The Cake Slice presents: Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake

I joined a group called The Cake Slice this month! It's a neat little group that bakes one recipe a month from a specific book. This year, we're baking our way through Sky High Irresistable Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne. My first cake with the group is the Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake. I decorated mine with little pastel candies as a last resort because I didn't have anything yellow. It ended up looking like a perfect Easter cake! And it was DELICIOUS! The chiffon cake was sooo soft, and the tart lemon filling was just right! I usually don't like whipped cream as frosting, but this was pretty darn good! At first I was afraid about the chiffon part. When I attempted chiffon cupcakes à la Alton Brown, I got less than desirable results. However, these cake layers came out perfectly! I do think they could've used a little help flavorwise. Just a touch of vanilla would've been perfect. But my opinion on lemon desserts is often skewed, as they are not my favorite. Josh is the go-to man when I want an opinion regarding all things lemon. He's usually not a dessert guy, but he will totally scarf down anything lemon flavored. I'm pretty sure he was responsible for at least HALF of the cake getting eaten. One night I sent him home with THREE slices! I think it got his stamp of approval. ;D

Oh yeah... Did I mention... THERE'S A VIDEO!!?? Every time I post a video, I always get comments saying "You should make more videos!" So I made one of the cake making/baking process. Sorry, no video documentation of assembling the cake. My brother came home, and I feel like a total nerd recording myself while other people are around!

Ain't it pretty?? A layer cake I'm actually proud of! I guess the cake was too wide for the lid... :( You could imagine how the cake looked after this lide was remove and replaced a few more times!
The first slice!!
Yum!
After Josh got a hold of it! :)

Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake (from Sky High Iresistable Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne)
Makes a 9-inch 3-layer cake

For the cake:
8 eggs, separated
1/4 cup walnut oil**
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups cake flour*
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
[*1 cup cake flour is equal to 3/4 cup AP flour plus 2 tablespoons corn starch]
[**equal amount either almond oil, hazelnut oil, or canola oil] (I used Canola)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottoms of three 9-inch pans with parchment paper but do not butter or grease the pans.

In a med-large bowl whisk together the egg yolks, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and water.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar on medium speed until light and frothy. Slowly add 1/2 cup of sugar and continue to beat until soft peaks form.

Sift the flour, remaining sugar, baking soda , and salt into a large bowl. Whisk gently to combine. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the egg yolk mixture and mix to create a smooth paste. Add one-fourth of the egg whites and fold in to lighten the batter. Fold in the remaining egg whites and divide the batter among the three pans.

Bake for about 16 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Transfer to wire racks to cool in the pans. Once cool run a knife around the cake to in order to un-mold the cakes. Carefully pull off the parchment paper from the bottoms of the cakes.

To assemble the cake, place one layer on a cake stand. Top with a heaping 1/4 cup of lemon curd and spread it evenly. Repeat with the remaining layers. Frost the top of the cake and the sides with the lemon cream frosting.

Rich Lemon Curd
Makes 1 cup

3 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
grated zest of three lemons
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temp.

Whisk together the whole eggs, yolks, sugar, lemon juice , and lemon zest together in a medium bowl. Transfer to a small non-reactive saucepan. Gently heat the mixture, whisking until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. make sure not to boil the mixture. Pour the mixture through a sieve into a heatproof bowl. Stir in the butter and cover the curd with plastic making sure the plastic touches the curd. This should prevent a skin from forming on the curd. Refrigerate until cold. Then remove 3 tablespoons of curd and set it aside for the icing.

Lemon Cream Frosting
Makes 3 1/4 cups

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoon lemon curd

Whip the cream and sugar in a large chilled bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold in the lemon curd, forming a stiff frosting.