The Cake Slice presents: Marbled Lemon Blueberry Butter Cake

Sorry I'm late! This new job is keeping me so busy, but I love it so I'm not complaining! I was supposed to post this entry yesterday with all of the other Cake Slicers, but as soon as I got home from work my mom swooped me up and took me to the mall to go cell phone shopping. I made this cake waayyy back at the beginning of the month. It was delicious, and the entire thing got eaten during wing night! That rarely happens! I'm gonna chalk it up to the fact that I only made half the recipe. I baked it in a 13X9 pan and then cut it into three "layers" to make a rectangular cake. I had a hard time marbling my batter, and when the cake was sliced you couldn't really tell it was marbled. But it was still yummy! The homemade blueberry filling was the best part! I wasn't a huge fan of the whole-egg buttercream. I would've MUCH rather had Swiss meringue buttercream, and Josh agreed with that! Other than that little tidbit, the cake was awesome! Another great choice for The Cake Slice!

See? The marbling looks pretty from the top... This is how I cut it to make a rectangle-shaped cake. I thought I was going to have problems with my buttercream. After whipping the eggs with the sugar syrup, I got SOUP! But it all worked out in the end... And I'm pretty darn proud of the way I decorated the top! ;D ...the marbling is indistinguishable, but it's still pretty!

Marbled Lemon Blueberry Butter Cake (from Sky High: Irresistable Triple-Layer Cakes)
Makes one 8-inch triple-layer cake

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1½ tsp lemon extract
7 egg whites
3 cups cake flour
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1¼ cups milk
Fresh blueberries, for decoration
Lemon blueberry preserves (below)
Lemon buttercream frosting (below)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of three 8 inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper. In a mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, lemon zest and lemon extract until light and fluffy. Gradually add the egg whites 2 or 3 at a time, beating well between additions and stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, whisk gently to blend. In 2 or 3 alternating additions, beat the dry ingredients and milk into the butter mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl several times. Beat on medium-high speed for about 1 minute to smooth out any lumps and aerate the batter. Scoop 1 cup of the batter into a small bowl. Divide the remaining equally among the 3 prepared pans, smoothing the tops with a spatula. This gives you a smooth surface to work with. Add 2½ tbsp of the lemon blueberry preserves to the reserved batter and blend well. Drizzle heaping teaspoons of this blueberry mixture over the batter in the pans. Use a skewer to swirl the blueberry mixture in short strokes to drag it down through the lemon batter without mixing it in. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester or skewer stuck in the centre comes out clean and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Lat the layers cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack, peeling off the paper and leaving to cool completely.

Lemon Blueberry Preserves
3 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
¾ cup sugar
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1½ tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp grated fresh ginger

Puree the blueberries with any juices that have exuded in a blender. Pass the puree
through a coarse strainer to remove the skins. In a heavy medium saucepan, combine the blueberry puree with the sugar, lemon juice, zest and ginger. Bring to a gentle boil over a medium heat, stirring often for 20 minutes, or until the preserves have thickened and are reduced to 1 cup. To check the proper thickness place a small amount of a saucer and put in the freezer until cold. Drag your finger through it. If a clear path is made through the preserve then it is ready. Let the preserves cool before using. (Can be made up to 5 days in advance).

Lemon Buttercream Frosting
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
2 eggs
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue to boil without stirring, occasionally washing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush until the syrup reaches the soft-ball stage, 238 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Immediately remove from the heat. In a large mixer bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beast the eggs briefly. Slowly add the hot syrup in a thin stream, pouring it down the sides of the bowl; be careful to avoid hitting the beaters or the syrup may splatter. When all the syrup has been added, raise the speed to medium,-high and beat until the mixture is very fluffy and cooled to body temperature. This can take 15-20 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and gradually add the softened butter 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time, beating well between additions. As you’re adding the last few tablespoons of butter, the frosting will appear to break, then suddenly come together like whipped butter. Beat in the lemon juice, and the frosting is ready to use.

To Assemble
To assemble the cake, place a layer, flat side up, on a cake stand. Spread half of the lemon blueberry preserves over the top. Place a second layer on top of the first and spread the remaining preserves over it. Finally place the third layer on top and frost the top and sides with the lemon buttercream. Decorate with fresh blueberries and serve.

