Banana Split Cake

I made this for the 4th of July and HOLY COW was it amazing. Everyone who tasted it loved it and it was really pretty easy. Sometime I will FOR SURE be making again because it was such a huge success. Perfect for a hot summer day because it is a cool and refreshing dessert.

Banana Split Cake
adapted from Kraft.com

Ingredients:
9 graham cracker crumbs
1 cup sugar, divided
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple in juice, drained
6 bananas, divided
2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) vanilla instant pudding
2 cups cold milk
2 cups thawed whipped topping (AKA: Cool Whip), divided
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:
-Mix crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar and butter; press onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Freeze 10 min.
-Beat cream cheese and remaining sugar with mixer until well blended. Spread carefully over crust; top with pineapple. Slice 4 bananas; arrange over pineapple.
-Beat pudding mixes and milk with whisk 2 min. until well blended. Stir in 1 cup whipped topping; spread over banana layer in pan. Top with remaining whipped topping. Refrigerate 5 hours. Slice remaining 2 bananas just before serving; arrange over dessert. Top with nuts.

Triple Citrus Cheesecake

A refreshing cheesecake with lots of zippy citrus flavors. Perfect for an Easter dessert!


Triple Citrus Cheesecake
from Kraft.com

Ingredients

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, melted

4 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 Tbsp. flour

1 tsp. vanilla

4 eggs

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

1 Tbsp. fresh orange juice

1 tsp. grated lemon zest

1 tsp. grated lime zest
1 tsp. grated orange peel

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°F if using a silver 9-inch springform pan (or to 300°F if using a dark nonstick 9-inch springform pan). Mix crumbs, brown sugar and butter; press firmly onto bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes.

Beat cream cheese, granulated sugar, flour and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. DO NOT OVER-BEAT. I apparently did, which is why my top cracked. Stir in remaining ingredients; pour over crust.

Bake 1 hour and 5 minutes or until center is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

Apple Cake

A staple at most of our holiday parties and family gatherings, my mom's apple cake is always a hit. For Halloween, I decided to make this to serve with hot cider upon our trick or treaters' return. Delicious and moist and relatively easy, it is definitely worth serving at any fall gathering.

Mom's Apple Cake
Ingredients
3 Eggs
1 1/2 C sugar
1 C oil
2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C chopped nuts (optional)
4-6 apples, peeled and chopped (I used 5)

Directions
-Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 baking pan
-Beat eggs, sugar and oil until well blended. Add rest of dry ingredients and combine.
-Fold in apples
-Spread in pan and bake for one hour, until golden brown on top.

70th Birthday Cake

One of my friend's contacted me a few weeks ago to make a small birthday cake for her mom's 70th surprise birthday party.

I had to bake a cake on the hottest day of the summer. With no air conditioning.

This is the cake that almost gave me heat stroke.
Just a boxed vanilla butter cake mix (yes, a boxed mix. Whatever.) with vanilla buttercream. I was nervous because I hadn't made roses in ages.

I was happy with the results, even though the humidity was wreaking havoc with my icing consistency. I hope she likes it!

Blueberry Almond Cake with Lemon Drizzle

This recipe popped up yesterday from Beantown Baker and I knew I immediately had to make it. I made a list because I was missing a few things and ran to the grocery store. It was well worth the extra trip. It was simply amazing. The cheesecake filling covered in blueberries was an extra surprise and was creamy and delicious. It was pretty lemony, which is ok with me because I love lemon.

I would suggest using a springform pan; I used a 9-inch cake pan and it would have looked so much prettier had I been able to remove the cake from the pan. But my springforms are still packed away somewhere from when we moved (a year ago, yes). I also overbaked the actual cake part because the cream cheese filling wouldn't set. But, even with that, it was still AH-MAZING.

