Lemon Sheet Cake

Lemon Sheet Cake - made September 29, 2012 from Country Living

Last weekend, I was trying to use up lemons from my mom's lemon tree and the last of my buttermilk.  Normally that calls for lemon pound cake as the fastest way to use up both.  I was in the mood for lemon cake but not one as dense as a pound cake.  Instead I wanted a fluffy lemon cake with a cakey texture, not dense like a pound cake but not light like a chiffon.  I wanted a cake.  I scoured pinterest but most of the lemon cakes I found were either pound cakes or cakes that used a cake mix as the base.  I wasn't in the mood for a cake mix cake but I thought I might've found what I needed with this cake from Country Living.

I modified it to make it a sheet cake rather than a round 2-layer cake because I was also going for simplicity.  And I made up my own frosting recipe starting with a base vanilla icing and adding lemon juice.  This came out okay.  It wasn't as dense as pound cake but it didn't have the fluffy, cakey texture I was going for.  It's best just lukewarm with the icing over it.  Or, after it's cooled and frosted, warm it up in the microwave for 8-10 seconds.  The icing will just start to melt over it and the texture will be optimal.  At room temperature, I thought the texture was just okay.  The flavor was good though, especially if you like fresh lemons and a dessert that's not too sweet.

Oh and lest you wonder why I'm still stuck on summer-flavor desserts, it's possibly because we had record high temps last week and it was hard to get into an autumn mood when I had to run my air conditioner or risk melting a la Wicked Witch of the West.  Fall is my favorite season though so never fear, I will be paying proper homage to it soon enough.

3 cups cake flour  
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder  
1 teaspoon salt  
1/2 teaspoon baking soda  
1 cup butter, softened  
2 1/2 cups sugar  
5 eggs  
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract  
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup buttermilk

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13" baking pan with foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.  Set aside.  
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together. Set aside. 
3. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy using a mixer set on medium speed. Add the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the vanilla extract. 
4. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture by thirds, alternating with the lemon juice and buttermilk.  Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake until golden and a toothpick tests clean about 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Unmold the cake and cool completely.

Lemon Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/4 cup to 1/3 cup lemon juice

1. Beat butter until smooth and creamy.  Alternately add the powdered sugar and lemon juice until desired consistency.  Spread frosting over cooled cake.