Dad's 65th birthday party was last night, and while there were a few food challenges, I'd say the party was an overwhelming success. First, he was totally floored and touched. Second, the appetizers (even the semi-burnt ones) were all eaten. Third, the food was really good and the table looked beautiful (even with the too-salty tenderloin - hey, it was our first try). Fourth, everyone had a good time. Fifth, SO much help cleaning up, which, with my dishwasherless house, is a huge deal. Last, and most important, the cake was delicious!
You may remember I tried out the lemon cake I wanted to make on our friends, Brent and Nanette. They are often my gracious taste testers.
This time, I was more careful removing the cake from the pan and I didn't lose any major chunks from the side. I torted it into 3 layers because I thought the cake:filling ratio was unbalanced last time. (I like to bake my 9" cakes in a 3" deep pan, then cut them into layers. It's easy to do, and that way, my layers are exactly the same width with perfectly straight sides.) After finding out Trader Joe's lemon curd was back in stock, I cheated and went with store-bought - a great timesaver which was very welcome this week. It's runnier than I realized, but I made a frosting "dam" around the edges of each layer, so there was no leaking. It soaked into the cake more than my homemade curd would have, but the layers remained distinct and the taste was nice and lemony tart. The frosting was delicious and light with tiny flecks of zest here and there.
Oh, and with some leftover fondant, I made three lemon slices for the top of the cake. They were very cute, and I was pleased with how they came out. :-)
For true proof that it was good: my SISTER actually ate an entire piece, then snuck bites of frosting from her fiance's plate!
This post has the recipes for the cake and frosting. I think most any lemon curd (or even a creamy lemon filling) would do nicely.
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