Blueberry Almond cake with Lemon Drizzle
as seen on Beantown Baker, adapted from Modern Comfort Food

Ingredients
For the cake: 1 1/2 cup flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt A pinch of nutmeg, freshly ground 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature 1 cup brown sugar 2 eggs 2/3 cup plain yogurt 2 tsp fresh lemon juice 1/2 tsp almond extract

For the topping:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 C sugar
1 tsp flour
1 egg
2 tsp lemon zest
2 C fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 C sliced almonds

For the drizzle:
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 C powdered sugar

Directions:
1.Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9-inch round cake or spring form pan and lightly dust it with flour.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Gradually add 1 cup brown sugar and beat for approximately one minute until light and well blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for approximately two minutes after each addition. Alternately, add one-half of the flour mixture and one-half of the yogurt, beating briefly on low after each addition. Repeat. Stir in the lemon juice and almond extract. Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking pan.
4. In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon flour, 1 egg, and the lemon zest for approximately two minutes until very smooth and creamy. Spoon this cheese mixture over the cake batter and spread, leaving a one-inch margin of cake batter exposed around the perimeter of the cake. Sprinkle the blueberries over the cream cheese mixture and the sliced almonds around the perimeter of the cake.
5. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake to room temperature and serve.
6. For the glaze, whisk together the lemon juice with the powdered sugar and drizzle the mixture over the top of the cake.

Colorado Avalanche Cake

My friend Jim turned 30, and I was in charge of his birthday cake. He is a huge Colorado Avalanche fan, so I wanted to put the logo on the cake. I found a sample of it online, printed it out, and basically free-handed the entire thing. Talk about a pain in the ass.

I had to squeeeeeeze his name on the bottom!

I went with a basic white cake with an almond buttercream. Yum!

PW's Carrot Cake

Oh my goodness gracious. I am so glad I stumbled across this recipe on Ree's blog! It was moist and delicious and the frosting was just sinful. It was a huge hit at our Easter dinner and several people asked for the recipe before leaving! But bake at your own risk: this icing is deadly. I decided to go for a bunt cake because I just did not have the time nor the patience to frost a layer cake and come up with a cute way to decorate it; I would not do it any other way now!
Sigrid's Carrot Cake
from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients
For the cake:
2 C sugar
1 C vegetable oil
4 whole eggs
2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 C shredded carrots (peeled)

For the icing:
(if making a layer cake, double the frosting recipe, but I had MORE than enough for a bundt cake)
1 stick regular butter, softened
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 pound powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 C pecans, finely chopped

Directions:
-Mix together sugar, oil and eggs in a large bowl. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add to first mixture and combine. Stir in carrots.
-Pour into a greased/floured pan of your choice. Bake at 350 degrees until finished (25-50 minutes, depending on what pan you use. For a bundt, I baked mine for 50. A sheet cake will need WAY less).
-Cool cake completely before frosting.
-While cake is cooling, combine cream cheese and butter. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until combine. Frost cake. YUM!

Mini Cheesecakes

I love cheesecake. Like, REALLY love cheesecake. And when I was looking for an additional dessert to serve on Easter, I found these bookmarked and decided to give them a whirl.

What a huge pain in the ass they were, too. Katie warns about the Nilla wafers being too large. And sure enough, they were. If I was going to make these again I would make two adjustments. The first would be make a crumb crust of the Nilla wafers and the second would be MORE LEMON!

Mini Cheescakes
Courtesy of Good Things Catered, originally from Gourmet

Ingredients:
About 30 Nilla wafers
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/3 C sugar
2 tbsp sour cream
1 egg
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 375
-Line mini cupcake tin with liners and place one Nilla wafer in the bottom of each (warning: the stupid Nilla wafers will be too big; be prepared to shave some off)
-In bowl of stand mixer, combine cream cheese and sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
-Add sour cream and egg and mix well to combine.
-Scrape sides of bowl, add lemon and vanilla, and mix well to combine
-Remove bowl from mixer, scrape sides, and beat by hand to ensure ingredients are well mixed.
-Using a mini cookie scoop or teaspoon, fill cups almost to the top.
-Bake for 15 minutes
-Refridgerate at least 4 hours before serving

Red Velvet Cupcakes

For my Valentine's Day dinner party, I wanted to try a new dessert that screamed "Valentine's Day!"  And what better than red velvet cupcakes?  I found these on Katie's blog and once again, she came through!  Deliciously moist and dense, topped with a wonderful cream cheese frosting, these were the perfect dessert for our dinner party!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

from Good Things Catered

Ingredients:

2 1/2 C cake flour

1 1/2 C sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 1/2 C vegetable oil

