Lemony Love

The life of a weekend baker is what I'm acquiring.  The weekends I don't work in a kitchen I'm working in my kitchen.  There is a peace waking up early to create and be inspired, while everyone else sleeps!  Though my lack of rest fights against me my creative side is up and wide eyed, bright and early for the next cake!

I love Lemons! Being pregnant sealed the lemon love in me forever.  The tangy tartness mixed with sweet sugar makes for one of the most irresistible combinations. My first trimester I drank lemonade gallon by gallon.  It settled my upset stomach somewhat, but delighted every other sense. From the perfectly fragrant zest to the lusciously juicy fruit, I'm in lemony love!

For the absolutely lemonyness, lemon curd is my favorite.  I made a yellow butter cake and lemon buttercream, with the lemon curd generously layered in. Lemon curd resembles a jelly or spread packed full of flavor. Its great on the traditional English scones or American toast.

Beat 4 large egg yolks and 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar in a medium saucepan.  Stir in 3 oz of sugar, 4 tablespoons of soft butter, and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Do not allow mixture to boil, if it looks even close to boiling, remove it from the heat, stirring all the while, or you'll end up with scrambled eggs! Once thick enough to cover the back of a spoon, pour into a glass jar, or other heat proof container and add 2 teaspoons lemon zest, and cool.  (Recipe courtesy of... what else.. The Cake Bible)


I wanted to do a simple decorating skeme this time, although the more I tried to work with simple the more complicated it got.  Just trying to get buttercream evenly and smoothly on the cake was difficult.  The best way was a clean spatula and some patience.  A cake turner is an absolute must for any cake venture.
A cake turner makes frosting a little less tedious.  Holding a steady hand level with the side of the cake, the other hand is free to spin the cake and hopefully produce a  smooth finish.

The Lilly of the Valley flower sprays were one of the easiest parts. It took about an hour and a half to get 5 sprays complete.  The Wilton Beautiful Gumpaste Flowers book makes flower making an attainable art.  The directions are clear, and with minimal practice beautiful handmade flowers are produced. After the easy morning of making these flowers, I'm inspired to do more... look for that blog to follow soon!

I wrapped my present with yellow ribbon, positioned my flowers on top and done! Gotta love a good lemony morning in the kitchen.