Raspberry Lemon Dream Cake

• Vegetarian

• Produce

  • 6 Lemon, Zest of

• Refrigerated

  • 5 Egg whites
  • 9 Egg yolks

• Condiments

  • 3/4 cup Lemon juice, fresh

• Baking & Spices

  • 3 tsp Baking powder
  • 2 1/3 cups Cake flour
  • 1/4 tsp Cream of tartar
  • 2 7/8 cup Granulated sugar
  • 3 cups Powdered sugar
  • 2 Pinch Salt
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp Vanilla extract

• Dairy

  • 19 oz Butter, unsalted
  • 8 oz Cream cheese
  • 1 cup Whole milk

Found on buttercreamblondie.com

Description

Ingredients

• 6 ounces unsalted butter
• Zest of 3 lemons
• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• Pinch of salt
• 9 egg yolks
• 2 and 1/3 cups cake flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 6 ounces unsalted butter
• 1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• Zest of 3 lemons
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 5 egg whites
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 7 ounces unsalted butter
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 3- 3 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1.2 ounces freeze dried raspberries - this is approximately 1 and 1/3 cups freeze dried raspberries. I get them at Trader Joes.
• 12 ounces fresh raspberries for the top of the cake.
• Tip #104 for ruffles.

Directions

• In a medium size saucepan, melt butter with lemon zest. When melted, remove from heat.
• Whisk in sugar, lemon juice, pinch of salt and egg yolks.
• Place saucepan back over medium-low heat and cook until thickened, whisking continuously. This should take about 8-10 minutes. Keep in mind you want the curd thick enough that it coats the back of a spoon, but do not let it boil.
• Immediately remove from heat and strain the curd.
• Place plastic wrap directly on top of the curd to prevent a skin from forming. When curd cools down a bit, refrigerate until ready to use. Curd should be refrigerated a minimum of 8 hours (I prefer overnight) when using in a cake.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of 2 (8-inch) cake pans with parchment paper and spray the pans with nonstick cooking spray.
• Sift cake flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy, about 5-6 minutes.
• Add vanilla extract.
• Alternate adding the flour mixture with milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Do not over mix!
• In a clean mixing bowl, whip egg whites with cream of tartar on medium speed.
• As the whites start to get frothy, slowly add in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and continue to whip until you have stiff peaks.
• Stir a small amount of the whipped whites into the cake batter to lighten it.
• Fold the remaining whites into the cake batter in two additions. Do not over mix!
• Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans and bake for approximately 30 minutes. Cakes are done when they are set on top and pull away from the sides.
• Set cakes on a cooling rack to cool. If you are not assembling the cake the same day, wrap completely cooled cakes in plastic wrap and freeze until ready to use.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and cream cheese on medium speed for about 5 minutes.
• Start adding 3 cups of powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, so you dont have a sugar shower, scraping down the bowl as needed.
• Put freeze dried raspberries in a food processor and process until you have powder.
• Sift raspberries to remove the seeds. You will have to sift it 2-3 times to get rid of all the seeds.
• Add raspberry powder to the buttercream and continue to mix on medium-high speed until fully combined.
• At this point, you will have to taste the buttercream and decide if you need any additional powdered sugar. I personally like 3 cups, but if you are piping the buttercream you may need to add an additional 1/2 cup of powdered sugar to make it stiffer.
• Slice lemon cakes in half horizontally so you have 4 cake layers.
• Fill a piping bag, fitted with a round tip such as #805, with raspberry buttercream.
• Place first cake layer on a cake stand or cake cardboard and pipe a ring of raspberry buttercream around the edge of the cake.
• Spoon 1/3 of the lemon curd in the center of the cake and spread evenly with a spatula.
• Repeat this process with the remaining cake layers and lemon curd.
• Frost the cake with the remaining buttercream and top with raspberries.
• If you are going to ruffle the cake, do a very thin crumb coat and refrigerate about an hour before you continue.
• To ruffle: Fill a piping bag, fitted with a #104 tip and starting with the fat edge of the tip facing the cake pipe ruffles going back and forth (right to left) while moving the piping bag straight up. Continue around the entire cake.
• To pipe the ruffle border: Hold the fat side of the petal tip towards you (thin facing out) and pipe right over where the vertical ruffles end to cover up the ends.
• Top cake with fresh raspberries.
• Cake is best when served at room temperature.