I was asked to make a cake for a going away party. I was told that her favorite flavor is strawberry

hey Cyndi, saw this after I posted below. the lemon buttermilk cake can be made the

day before, along with the icing. just frost when you are ready. it's a nice, moist cake and won't dry out on you if you cover the layers before frosting.

 
I love this cake too. I believe it could be filled and frosted ahead, and the fresh strawberries

put on top at the last minute.

It's a real showstopper--and easy, but once I put the strawberries on top a few hours ahead and they bled down the sides.

 
LOL, it looked like a crime scene. Just awful. I had used really good ripe strawberries

and they were fragile. But it still tasted great.

 
that's interesting, I never read the reviews. it was a "cover" recipe and I made it from the

magazine. what I didn't say is that I've never put strawberry anything in between the layers. only if I had fresh, sliced berries would I put them between layers and then assemble before dinner. I usually served it with fresh strawberries, sliced and put around the cake.

there was an earlier post about this cake but doesn't have that much more info. you should try the cake sometime, without adding berries to the filling or top and see what you think. it really is a great tasting cake.

http://www.finerkitchens.com/swap/forum1/51291_ISO_Your_Favorite_Non-Chocolate_Cake_Recipe

 
Here are a couple of the bad reviews. I couldn't make these up......

"The three 9" cakes were thin and dense, not fluffy at all -- could have been my fault; added lemon juice to the butter/sugar mixture before the eggs--so didn't bother making the frosting. Abandoned layer cake idea and ate plain flat rounds."

(Added the lemon juice to the cake instead of the frosting; D'YA THINK it might be their fault?)

"I was very disappointed with this cake. It was more like a pound cake, didn't seem to rise. As suggested, I cut back the sugar to 1.5 cups. Wanted to take it to work and HAD to put the icing on, to improve the flavor, the icing being the best part. Wished I would have used 1.75 c sugar. I also added poppyseeds as suggested. I put most of it in a medium bundt pan, wasn't totally done after 35 minutes. Didn't use strawberries. Will not make again."

(Didn't use strawberries? I would agree that the cake is a little like pound cake and not light and fluffy as might be expected, and the frosting can be a bit runny so I've cut back on the liquid at times, but what's with these people? It's a great recipe if you follow it.)

 
Cyn - this cake should be no problem to make ahead. Properly refrigerated, it will hold up well.

 
I did see the reviews where someone did not follow the recipe but, to be fair, some of those who did

follow it also gave it a bad review, Joe.

 
Thanks for the laugh Joe

I love reading those reviews of people who "hated" the recipe and that the recipe is bad or doesn't work, then they list the catalog of all the things they didn't do or changed in the recipe, along with the things they forgot to add or added more than the recipe called for, etc.

 
Cyn, that's true. By "these people" I meant the ones who drastically alter the recipe,

then blame the recipe when it doesn't work.

It's hard for me to imagine anyone not loving this cake, so I might be a little prejudiced.

 
I'll stand by this cake and I'm throwing down the gauntlet. I would love to have some

of you who bakers, who actually follow a recipe and know what you can change without making mess try this and report back.

the only thing I changed was not adding the strawberry mix in the layers as I was concerned it would weep and get soggy. also, I didn't add the lemonade concentrate to the icing cause I had forgotten to buy it. I used the zest and tasted and maybe added some lemon juice to the icing.

it's a great cake and my friends asked for the recipe. these friends are all excellent cooks and world travlers and used to good food.

so, any takers on making this and giving us your opinion?

 
I'll let you know after Sunday, Randi- this is the one I plan to make. I was going to

make it in a 1/2 sheet and make two batches for the layers so it serves more people. I really don't want to transport a layer cake.

Whaddya think?

 
I finally looked at the recipe, I have made this cake too...

And it's really good! I think part of the problem some had, besides not following the recipe and leaving out ingredients, is actually knowing how a butter cake should be constructed.

The recipe isn't explicit, but it does say "Beat sugar, butter and lemon peel in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in lemon juice"

I don't know about the people who got the hockey pucks, but those instructions for me meant at least 15 minutes of beating time with a Kitchen Aid. By the time the last egg and lemon juice went in, the mixture was about the texture of mousse. That makes a huge difference, beating in enough air, for how this type of butter cake will turn out. Also, setting the butter out the night before so that it truly is room temp butter that is being beaten, and not cold hard butter that is just not going to whip up right.

Another vote for the recipe!

Interesting related side note: My neighbor loves old style pound cake and has tasted mine. And I do the old pound of butter, sugar, eggs, flour and flavoring. She has tried to make them and has literally thrown out 5 cakes during a baking session because they were rocks, and she was using leavening and milk in hers. I told her to come over and we would bake pound cake. After I had been beating eggs and butter for about 20 minutes, she was very concerned. She just wasn't letting the butter and eggs whip into an airy fluff before proceeding. That is key.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top