LEMON BUTTERCREAM CAKE WITH BUTTERCREAM CHEESE FROSTING

• porții: 9 X 13 pan

Ingrediente

Lemon Butter Cake Ingredients

150 g (5 large) egg whites

63 g (5 tablespoons) white sugar (for meringue 🥚)

10 g (5 teaspoons) lemon zest*

113 g (7 1/2 tablespoons) lemon juice*, freshly squeezed

148 g (2/3 cup) water

375 g (1 3/4 cups) white sugar (for lemon zest 🍋)

140 g (10 tablespoons) butter, unsalted

60 g (5 tablespoons) oil (flavorless like canola)

13 g (2 1/2 teaspoons) vanilla extract

3 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

100 g (5 large) egg yolks**

400 g (3 1/3 cups) unbleached flour, preferably cake***

Buttercream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

509 g (2 1/4 cups) unsalted butter, cold from the fridge

18 g (3 1/2 tablespoons) dried milk powder⟡

21 g (1 1/2 tablespoons) water

255 g (18 tablespoons) cream cheese, full fat⟡⟡

225 g (1 1/8 cups) white granulated sugar

14 g (1 1/2 tablespoons) dried egg white powder or Wiltons meringue powder⟡⟡⟡

2 g (3/4 teaspoon) lemon juice (or other acid)⟡⟡⟡⟡

2 g (1/8 teaspoon) fine sea salt

Instrucțiuni

Lemon Butter Cake Instructions

Preheat the oven.

Move your oven rack to the middle position. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.

Prepare the pan: If you plan on serving inside the baking pan, you can butter and flour the entire interior. If you plan on removing the cake from the pan for further assembly, butter the sides and then lay parchment along just the bottom.

For Chiffon Cakes only: Line the bottoms of the cake (not non-stick) pan(s) with a circle of parchment paper. Don't add anything (oil, flour, or paper) to the sides of the pan. The cake must stick to the sides as it rises to create height and ensure it doesn't deflate.

Make the meringue.

Add the egg whites to a large mixing bowl. Have the sugar (labeled “for meringue 🥚”) in a small bowl so it’s easy to pour. Using the whisk attachment, whip the whites until foamy. Add the sugar a tablespoon at a time, waiting 5–10 seconds between additions. Whip on high until stiff peaks form. Transfer meringue to a small bowl and set aside—no need to clean the mixing bowl.

Zest and juice the lemon(s).

Zest lemons into the now-empty mixing bowl. Juice the lemons into a separate container, filter out seeds/pulp, and stir in the water. Set aside.

Cream the fats with sugar and zest.

Add sugar (labeled “for lemon zest 🍋”)  to the lemon zest and mix with the paddle attachment on medium speed until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add butter, oil, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium-high until fluffy and white, 2–4 minutes, scraping at least once.

Add egg yolks.

Turn the speed up to medium, and mix until the batter is yellow, no longer looks curdled and is smooth, about 2-3 minutes.

Alternate adding the lemon juice mixture and flour.

a. Add half of your lemon juice mixture. On medium speed, mix until fully combined. Scrape down with a spatula.

b. Add half the flour, mix on low speed, and scrape.

c. Next, mix the other half of the lemon juice mixture on low speed and scrape.

d. Add the rest of the flour, mix on low, scrape.

Fold in the meringue.

Spoon ⅓ of the meringue into the lemon cake batter and fold it until you no longer see streaks of meringue. Repeat 2 more times.

Fill the pans: Evenly distribute the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for about 35minutes.

When you shake the pan, the centers should not jiggle. A skewer inserted in the center should only have a few crumbs. If you have a thermometer, the internal temperature should be around 190-200°F/88-93°C.

Cool the cake: Move the pan to a wire rack and allow to cool in the pan. Some cakes will deflate slightly (particularly the chiffons), but all my cakes are designed to be cooled while resting upright in the pans.

Remove cake from pans: If you're not serving your cake in the pan, allow it to cool almost completely before removal. Once the cake pan has cooled down enough to handle, slide a knife around the perimeter of the cake to loosen it, and carefully invert the pan above a wire rack. The cake should fall right out, and you can peel the parchment off the bottom. You can leave the cakes out if your frosting is done, and you're immediately moving to assembly. Usually, if it's more than 30 minutes, I will wrap the cake in plastic to reduce moisture loss. The cakes must be completely cooled before moving on to the assembly.

