the cake walk, and a lemon layer cake with lemon cream cheese frosting
The annual carnival at my daughter’s elementary school was this weekend, heralded by a two-week onslaught of fundraising forms and letters, requests for silent auction donations, treasure box prizes, volunteers, and cakes for the cake walk. I did my best to tune out all the notices flying at me, by way of email and the weekly homework folder, but when Madeline begged me to please, please donate a cake, I had a hard time telling her no.
The deadline was Friday morning by 10am, and of course, I didn’t commit to bringing one until mid-week last week. A couple of hectic days at work and late meetings – and, let’s face it, apathy – kept me from doing what I needed to do to get that cake baked. So, hanging my head in shame, I dropped Maddie off at school on Friday morning with a cake box from Publix, a little ladybug cake with red and black frosting – made by the grocery store bakers – nestled inside. I know, I know. How could I?
Truthfully, I didn’t expect to admit my slacker-parenting out loud to anyone, especially any one who knows how much I adore cooking. But, the guilt has been tugging at me, so I needed to get it out there.
The carnival was better than last year – more organized, and with great volunteers running the games and activities smoothly. No thanks to me, of course. I ignored those volunteer request forms.
What drew my daughter’s attention, naturally, was the cake walk. The essence of the game is that twenty people, kids or adults, played a sort of musical chairs. The chairs were numbered, and whatever number you happened to be sitting on when the music stopped was your number. The leaders of the game called out three or four numbers at random, and if your number was called, you won a cake. They played the music three times with each group of people, and at least 6 out of the 20 contestants won cakes, getting to choose their prize off the cake-laden table in the back of the room.
Madeline insisted we play, so we did. After the first losing round, her competitive nature kicked in, and she demanded we go back to the end of the line and try again. After the second losing round, she was in tears. I promised to bake a special cake at home, and I reassured her that my cake would be better than that store-bought Publix cake she was so hoping to win back. Oliver seemed happy with that plan, but it didn’t have a real effect on Maddie. Sam and Madeline lined up for a third try at the cake walk while Oliver and I got snow cones.
The third try was definitely not the charm. No cake prize.
I’m not sure how we got over the devastation of losing the cake walk game three times, but thankfully, we did. Since then, though, all I’ve heard is that the cake walk is not a fair game. It’s clearly rigged.
When we got home Saturday afternoon, I started baking this lemon layer cake. I did it in part to soothe my daughter’s soul, hoping to make up for the sense of injustice that she felt. And I also did it for me, to assuage my guilt for having sent my daughter to school with a store-bought cake. A store-bought cake that stood out like a sore thumb on that cake table in the classroom where the cake walk was held.
Madeline feels better today. I do too. Amazing what a slice of cake will do to improve one’s mood.
Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
This cake would make a lovely celebration cake for a baby shower or birthday, or really, anytime you just want to make someone feel better. I used regular lemons for this cake, but if I'd had Meyer lemons on hand, I certainly would have used those.
Makes two 9-inch round cake layers and about 4-1/2 cups frosting.
Ingredients:
Ingredients for Cake:
3 cups (11.25 ounces; 315 grams) cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1-1/2 cups (12 ounces; 3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups (14 ounces; 392 grams) granulated sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
Zest of one lemon
1 cup milk, room temperature
7 large egg whites, room temperature
Ingredients for Frosting:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
Zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 box (16 ounces; 453 grams) confectioners sugar
Directions:
To Prepare Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans, line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment paper, then butter the parchment. Lightly dust the cake pans with flour, shaking out excess. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, and scraping down sides of bowl as needed, beat butter and 1-3/4 cup sugar about 3 to 4 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in extracts and lemon zest. With mixer on low speed, add the flour and milk in an alternating fashion (starting and ending with flour), and beat until just combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.
In a clean bowl and using the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low until foamy. With mixer running, gradually add in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Beat on high speed until glossy, stiff peaks form, about 4 minutes, taking care not to overbeat. Fold 1/3 of the egg white mixture into the flour/butter mixture, incorporating the egg whites completely. Repeat this two more times until all of the egg white mixture has been folded into the cake batter completely.
