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lemon-cake-vanilla-frosting.md

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lemon cake with vanilla bean frosting

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 3 cups (375g) cake flour
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1-1/4 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 Tbsp lemon zest (from about 5 lemons)
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 5 large eggs, at room temperature

Filling:

  • 4 oz. mascarpone or cream cheese, cold
  • 2-1/2 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1-1/4 cups (150g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  • 2 tsp lemon extract
  • Zest of 1/2 a lemon
  • 1 cup heavy cream, chilled

Frosting:*

  • 26 Tbsp (3 sticks plus 2 Tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3 cups [350g] confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp heavy cream

*Note: This will make a bit more frosting than you need for the cake. You can scale it down a bit or just have left over frosting…always a good thing in my book.

Candied lemon slices (optional):

  • 1-2 whole lemons, preferably organic
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water

Equipment

  • 3 8-inch round cake pans
  • Medium mixing bowl
  • Stand mixer with whisk and paddle attachments

Directions

Cake:

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour the sides of 3 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper.

  • In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Combine the buttermilk and the vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup.

  • Add the sugar and lemon zest to the bowl of a stand mixer. Rub the lemon into the sugar using your fingers, until moistened and fragrant. Add the butter, and cream using the whisk attachment, on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes, until light and creamy in color.

  • Switch to the paddle attachment and mix in the eggs one at a time until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. On low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing just until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.

  • Divide the batter between the prepared baking pans. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-22 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Let cool in the pans about 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely (a couple hours).

Filling:

  • Combine the mascarpone and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth and well combined. Mix in the confectioners’ sugar and beat on low speed until incorporated. Blend in the lemon extract and lemon zest. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and set aside.

  • Wipe out the mixer bowl and fit with the whisk attachment. Add the heavy cream to the bowl and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form, being careful not to overbeat (it starts breaking apart). Mix 1/3 of the whipped cream into the lemon-mascarpone mixture to lighten. Gently fold in the remaining whipped cream until no streaks remain and the mixture is evenly blended.

Frosting:

  • Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the confectioners’ sugar to the bowl and mix on medium-low speed just until incorporated. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean pod into the bowl and add in the salt. Continue to beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Mix in the vanilla extract and heavy cream on low speed just until incorporated. Increase the mixer speed and whip on high speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed, about 4 minutes.

Candied Lemon [optional]:

  • Wash and dry the lemons thoroughly. Use a sharp serrated knife to make very thin slices of lemon. Poke out any seeds in the slices. Combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon slices to the mixture so that they are in a single layer (none overlapping), reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer about 20 minutes, turning the slices at least once so both sides are candied. Remove from the heat. Store in a container with the syrup until ready to use.

Assembly:

  • Level cake layers if necessary. Place one of the layers on a serving platter. Top with half of the lemon & mascarpone mixture and smooth in an even layer. Place a second cake layer on top of the filling and top with the remaining filling. Place the final cake layer on top. Frost the top and sides of the assembled cake with the vanilla bean frosting. Use a pastry bag with a decorative tip to pipe accents on the cake. Garnish with the candied lemon slices.

Notes

My stand mixer bowl weighs 650g, so if the whole thing weighs 2250g, thats ~520g per pan (accounting for some waste)

From https://everydayannie.com/2011/08/19/lemon-layer-cake-with-vanilla-bean-frosting/