The Cake Slice presents: Piña Colada Cake

For the June installment of The Cake Slice, the bakers made the Piña Colada Cake from Sky High: Irresistable Triple-Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne. It's a brown sugar cake, filled with tangy pineapple filling, and frosted with coconut meringue buttercream (again, the recipe makes Italian meringue buttercream, but with a few changes I Swissed it up!). Stephanie from Cram It In Your Face is staying with me this week, and she helped me make it. If you remember from last month's Cake Slice recipe, I baked it at Stephanie's house and I did all the work! This time I put her to work! We omitted the rum soak because I don't like the flavor of alcohol when it's not cooked out a little. Stephanie and I both agreed that the cake needed more coconut flavor. I think next time I'd make extra coconut frosting and put some in the middle on top of the pineapple filling. Also, we felt that the coconut milk gave the frosting an "off" flavor. Next time, I'd leave that out and use coconut oil instead of coconut extract. But I'm the baker, so I'm the worst critic. The wing nighters loved it and gave it 5 stars!

See how the other bakers fared this month by clicking here!

Here's me measuring water (because I used buttermilk powder), but I wanted to show my newest fashion statement... pink hair! I put Stephanie to work this time!
I don't know how I could survive without my cake leveler!
Stephanie is the queen of action shots! ;)
Mmm that pineapple filling is BOMB!
Another action shot... and props to my cake turntable, thanks for the help!
Sorry for the lighting... it was so cloudy!!
Stephanie and I shared the first slice, the fruit of our labor!!

Piña Colada Cake
from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne

Brown Sugar Cake
3 3/4 cups cake flour
1 3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
5 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and line the base of three 9inch cake pans.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Whisk gently to combine. Add the brown sugar, butter and 1 1/2 cups of the buttermilk to the dry ingredients. With the mixer on low blend to incorporate. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
Whisk the eggs with the remaining 1/4 cup buttermilk and the vanilla and add to the batter in 3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl well and beating only long enough to incorporate between additions. Divide the batter between the 3 pans.
Bake for 25-28 minutes or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the layers cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks, carefully peel off the paper and allow to cool completely.

Pineapple Filling
1 can (20 ounce) crushed pineapple in juice (no added sugar)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 one-inch piece of vanilla bean split in half (We used 1 tablespoon vanilla extract)

Combine the pineapple, sugar and lime juice in a pan. Scrape the vanilla seeds into the pan too. Warm over a medium-low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, 2 to 3 minutes.
Raise the het to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the juices have almost completely evaporated and its turned jam-like in consistency (This took us about 10 minutes). Let the filling cool completely before using. (Can be made a day in advance and refrigerated)

Coconut Buttercream
3 eggs whites
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water (We omitted this)
2 1/2 sticks (10 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature (We reduced this to 2 sticks)
2/3 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 tsp coconut extract

(We changed this to make it Swiss meringue buttercream. Whisk the egg whites and sugar over a double boiler until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed for 6-8 minutes, or until mixture is fluffy and cool to the touch. Switch to the paddle attachment. On medium speed, add butter a few tablespoons at a time. When all the butter has been added, increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture becomes very thick and smooth, about 3 minutes.)
Put the eggs whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whip attachment so they are ready to go.
Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and place over a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring to the boil and cook without stirring until the syrup reaches the sold boil stage, 238 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
Beat the egg whites briefly at medium speed. Slowly add the hot syrup in a thin stream, being careful to avoid the beaters. Continue to whip until the meringue has cooled to body temperature.
With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the butter, several tablespoons at a time and continue to beat until a smooth fluffy frosting forms.
Add the coconut milk in several additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl well after each addition. Add the coconut extract and mix until smooth.

To assemble
9 tbsp rum – light, amber or dark
Coconut flakes and thin slices of pineapple

Place one layer flat side up on a cake stand. Sprinkle a generous 3 tbsp rum over the cake. Spread half of the pineapple filling over the layer, leaving a small gap around the edge. Add the second layer, sprinkle with more rum and cover with the remaining pineapple filling.
Top with the third layer and sprinkle with the remaining rum. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the coconut buttercream.
Decorate with some thin shreds of coconut and slices of pineapple if wished.