Cake Notes from Adriana

*I built this recipe using lemons most widely available in American grocery stores. (These are called Eureka or Lisbon lemons and are relatively acidic amongst the lemons.) You could also use Meyer lemons, which are less acidic and will yield a beautifully flavored albeit slightly less sour cake. Or even Amalfi Italian lemons would be amazing (and I’m incredibly jealous if you have access to those.)

**The yellow color of this lemon cake comes not from lemons, but from the egg yolks! For a vibrant, naturally yellow cake, look for eggs that have bright orange yolks.

***Try to use unbleached cake flour (I use KA Flour’s Unbleached Cake Flour) for this recipe. Bleached cake flour tends to be a little too weak and creates a gummy, slightly drier crumb. If you don’t have access to unbleached cake flour, my second choice would be unbleached all-purpose flour. Optionally, you can make a nice DIY cake flour by substituting 15 grams (2 tablespoons) of all-purpose flour from one cup (120 grams) with 15 grams (2 tablespoons) of potato starch.

Buttercream Cheese Frosting Instructions

Prep butter and milk powder.

Cut cold butter into ½ -inch chunks and return it to the fridge. In a small bowl, hydrate milk powder with water, stirring until smooth. Set aside.

Set up a double boiler.

Prepare a double boiler for your stand mixer bowl(Too difficult-- just use a sauce pan for double boiler. Ensure that the bottom of the bowl is as close to the water's surface as possible without directly touching it. Remove the bowl and bring the water to a boil.

Loosen cream cheese.

Add cold cream cheese and sugar to the stand mixer bowl. Whisk on medium speed for at least 2 minutes until the mixture is smooth and slightly grainy. Set that aside while the water heats.

Heat cream cheese mixture.

Place the mixer bowl on the double boiler. Stir the mixture with a spatula, heating until it reaches 170-180°F (78-82°C). Finally, carefully check the texture by rubbing a small amount between your fingers; it should feel smooth, like Vaseline, with no sugar grains. If you feel sugar, keep cooking until it all dissolves. It took longer than I anticipated to get to 170°F.

Add stabilizers.

Remove the bowl from the double boiler and stir in the dried egg white powder and milk powder paste. Place the bowl on your stand mixer, and with the whisk attachment, whisk at high speed for 5 minutes until the mixture thickens to a glue-like consistency.

Emulsify cream cheese with butter.

Gradually add the cold butter chunks with the mixer on medium speed. Increase to high speed once all the butter is added, and mix until the mixture becomes a thick, off-white buttercream, about 1 to 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice (or other acid) and salt to taste and mix on high speed for another minute.

Smooth out air bubbles.

Switch to the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for about a minute to smooth out air pockets. This frosting will firm up slightly as it rests and cools. If the frosting is too soft to work with, chill the bowl in the fridge for 5 minutes, then mix on low until smooth. This is an emulsion, and if one component is too warm/ cold, it may look soupy/curdled. The name of the game here is mixing and patience. It will come together.

Also, if the frosting has been sitting out for more than an hour and you need to frost with it, mix it at a low speed to smooth out all the air bubbles.

Frosting Notes from Adriana

⟡Non-fat, whole, and buttermilk powders can be used in this recipe. Buttermilk powder is my favorite for this recipe as it lends extra creaminess and stability. Most powders are sweet cream buttermilk, but if you can find one cultured, you’ll have an extra-tangy, super-stable cream cheese buttercream.

⟡⟡You can use either block or tub cream cheese for this recipe, just ensure it’s full-fat. I’ve tested Lucerne, Walmart’s Great Value, Target’s Good and Gather, Trader Joe’s, and Philadelphia.

⟡⟡⟡Pure egg white powder is best because it’s 100% egg white protein, whereas Wilton’s meringue powder contains sugar and other ingredients that aren’t as helpful for stabilizing this frosting. I know that some bakers don’t have access to egg white powder, so I’ve tested both.

⟡⟡⟡⟡To increase the cream cheesiness of this recipe, you can add an extra acidic ingredient. My favorite is powdered lactic acid, which I buy from Amazon (here). If you go the powdered route, start with the smallest pinch first, and taste your way up. Lemon juice has citric acid, which also works but has a slightly different tanginess.

Note

https://www.sugarologie.com/cakeculator-result?cake=lemon-butter&pan=9x13-23x33cm-rectangle&frosting=buttercream-cheese-frosting&frostlevel=Medium+Coverage#recipe