The Cake Slice: Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake
March 20, 2009 at 3:12 am | Posted in cakes & tortes, groups, layer cakes, sweet things, the cake slice | 44 Comments
What’s three times as good as a lemon chiffon cake? A Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake, of course! The Cake Slice group chose to go for a lemon trifecta this month– three layers of lemon chiffon, filled with rich lemon curd and frosted with lemony whipped cream.
I don’t think that chiffon cake itself has a tremendous amount of flavor, but it has an amazing spongy, moist texture that makes me want to take huge bites! This one one of the most successful chiffons I’ve made…nice and tall, with no shrinkage. When making chiffons, the cake pans are often ungreased so the batter can really climb up the sides, and the baked cakes are left to cool completely in the pans. I’ve learned to (gingerly!) run a thin knife around the edges of the pans about five to ten minutes after the cakes have come out of the oven. This helps the cakes to not tear away from the sides as they cool, which I think can cause them to lose some oomph.
Lemon curd must be one of the tastiest things of all time. Even though I made a six-inch cake (half a recipe), I did a full recipe of the curd…intentional leftovers that were then sandwiched between cookies and used as a dip for fresh strawberries. The frosting is just a simple whipped cream with a portion of the curd folded in. Jodie rightly notes that almost every recipe we’ve made from this book (Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes) has used a whipped cream frosting. It’s a little tricky to work with, and you can see in my photos that even though I took care not to whip it too much, by the time I had smoothly frosted the cake, it looked overworked. Oh well, it happens…at least I didn’t turn it to butter! I realized that while I was freaking out about getting the frosting on as quickly as possible, I had not given a single thought to how I’d decorate this cake, so I just went with a squiggle of curd and some pastel sprinkles. OK, it wasn’t my finest decorating effort, but let me assure you that the cake really did taste great!
Here’s a printable link to the recipe, courtesy of Gigi Cakes. Better yet, get your hands on a copy of Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes by Alicia Huntsman and Peter Wynne. Don’t forget to cruise through the list of The Cake Slice Bakers to check out all of our lemon cakes this month.
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Looks great – I think you did a fine job decorating 🙂
Comment by Alicia McCarthy— March 20, 2009 #
Such a cheery, delightful-looking cake!!
Comment by VeggieGirl— March 20, 2009 #
Your cake looks like you’ve been planning all month how to make the perfect cake for Easter! It’s lovely 🙂
I agree on all counts. And I’ve also learned to cut the icing and filling recipes down by less then the cake to make sure there’s plenty.
Comment by Jacque— March 20, 2009 #
Oh, but I absolutely love how adorable it looks! I totally need to get this book though; everything you guys have made from it looks fantastic.
Comment by Caitlin— March 20, 2009 #
Lovely looking cake and great job at that. I too must agree with you that the chiffon had no taste whatsoever. But once you add the curd and the frosting, it’s a whole difference experience altogether.
Comment by Jo— March 20, 2009 #
It looks so light and moist–mmm! I just discovered your blog via Tuesdays with Dorie and am enjoying it very much. K x
Comment by kristina— March 20, 2009 #
Your cake looks amazing! I wish I hadn’t skipped out on this cae.
Comment by Stephanie— March 20, 2009 #
Not your finest decorating effort?! I think it looks great! So fun and springtime-like! Your cake looks gorgeous!
Comment by Teanna— March 20, 2009 #
Your cake looks wonderfuly tall and moist. I agree with you that the lemon curd was the best it.
Comment by Katie— March 20, 2009 #
Steph, your cake totally screams springtime — love how festive it looks! I totally echo your thoughts on lemon curd (yum!)…it could make an old shoe taste good (okay, not quite but you get my drift).
Comment by Linda— March 20, 2009 #
A very elegant looking cake.
Comment by rachel— March 20, 2009 #
I’m dyeing to make this cake! YUM! I’m just having trouble locating the recipe. I checked out gygi cakes and can’t seem to find the recipe. can you help…. thanks.
Comment by jan— March 20, 2009 #
Maybe there wasn’t much thought as to how to decorate, but I think it looks beautiful!
NAOmni
Comment by NAOmni— March 20, 2009 #
Wow, this cake looks amazing. Thanks for the chiffon tips! Lemon curd is totally the best thing ever. I could eat it plain–or with a nice chiffon cake and whipped cream frosting 🙂
Comment by Elyse— March 20, 2009 #
I totally agree about the chiffon layers being a little lackluster when it comes to flavor, but the texture is out of this world (to quote Paula Deen!) I love those sprinkles! Where did you find them??
Comment by howtoeatacupcake— March 20, 2009 #
Beautiful presentation, delicate with the spring pastels.
Comment by JoAnn— March 20, 2009 #
Wow this cake is wonderful !!I’d love to bake with you !!