1 C buttermilk

2 Tbsp (1 oz) red food coloring

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp white distilled vinegar

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, room temp

2 sticks butter, room temp

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 1/2 C confectioner's sugar

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 and prepare cupcake tins with liners
• In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt.  Whisk to combine well and set aside
• In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar
• Beat to combine well
• Lower to slow speed and slowly add dry ingredients
• Once all dry ingredients are added, turn speed to medium and beat until completely smooth, about 2 minutes
• Using cookie scoop, carefully fill cupcake liners about 3/4 of the way full and tap to release air bubbles
• Place in oven and bake until toothpick inserted into center of cupcakes comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes
• Remove from oven and let cool completely
• Meanwhile, in clean bowl of stand mixer, combine cream cheese, butter and vanilla and beat to combine well
• With mixer on slowest speed, add confectioner's sugar.  If necessary, add 2-5 tbsp of water to reach desired consistency.  I did not need to add any water
• Pipe cream cheese on tops of cooled cupcakes and serve (or refrigerate until time to serve)
• Makes about 24-30 cupcakes

Lightening McQueen

Twilight Cake

Chocolate Spider Web Layer Cake

I first saw this cake on, where else, but Katie's blog last year. I saved it and made SURE to make it this year. I did make an error when I made the glaze, which led it to become more of a frosting, but it was still delicious and so cute for Halloween! I noted my mistake in red, but had I followed directions, it would have been even easier to make.

Chocolate Spider Web Layer Cake
As seen on Good Things Catered

Ingredients
1 Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Layer Cake
filled with Perfectly Chocolate Icing (I was in a hurry so I used a canned Pillsbury Funfetti frosting, which was already orange for Halloween. Good in a pinch)
1/4 c. heavy whipping cream
9 oz bittersweet chocolate
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 oz white chocolate

Directions:
-In small saucepan over medium low heat, heat whipping cream, stirring occasionally.
-Chop chocolate finely and place into large heat-proof bowl with butter (Here is where I made my error. I did not chop the chocolate finely enough and I forgot the butter. So it became more of a fudge frosting, which was still delish but NOT as easy as the glaze would have been)
-When whipping cream starts to come to a boil, remove from heat and pour over chocolate.
-Stir immediately and constantly until mixture becomes smooth.
-Let rest until thick enough to form a glaze, about 3 minutes.
-Meanwhile, place cake, on board over a wire rack over the sink (for clean-up's sake).
-Pour glaze over top of the cake and spread out evenly and over the edges with a spatula.
-In a disposable piping bag of microwave proof bag, heat white chocolate in microwave until melted.
-Cut tip off of bag and pipe a spiral onto the top of the cake, starting in the center.
-Starting in the center of the cake, drag a toothpick through the icing, toward the outside edge of the cake, every few inches, to form spiderweb decoration.
-Use remaining white chocolate to pipe spiders onto cake.
-Let icing cool completely before serving.

Wilton Fondant and Gumpaste, Lesson 4

Our last class for the Wilton Fondant and Gumpaste class was basically putting together our final cake. I had opted for a version of the daisy cake, taking out the weird ruffled bottom border and swapping it for the balls. Those things are time-consuming, let me tell you!

So, here is the final product!

We are signing up for the Wilton III class in December and I am already excited!

Grandma's Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Last year, C wanted pineapple upside-down cake for his birthday.  I needed to find a recipe and knew that my grandmother used to make one all the time.  My mom dug out my grandmother's box off recipes (even though I only remember her making spaghetti, roast beef, or homemade beef soup).  I dug through the box and came across the recipe.  Turns out, it was a box cake mix and super easy!  In all honesty, she probably ripped it out of a Woman's Day magazine or something, but the recipe had no source written on it. C requested it again this year for his birthday, so here is the recipe!  I forgot to take pictures before I put in the candles, hence the very festive picture.  I also had to invert it on a cookie sheet because my only platter large enough to fit the cake has large raised sides, so would have broken the edges.

Grandma's Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

1 package yellow cake mix

1/2 C (1 stick) butter

1 C brown sugar

2 cans sliced pineapples (you could also used peaches)

Maraschino cherries

Preheat oven to 350.  Melt butter and pour into a 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle brown sugar evenly in pan.  Arrange pineapple slices in pan and place cherries in hole in middle of pineapple slices.  Mix cake according to instructions on box and pour over pineapples.  Bake for 45-50 minutes (in my oven, it was only 40 minutes).  Cool for at least 5 minutes for topping to set.  Invert on to a large platter and serve warm with whipped cream.

Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting

Two weeks ago I needed to bring a dessert to my aunt's for a cookout and I wanted something with coconut, my favorite flavor of summer. I googled for cupcakes and came across these from Cooking Light. They were posted on several blogs and some people suggested the flavor was not coconut-y enough, so I followed their advice and substituted 1/3 coconut milk for 1/3 of the fat free milk. Definitely added more of a coconut flavor, but next time I am also going to add coconut extract instead of vanilla. The cupcakes were a total hit and I made them for the Fourth of July as well!

Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting

Courtesy of Cooking Light

CUPCAKES:

Cooking spray

4.5 ounces (about 1 cup) all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp potato starch (I did not have this, so used regular corn starch)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 C sugar

2 Tbsp butter, softened

1 large egg

1 large egg white

2/3 C fat free milk (I used 1/3 C coconut milk and 1/3 C FF milk)

2 Tbsp flaked sweetened coconut

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (next time I will use coconut extract)

FROSTING:

3 Tbsp butter, softened

1 tsp half and half

1/2 tsp grated lime rind (you could also use lemon rind and lemon juice instead of lime)

1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

4.75 ounces powdered sugar, sifted (about 1 1/3 C)

• Preheat oven to 350
• Place cupcake liners in pan and coat with cooking spray
• Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next three ingredients (through salt) in a small bowl; stir with a whisk
• Combing 3/4 C sugar and 2 tablespoons butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended (mixture will be consistency of damp sand). Add egg and egg white, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to egg mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in coconut and vanilla.
• Spoon batter evenly into prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350 for 18 minutes or until cupcakes spring back when touched lightly in the center. Cool in pan 2 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.
• To prepare frosting, combine 3 tablespoons butter and next 3 ingredients (through juice) in a medium bowl; beat with a mixture at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating just until smooth. Spread about 2 1/12 tablespoons frosting on to each cupcake.
• Yields 12 cupcakes

Chocolate Cake with PB Frosting

I saw this cake on Amber's Delectable Delights and was inspired to make it.  Alas, I was missing a few ingredients so I took her decorating ideas and frosting but used Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake.  I made this for our housewarming party and it was a huge hit!!  I didn't even get a piece (neither did C but I promised I would make him an entire cake for himself).

Reese's Peanut Butter Cake

as inspired by Amber's Delectable Delights

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

2 C sugar

1 3/4 C all-purpose flour

3/4 C Hershey's Cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 C milk

1/2 C vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 C boiling water

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare 2 9-inch round baking pans

-Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl

-Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes

-Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin)

-Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean

-Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks

Peanut Butter Frosting:

from Ina Garten

**I doubled the recipe and made 2 batches, which was MORE than enough

1 C confectioner's sugar

1 C creamy peanut butter

5 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/3 C heavy cream

Place the confectioner's sugar, peanut butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work.  Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

In between cake layers, I chopped up some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and put that on top of a thin layer of frosting before decorating.

Seriously...even though I did not get a piece, I was drooling as I was making it.

And please do not judge me for my styrofoam plate...bad for the environment and all, but we had a crapton of people over and I was not about to do dishes for 100 people.  Sorry.

Pear-Raspberry Bundt Cake

Pear-Raspberry Bundt Cake
When I saw this in this month's Weight Watcher magazine, and immediately had to bake it. It was amazing. Unfortunately, I ran out of powedered sugar, so my glaze was too runny, but we just scooped it up and plopped it back on top! C loved the cake and refused to take it to work so that we could have the leftovers! And it is kind of healthy!

Courtesy of Weight Watchers Magazine

Cake:
2 (15-oz) cans drained pear halves in light syrup, drained
1 (181/4-oz) box yellow cake mix
3/4 C buttermilk
1/2 C fat free egg substitute
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 (6-oz) container fresh raspberries

Glaze:
1 C confectioners' sugar
2 Tbsp orange juice
2 Tbsp sliced almonds, toasted

1. Preheat oven to 350. Prepare a 10-inch bundtpan
2. Puree the drained pears in a food processor (I used an immersion blender). Transfer to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring often, until the puree is reduced to 1 C, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and freeze until cool, about 15 minutes.
3. With an electric mixer on low speed, beat the cooled puree, cake mix, buttermilk, egg substitute, and vanilla and almond extracts in a large bowl until blended. Increase the speed to medium high and beat until well blended, about 2 minutes. Gently fold in raspberries.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, ; spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.
5. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack 25 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely. At this point, you can wrap it well and freeze it for up to two months! TO serve, let stand at room temperature until thawed, about 4 hours.
6. Whisk the confectioners sugar and orange juice in a bowl until smooth. Pour glaze over cake, letting some drip down the sides. Sprinkle with almonds and let stand until set, about 1 hour. Transfer to a plate.

