8. Fill the remainder of the measuring cup to an entire cup. 
9. Combine the butter/sugar mix with the milk/lemon thoroughly, mixing it on medium speed to get it as airy as possible. 
10. Slowly mix in your flour, by hand, very gently. You don’t want to over-mix the batter. Lift it and fold it over gently, trying not to lose the air you whipped into it the last step. 
11. When it’s just combined, pour into the two prepared cake pans, evenly dividing the batter. 
12. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until the middle springs back when touched or a knife inserted comes out clean. 
13. While the cakes are cooling ,whip up some Lemon Cake Filling. 
14. When the filling and cakes are cooled, layer together. 
15. Whip up some Lemon Buttercream Icing. Grab a Wilton icing tip #103 and fill an icing bag full of the icing. Now, you want to start icing the cake holding the small part of the tip towards the top angled up. Keep on creating ruffles around the cake, throwing the buttercream into the freezer for quick cooling bursts if you sense it’s not holding it’s shape due to the warmth of your hands.

Lemon Cake Filling
Ingredients:
2 tbsp grated lemon zest
2/3 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup of butter
3/4 cup of white sugar
5 egg yolks

Directions:

1. Whisk the cornstarch into the lemon juice completely while it’s cold (thus no lumps) and add in the grated lemon zest as well. 
2. Put the butter and sugar in now as well and heat on a medium burner.Bring to a boil, stirring constantly and let boil for a minute. Remove from the heat. 
3. Take the egg yolks and whisk them until they are light yellow. 
4. You now need to temper the eggs, which means you take some of the hot liquid from the pot and whisk it into the egg yolks completely. 
5. Then you can whisk the yolks into the pot of hot liquid safely, without lumps forming. 
6. Cool for an hour or so until it’s set and thick, ready to be used between cake layers.

Lemon Buttercream Icing
Ingredients
1 cup of salted butter
4 cups of icing sugar
2 tablespoons lemon zest
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons milk

Directions:

1. Whip your butter with the paddle attachment if you have one, or just a general beater with your mixer. 
2. Add in your icing sugar, one cup at a time, beating continously. Now 2 tablespoons lemon zest worked wonderfully for me. Zested peel should not be done on a regular grater, by the way, you need a smaller size, a zester grater, in fact. The size is perfect without being overwhelming chunks in your cooking. 
3. The 3 tablespoons of lemon juice was just perfect for my tastes, zingy and zippy with a sweet background of pure sugar and butter. I then added the 2 teaspoons of cream to thin it out.