Recipes : Paula's Lemon Cake : Food Network

	Print 4x6 Recipe Cards
	Print this recipe out and cut along the dotted lines to add this 4x6 recipe card to your personal collection.

Paula's Lemon Cake
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Ingredients
Cake:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups sifted self-rising flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Lemon wedge, for garnish
Mint sprig, for garnish

Frosting:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar or 1 tablespoon white corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup water

2 egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Filling:
8 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
3 lemons, zest grated and juiced

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 3 (9-inch) cake pans.
To make the cake: Using an electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar and continue to
cream well for 6 to 8 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and
milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla and continue to
beat until just mixed. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Level batter in each pan by
holding pan 3 or 4-inches above counter, then dropping flat onto counter. Do this several times to
release air bubbles and assure you of a more level cake. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden
brown. Cool in pans 5 to 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto cooling racks. Cool completely.

To make the frosting: Place sugar, cream of tartar or corn syrup, salt, water, and egg whites in the
top of a double boiler. Beat with a handheld electric mixer for 1 minute. Place pan over boiling
water, being sure that boiling water does not touch the bottom of the top pan. Beat constantly on
high speed with electric mixer for 7 minutes. Beat in vanilla.

To make the filling: Place the ingredients in the double boiler over boiling water. Don't let top
pan touch the water. Cook and stir until mixture begins to gel or thicken. Remove from heat and
allow to cool.

To assemble, add 1 tablespoon of filling to the cake pedestal. Run hands along the side of the cake
to remove excess crumbs. Place the cake layers on the pedestal, spreading filling between the layers
and on top. Spread the sides and top of the cake with the remaining filling. Frost top and sides of
cake with frosting. Garnish with a lemon wedge and a sprig of mint.