Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake

Ahhh ... spring at last. And what better way to celebrate the return of the warm sunshine. The addition of this wonderful Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake to our Cake Slice Baker's repertoire is perfect timing with the arrival of spring this week. I added edible paper wafer butterflies as a decoration.

This recipe was adapted from : SKY HIGH IRRESISTIBLE TRIPLE LAYER CAKES BY ALISA HUNTMANS AND PETER WYNNE

FOR THE CAKE: MAKES A 9-INCH TRIPLE LAYER CAKE
8 eggs, separated
1/4 cup walnut oil**
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon of lemon zest
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar
1 and 1/2 cups of sugar
1 ans 3/4 cups of cake flour*
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt

[*1 cup of cake flour is equal to 3/4 cup of AP flour plus 2 tablespoons of corn starch]

[**equal amount of either almond oil, hazelnut oil, or canola oil]

1. Preheat the oven to 350*degrees F. Line the bottoms of three 9-inch pans with parchment paper but do not butter or grease the pans.

2. In a med-large bowl whisk together the egg yolks, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and water.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar on medium speed until light and frothy. Slowly add 1/2 cup of sugar and continue to beat until soft peaks form.

3. Sift the flour, remaining sugar, baking soda , and salt into a large bowl. Whisk gently to combine. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the egg yolk mixture and mix to create a smooth paste. Add one-fourth of the egg whites and fold in to lighten the batter. Fold in the remaining egg whites and divide the batter among the three pans.

4. Bake for about 16 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Transfer to wire racks to cool in the pans. Once cool run a knife around the cake in order to unmold the cakes. Carefully pull off the parchment paper from the bottoms of the cakes.

5. To assemble the cake, place one layer on a cake stand. Top with a heaping 1/4 cup of lemon curd and spread it evenly. Repeat with the remaining layers. Frost the top of the cake and the sides with the lemon cream frosting.

RICH LEMON CURD MAKES 1 CUP
3 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
grated zest of three lemons
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, at room temp.

1. Whisk together the whole eggs, yolks, sugar, lemon juice , and lemon zest together in a medium bowl. Transfer to a small non-reactive saucepan. Gently heat the mixture, whisking until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. make sure not to boil the mixture. Pour the mixture through a sieve into a heatproof bowl. Stir in the butter and cover the curd with plastic making sure the plastic touches the curd. This should prevent a skin from forming on the curd. Refrigerate until cold. Then remove 3 tablespoons of curd and set it aside for the icing.

LEMON CREAM FROSTING MAKES 3 AND 1/4 CUPS
1 and 1/2 cups of heavy cream
2 tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoon of lemon curd

1. Whip the cream and sugar in a large chilled bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold in the lemon curd, forming a stiff frosting.