Comment by natalia— March 20, 2009 #
I can forego a cake that is not nicely decorated (even though I thought yours looked great) if it tastes good.
Comment by Eliana— March 20, 2009 #
wow, this looks fantastic. i love lemon!! who gets to eat all your fantastic creations?
Comment by Sophie— March 20, 2009 #
Lemon chiffon cake sounds dreamy. your cake looks delicious. I love the way you decorated it.
Comment by pinkstripes— March 20, 2009 #
Beautiful cake! I love the “dots” on top! 🙂
PS. where can I purchase them …please 🙂
Comment by Gigi— March 20, 2009 #
Wow! Awesome cake! Love the photos.
Comment by Jillian— March 20, 2009 #
Gigi and howtoeatacupcake: I got the sprinkles at Target a couple Easters ago. They are made by Wilton, so may be availabe all over.
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— March 20, 2009 #
I think you did a fantastic job on the decorating! My whipped cream always looks overworked; frankly, I’m a little tired of the whipped cream frostings! Beautiful photos!
Comment by Melissa— March 20, 2009 #
you did a wonderful job with the cake. as the author of the book and a fellow daring baker, it is always nice to see and read a bakers experience with my recipes. fyi, as a professional pastry chef, even i have issues with whipped cream sometimes.
to get a smooth look, heat your palette knife ( a fancy name for the spreader) with hot water, dry it off and then smooth out the rough patches-works like a charm every time!
thanks for the kind words about my book!
alisa
Comment by jane of many trades— March 20, 2009 #
I love how your cake turned out so high! Those cute sprinkles are just a perfect touch to the spring season — gotta keep an eye out for those Wilton sprinkles.
Comment by Caroline— March 20, 2009 #
This reminds me of an angel cake I made once. Not only do you not grease the pan, but you turn it upside down to allow the cake to cool. It was a great cake. This one also looks lovely and spongy.
Comment by kj— March 20, 2009 #
Your cake does look light and fluffy. Mine was a little lumpy, but that was just my mixing skills. Beautiful!
Comment by teaandscones— March 21, 2009 #
A Perfectly festive cake for spring!
Comment by katie— March 21, 2009 #
Absolutely gorgeous! The decoration is so dainty and spring-like too.
Comment by Heather Peskin— March 21, 2009 #
Lemon curd really is one of the most amazing substances on earth! To get whipped cream nice and smooth you can heat a large spatula (it must be longer than your cake is wide) with either a torch or a burner on your stove. Try not to get the tip hot. Then in one swoop slide it over the top of the cake at a forty five degree angle, steadying the end with a finger. It’ll make the top nice and silky smooth
Comment by Pinky— March 21, 2009 #
wow looks so nice. I love how you decorated it too 🙂 yum yum
Comment by snooky doodle— March 21, 2009 #
alisa– Thanks for commenting! I’ve really enjoyed everything I’ve made from your book…so many fun flavor combinations and interesting techniques. Good tip on using a warm palette knife to smooth out whipped cream…I often do this with buttercream, so I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it!
Pinky– Yes, alisa made a similar comment about using a warm icing spatula. I will definitely try this on my next whipped cream frosted cake. Thanks!!
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— March 21, 2009 #
Your cake looks so light and fluffy! Perfect fun decor for Spring!
Comment by Jen— March 22, 2009 #
Oh yum! That looks fantastic, moist and yuuuuum 🙂
Comment by Sharon— March 22, 2009 #
Wow! Your cake looks so light and airy. And it is a tower of loveliness!!!
Comment by food librarian— March 22, 2009 #
What a beeeautiful cake!!! Wow! Wow! Wow! I’m a lemon curd addict – mmmmmmmm!
Comment by thepinkpeppercorn— March 22, 2009 #
I just made something similar two weekends ago (and I’m still trying to post it…hahaha). I’ve got to get my hands on this cookbook, cause every cake I’ve seen from it looks amazing!!!
Comment by Mari— March 23, 2009 #
i love the pastel shades you added.. and the lemon curd squiggle. I thought it’s really well done!
Comment by Sihan— March 23, 2009 #
OMG. Your lemon chiffon cake looks amazing. I love the way you decorated it.
Comment by pinkstripes— March 23, 2009 #
It looks PERFECT, like a party on a plate. YUM!
Comment by Janna from Honeyed Hashette— March 23, 2009 #
looks delicious!!!
Comment by Mimi— March 23, 2009 #
Really good height on that cake. I like the lemon curd with it – trust me the whole recipe would have gone in with no left overs.
Comment by giz— March 25, 2009 #
Oh I love the look of this cake. I’m saving it for a special occasion.
Comment by breadchick— March 25, 2009 #