The Cake Slice presents: Mile-High Devil's Food Cake w/ Brown Sugar Buttercream

This month, The Cake Slice bakers made the Mile-High Devil's Food Cake from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes. We had a choice to make either a 7-minute frosting or a meringue buttercream, both of which are flavored with brown sugar. Of course I chose to make the meringue buttercream (I made it Swiss-style instead of following the Italian-style instructions in the recipe, as I am the self-proclaimed "Queen of SMBC!"). I made this cake at my cousin Stephanie's house while I was in North Carolina for Mother's Day. We LOVE to bake together, but she lives so far away that we hardly ever see each other. Making the cake was supposed to be a joint effort, but I did all the work while she took pictures. She's lucky I love her so much! ;P

The recipe calls for making the layers in 8-inch pans. We made ours in 9-inch pans, and the batter rose perfectly to the top. If you make these in 8-inch pans, make sure they are at least 2 inches deep! It was quite an experience trying to make the Swiss meringue buttercream without my stand mixer. Stephanie's stand mixer only came with the paddle attachment, so I wasn't sure the SMBC would come together without the whisk attachment. However, it IS possible! After heating it over the double boiler, we poured it into the bowl of the stand mixer and beat it with a hand mixer on high until it was cooled. My arms were about to fall off because it took about 8 minutes! At this point, it was still soupy, not at all like the thick, marshmallowy consistency you get when you whip it with the whisk attachment in a stand mixer. We attached the bowl to the stand mixer with the paddle attachment and turned it on high. I didn't think the paddle would fluff up the meringue, but it did! After a few minutes, it became fluffy just like if we had used the whisk! We added the butter (only 2 1/2 sticks, because that's the amount I usually use for 5 egg whites). It did it's usual "curdle-before-magically-transforming-into-perfect-frosting" thing. Then, not only did I bake the cake... I got stuck frosting the cake... my least favorite part of cake-making! It was well worth the struggle because the cake was SO DELICIOUS! It was slightly more dense than other devil's food cakes I've made. I'm chalking that up to the brown sugar. But it was perfectly moist and soft. And the buttercream rocked, of course! I couldn't believe how quickly the cake got eaten. We made it Saturday, and by Sunday afternoon people were fighting for the last slice!

Pretty much the only chance I get for face time on my own blog is when the camera is in Stephanie's hands! So here I am, pouring the batter into the pans! ;D Of course we toothpicked all three layers to be sure they were done!
And here's me again, *ahem* looking slightly less attractive, while eyeballing the level of the cake... We had a little trouble with this one!
Action shot!! Nice photog skills, cousin!
And here's my our finished cake! If you can't tell, I'm more of a "no frills" person when it comes to decorating cakes...
And here it is on Saturday night after my mom and aunt Michelle got hold of it!!

Mile-High Devil’s Food Cake (from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne)
Makes an 8-inch 3-layer cake

1 cup unsweetened cocoa, not Dutch processed
1 ¼ cups hot water
3 cups light brown sugar, packed
2 2/3 cups cake flour*
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
9 ounces (2 sticks + 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature
3 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¾ cup cold water
[*1 cup cake flour is equal to ¾ cup all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons of cornstarch]

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of three 8-inch round cake pans (We baked ours in 9-inch pans, and they almost overflowed. Make sure your 8-inch pans are tall!). Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper and grease the paper as well.
Place the cocoa in a medium bowl and add the hot water. Whisk until smooth and let it cool to room temperature. (To speed this up, whisk the cocoa into ¾ cup hot water. Then add ½ cup cold water to cool it down.)
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low blend to combine. Add the butter and the dissolved cocoa. Then raise the mixer to medium speed and beat for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and cold water until combined. Add this liquid to the batter in three additions scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. Divide the batter among the three pans.
Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a cakes tester inserted into the almost comes out clean. (Our 9-inch cakes were done at 25 minutes.) There should be a few crumbs attached still. Cool the cakes in the pans for 15 minutes. Then invert and remove parchment paper and cool completely on a wire rack.

