Lemon Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I have never attempted a lemon cake from scratch before. My mom had brought over a ton of lemons from her lemon tree and I figured now was the time to finally try it. And more importantly, to try out lemon cream cheese frosting. I am not sure I can ever make boxed lemon cake again!  I adapted my usual cream cheese frosting recipe to have just a hint of lemon, be sure you use freshly squeezed juice.  The cake recipe is actually  adapted from a Chowhound posting about lemon layer cakes. As usual, I omitted the zest from the recipe because I don't love the texture it adds to sponge cake.  I did add fresh zest to the top of the cake, which Miss F was a huge fan of creating.

Lemon Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2 ½ cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
2 large whole eggs, at room temperature
3 large egg yolks, at room temperature
½ cup fresh lemon juice
½ cup whole milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans; set aside. In a medium
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of the stand mixer, beat the butter at medium speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light, about 3 minutes. Add the whole eggs and yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce the speed to low, then slowly add the lemon juice. Beat in half of the dry ingredients, alternating with half of the milk after each addition. Beat for 30 seconds after adding all the ingredients. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake the cakes for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans for 20 minutes, then invert the cakes onto wire racks to cool completely.

½ cup butter, softened
8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
4 cups of confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Mix all ingredients until smooth. Frost the cooled cake.

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