Hello, Sunshine!

If apricots and oranges were my Spring celebration this year, what better fruit to ring in the Summer sunshine than some yummy lemons!

My parents have a beautiful lemon tree in their backyard and I took advantage of the gorgeous lemons they gave me.

I found this recipe and had to try it out on a hot June, Saturday afternoon. I couldn't get the house below 85 degrees!!! Summer is definitely here.

2 sticks of butter at room temp
2.5 cups sugar (divided into 2 and .5)
4 eggs at room temp
Zest of 6-8 lemons
3 cups flour
.5 tsp. baking powder
.5 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup lemon juice (divided into 1/4 & 1/2)
3/4 cup Buttermilk
1 tsp. salt



First, I poured myself a glass of nice and chilly Sauvignon Blanc. Then I got out all of the cold ingredients to get them to room temp. That didn't take to long....Next, I added some ice to my Sauvignon Blanc which had also quickly reached room temp.




While everything came to room temp, I started zesting the lemons. This is about all the workout that a girl wants on a lazy Summer Saturday afternoon.




I mixed up 2 cups of the sugar with the 2 sticks of butter and lemon zest. Smells amazing!

Next, I sifted the dry ingredients (using only 2 cups of the sugar) and placed the buttermilk, vanilla and 1/4 cup of the lemon juice in a bowl.

Add the wet and dry ingredients alternately to the butter/sugar mixture. The batter already tastes amazing! Look at all that zest!




While the cakes baked at 350 for about 30 minutes I mixed up the glaze. Ina glazed the cakes and that was that. I had to take it a step further...maybe it was the heat getting to me.

The glaze is the 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1/2 cup sugar. Just heat it up on the stove until all the sugar crystals disappear!




Once the cakes were outta the oven, I used a toothpick to make little flavor spacers for the yummy lemon/sugar glaze.

I wanted to try something new. Does lemon, white chocolate and cream cheese go together? YESS! I mixed up some white chocolate cream cheese frosting, just like the red velvet recipe, but added 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. It is actually quite refreshing, but added some decadence to this lemon delight!

This is what happens when Tipsy is trying to make sky blue after a few hours of baking in a hot kitchen drinking wine on the rocks!

I was a bit disappointed with me heavy hand in the food coloring department, but I still like the way it turned out.

I added lemon wedges and a yellow twist for fun.

Then some leaves and dots.

Had to try it out! YUMMMM!

Cheers to Summer sunshine, cold white wine, and eating cake all the time!

XOXO,

Tipsy