Brown Sugar Buttercream
5 egg whites
1 ¼ cups brown sugar
¼ cup water (We omitted this)
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature (We reduced this to 2 ½ sticks)

(We made our buttercream using the Swiss meringue method-- Whisk the egg whites and sugar over a double boiler until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed for 6-8 minutes, or until mixture is fluffy and cool to the touch. Switch to the paddle attachment. On medium speed, add butter a few tablespoons at a time. When all the butter has been added, increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture becomes very thick and smooth, about 3 minutes.)
Place all the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer; set aside.
In a heavy medium saucepan combine the sugar and water. Cook over medium heat stirring to dissolve the sugar. Then bring to a boil without stirring and cook until the syrup reaches 238 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
Begin beating the egg whites on medium low speed. Slowly pour in the syrup making sure not to hit the beater. Increase the mixer speed to medium high and beat until the meringue has cooled to body temperature.
With the mixer on med-low add 1-2 tablespoons of butter at a time. When all the butter has been added increase the mixer’s speed to medium and beat until the mixture looks curdled or separated. Continue to beat until the icing comes together again looking like soft smooth whipped butter.

Assembling the cake:
Place one layer flat side down and cover it with 2/3 cup of the frosting. (We used ½ cup frosting between each layer. We had just enough leftover to frost the top and sides.) Top with second layer and repeat process. Top with third layer and frost the sides of the cake.

The Cake Slice presents: Chai Cake w/ Honey Ginger Cream

I am so glad I joined The Cake Slice! Last month's Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake was fabulous, and this month's cake is even better! For April, we made this delicious chai spiced cake with honey ginger cream cheese frosting. Whoa! The cake is so soft and jam-packed with flavor. The honey and ginger flavors in the frosting are a perfect compliment to the warm spicy flavors in the cake. The recipe actually calls for cardamom, but have you seen the price of that stuff? I dunno if it's the same everywhere, but it was OUTRAGEOUS at my local grocery store. I substituted a little extra cinnamon and some cloves, and it tasted great! This cake would've been really perfect for Thanksgiving, but I'm glad they waited until I joined to bake it! I'll definitely be using this recipe as my go-to for spice cake! The frosting was extremely soft, so my cake is less than beautiful. I think when I make the cake again, I'll frost it with honey ginger SMBC!

Steeping the tea... Ohh I wanted to drink that so bad!Baking the layers...
Cooling time!
My sub-par cake...
...WAS FREAKIN DELICIOUS!
And what do you do with leftover cake scraps? Make cake truffles, of course!

UPDATE: Lots of you asked how to make the cake truffles. When you level the tops of your cakes, save the scraps. Mix it with a few spoonfuls of the frosting until you have a smooth, even mixture. Roll the mixture into bite-size balls and place them on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Freeze the balls until firm, about 10 minutes. Dip them in melted chocolate or candy melts. I like to keep mine in the fridge so the centers stay firm! Left at room temp, the centers will be extremely soft.

Chai Cake w/ Honey Ginger Cream (from Sky High Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne)
Makes an 8-inch 3-layer cake

1 1/3 cups milk
6 chai tea bags, without added sweetener, such as Tazo (I used Stash)
4 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups cake flour*
2 cups sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom**
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
[*1 cup of cake flour is equal to 3/4 cup of all purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.]
[**Cardamom substitute is an equal amount of brown cardamom OR equal parts ground nutmeg and cinnamon OR equal parts ground cloves and cinnamon]

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and sides of 3 8-inch round pans and line with parchment paper. Grease the paper as well.
In a small saucepan bring the milk to a simmer over medium-low heat. Add the tea bags, careful not to let the paper tag fall into the milk. Remove from heat and allow the tea to steep for 5 minutes. Remove the teabags and squeeze out the milk. Let the chai milk cool completely.
In a medium bowl mix the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, and 1/3 cup of the chai milk. Whisk together.
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt in the bowl of a mixer. Beat on low for 30 seconds. Add the butter and the remaining chai milk, on medium-low speed. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy (If you're using cake flour, don't worry about over beating. If you're using all-purpose flour, beat just until mixture looks almost even). Add the egg mixture in three additions scraping the between additions. Divide the batter evenly among the pans.
Bake the cakes for 26-28 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean (My cakes were done at 22 mins). Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and peel off parchment paper. Cool completely.
To assemble the cake place one layer flat side down a serving plate and top with 2/3 cup of icing. Spread to the edge and repeat with second layer. Place third layer on top and spread the remaining ginger cream on top allowing it to drizzle down the sides of the cake like icicles.

Honey Ginger Cream
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup honey (any kind as long as liquid)
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger

Place all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse to blend together, then scrape the sides of the bowl and pulse until smooth (I mixed mine with a hand mixer on medium speed).

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.