16 servings; 4 points per serving

Fresh Berry Cake

I saw this post on Katie's blog awhile ago while looking for a different recipe and wanted to give it a whirl for Easter. Nothing like fresh berry-yumminess for a spring holiday! I will agree with Katie, that it would be just as yummy without frosting. And for some reason, my berries sank and did not spread throughout the cake, so it is definitely not as pretty as it should have been. I had a ton of leftover berries, so I put the additional blueberries and raspberries over a very thin layer of buttercream. And I was really happy with the violets I made and how the final decorated product turned out!

Fresh Berry Cake
from Good Things Catered, adapted from Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:
2 c. plus 4 Tbsp all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 Tbsp Cointreau (I used fresh squeezed orange juice)
5 eggs, at room temperature
2/3 c. sour cream
3/4 c. blueberries
3/4 c. raspberries

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 10in cake pans.
-In medium bowl sift together 2 c. plus 2 Tbsp flour, baking soda and salt.
-In bowl of large stand mixer with flat beater attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5-6 minutes, scraping as needed.
-Add the Cointreau and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute.
-Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
-Reduce speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the sour cream and beginning and ending with the flour.
-Beat each addition just until incorporated, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
-In the bowl the flour mixture was in, add berries and 2 Tbsp reserved flour and toss to combine.
-Using a rubber spatula, gently fold berries into batter.
-Spoon batter into prepared pans and bake until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes.
-Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes.
-Invert cake to release from pan and let cool completely on wire rack before frosting and serving.

Wilton II Final Cake

Most of the Wilton II courses were spent working on royal icing flowers. We only had to make one actual cake for this class, which was a nice change from the three cakes for Wilton I. I was dissatisfied with some of the flowers, such as my daisies and tulips. I really want to work on teh daisies though, because I think you could make some adorable cakes with that design! I am super excited for my fondant class, which starts on Monday. I only hope they actually have it!

For this cake, I used a plain old box mix of chocolate.

Luscious Lemon Party Cake

I love all things lemon, so when I saw this cake on Katie's blog, I knew I had to try it. My mom was having a Southern Living party on Friday, so I volunteered to bring it over. It was an excellent excuse to try out a new recipe and practice my decorating!

Katie is now my go-to girl for delectable baked goods. She has yet to fail me.

Luscious Lemon Party Cake
from Katie at Good Things Catered

Ingredients:
Cake -
2 1/2 c. cake flour
1 3/4 c. granulated sugar
1 Tbsp meringue powder
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 extra large organic lemons, washed thoroughly then zested and juiced separately
2/3 c. milk
1/3 c. vegetable oil
3 egg whites, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Icing -
4 c. powdered sugar
1 Tbsp meringue powder
tiny pinch of salt
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. shortening
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 extra large lemon, juiced

Additional lemon for decorating

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two cake pans.
-In bowl of electric mixer sift and add flour, sugar, baking powder, meringue powder, salt, and zest of one lemon.
-Stir with mixer to combine, about 30 seconds.
-Add milk, oil, juice from two lemons, beaten egg whites and extract.
-Beat on medium to combine thoroughly, about 1 1/2 - 2 minutes.
-Remove from mixer and stir with silicone spatula to thoroughly combine (making sure there is no flour mixture left unincorporated at the bottom of the bowl.
-Fill prepared pans 2/3 of the way full and bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean (about 25-28 mins for 8 inch pans)
-Remove from oven, let cool 15 minutes in pan and then turn onto wire racks to cool completely.
-Meanwhile, in the bowl of stand mixer, combine shortening, butter, and half of extract and lemon juice, stiring on low until relatively combined.
-In a separate bowl, combine sugar, meringue powder and salt, then add to mixer while still on.
-Stir, scraping down sides of bowl, until thoroughly combined, adding more lemon juice as needed.
(Add water if needed to reach desired texture.)
-Once cakes are completely cool, even out tops of cakes if needed.
-On cut side of one cake, spread generous amount of icing. (Instead of using frosting as a filling, I used seedless raspberry jam. It was awesome)
-Place cut side of other cake down onto filling and finish icing cake.
-Decorate with additional lemon and icing as desired.

The frosting tastes very close to a cream cheese frosting. And not gonna lie, Hubby and I ate the remaining frosting with a spoon.