~Time: about 3 hours ~Level: medium ~Budget: medium.
Lemon cake offers a delightful burst of citrusy flavour that is both refreshing and invigorating. The zesty notes awaken your taste buds and provide a unique and enjoyable taste experience. The natural acidity of lemons helps cut through the sweetness, preventing the dessert from becoming overly sugary and creating a harmonious flavour profile with a perfect balance between sweetness and tartness.The moist crumb of this lemon cake adds even more to its appeal. Even though it's a very gooey cake, the texture is still light and airy, which makes it not extremely heavy.
Lemon cake can be made and enjoyed in any time of the year and is not bound by seasonal constraints. Its bright and sunny flavour makes it a delightful treat in any season, whether you're enjoying a slice in the summer or brightening up a winter day with a citrusy dessert. Next to that it's an impressive dessert on any occasion, whether it's for a birthday party, a casual gathering, or as a sweet ending to a special meal. It's a very versatile dessert that is ALWAYS a good idea.
Gooey Lemon Cake
Ingredients
for the cake:
450g all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
340g butter (room temperature)
450g white sugar
3 lemons
5 small to medium eggs (or 4 large eggs)
360 ml buttermilk
a few drops of vanilla essence
for the frosting:
230g butter (room temperature)
225g cream cheese (room temp)
1 lemon
850g powdered sugar
a few drops of vanilla essence
yellow food colouring (optional)
for the garnish (optional):
½ lemon, sliced
edible flowers
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C and prepare 3 round baking tins (22cm) with butter and flour. If you don't have 3 baking tins of the same size, you can bake them separately. Just keep in mind that the whole process will take a bit longer this way.
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Put aside.
Zest the lemons, then squeeze them. Add the lemon juice to the butter milk.
In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium until creamy. Add the sugar and the lemon zest and mix for about 5 minutes. Then add the eggs one at the time, and then the vanilla. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl from time to time so that all the batter becomes homogenous.
Change the mixer to low speed and add one third of the flour mixture, then half of the buttermilk-lemon mixture, then again on third of the flour, then the other half of the buttermilk, and lastly the resting flour.
Scrape down the sides one last time and make sure everything is well mixed. Then divide the batter over the 3 baking tins and bake for 35 minutes. Use baking strips for more even baking and to prevent the formation of domes in the middle of your cake layers.
While the cake layers are baking and cooling down, you can start with the frosting. Start by zesting and squeezing the lemon. In a large bowl, or the bowl of you stand mixer, beat the butter together with the cream cheese on medium speed for a few minutes. Then add the lemon zest and beat for another few minutes.
Change the mixer to low speed, and gradually add the powdered sugar and the lemon juice, alternating between both. Again, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Lastly, add the vanilla and mix for another minute.
OPTIONAL: Take out about a cup of frosting and put aside. This will be used for the decoration swirls on the top. Add some yellow food colouring to the other frosting to make it look even more lemony.
Once the cake layers are cooled off start assembling the cake. Place the bottom layer on a serving plate. Then spread one third of the (yellow) frosting on top with an icing spatula. Place the second cake layer on top, and spread another third of the frosting on top. Place the last layer on top, and spread the resting frosting on the top and sides of the cake. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
For the decoration, use the frosting that you kept aside. Prepare a piping bag with a star shaped tip and add the frosting to it. Pipe 6 or 8 swirls on top of the cake in a circle. Put the cake back in the fridge until ready for serving.
OPTIONAL: Right before serving, decorate with lemon slices and flowers.
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