Divide batter between the two prepared cake pans, smoothing batter, then bake for 30-35 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center of each comes out dry. Cool on a rack for about 20 minutes, then invert, peel off parchment, and re-invert cakes so they cool completely with the top facing upward. When completely cool, frost with cream cheese frosting, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
To Prepare Frosting:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat together cream cheese, butter, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add in sugar, beating until completely blended. Cover and refrigerate to allow the frosting to firm up some and until ready to use.
Print
Beautiful cake, lovely story MJ. You’re a great mum xo
I love the power of a slice of cake. You are one good mama! And just imagine how sad Madeline would have been had you made that in the first place and not won it back. PS—the crumb on that cake looks perfect!
Lovely cake.. Lovely story… loving Mom!
Hide your head in shame. EVERYONE knows homemade cakes are the “soul” of the cake walk. Glad you made this beautiful cake for my grandchildren, though.
I feel your shame, although I do not profess to be a fabulous baker like you. I still send Publix cookies to every party request and ignore all the volunteer forms. I’m glad you baked your daughter a cake for home instead. That way it didn’t go to someone who won that unfair game. 😉
Mighty-Mom in my book. You showed up, and I’ll bet somebody loved that red ladybug cake. Now we all have this beautiful essay and image and the scoop on the cake. I’m giving you a gold star and a no-homework pass.
A lovely lovely cake! Your daughter is one lucky girl. 🙂
I bet all the little girls begged for that lady bug cake! 🙂 your homemade cake wouldn’t have been appreciated as much as it was by your two little sweeties at home…I always feel guilt about pretty much everything when it comes to my kids MJ, and I swear, like you, sometimes baking or cooking them something with love kind of undoes all the guilt and makes it all better…
sending you a mommy hug…and can’t wait to see you in a couple of weeks! 🙂
This cake looks splendid. I adore lemon. It should remove all the guilty feelings about the store-bought cake and replace them with guilty feelings about gaining weight after you eat the entire thing. At least, that’s what I’d do.
MJ, I totally hear you on the barage of emails/volunteer forms/fundraising stuff from school. It’s enough to drive any working parent crazy. The cake looks wonderful. Can’t wait to see you in less than two weeks!
When i saw your picture, i went oh bloooody I want this! Well, its better that you lost in the game and made this i guess 😉
A splendid and festive cake like this is really a celebration by itself. I love the elegant presenation.
Elegant perfectly describes this cake. My mouth is watering for a slice!
I can see why you would be disappointed… but this cake looks like a winner to me and I’m glad that baking it and eating it together made you all feel better.
Dessert, especially cake, heals all! I love lemon desserts and this sounds fabulous. Absolutely gorgeous!
Thank you Madeline! Without whom I never would have seen your instagram, had the recipe e-mailed to me and then made toot sweet for my Sunday family dinner. It was sooo delicious, even though I ran out of cake flour and only had one brick of cream cheese. But with a couple of substitutions, it was still divine and a hit with the fam. Thank you, thank you!
I’m pretty sure this cake makes up for it, wow. I’m also pretty sure this would be far tastier than any cake you’d win at the carnival 😉
As the mom of 2 grown kids and one almost, I can say there’s never a moment when you sit back and think you’ve done everything just right. You can always think of something you “should” have done. So, I would have felt just as you did! But usually the kids care much less about the things we obsess over than we do. Beautiful lemon cake and beautiful ways of taking care of your family.
Sooooo in love with all the lemony bliss in this perfect layer cake!
Pingback: Friday FoodGawker Favorites « foodie fabulista
Pingback: Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting | The Merry Gourmet
I had to laugh at your mom’s comment 🙂 I’m sorry Madeline did not win a prized cake but I commend her for not easily accepting defeat. You were sweet to sooth her feelings (and your unnecessary guilt) by making this great looking cake.
Pingback: Tasty Tuesday «
Pingback: silence, spring and strawberries Running With Tweezers
Made this for my brother’s birthday today and everyone loved it! So surprised with how dense it was, but still moist! Thanks for sharing!