Six Inch Lemon Cake

Six Inch Lemon Cake is based on an old recipe from Cooking Light called Lemonade Layer Cake. With so many good lemon cake recipes out there, I probably wouldn’t have tried a “light” version had my friend Marisa not recommended it. Her family loves this cake and requests it over other lemon cakes. To be safe (and because we didn’t need a giant cake), I made it as a six inch lemon cake. The family loved it.

I like the cake too, but it is very dense and definitely more like a pound cake. If you bake a lot and are used to the texture of certain ratios, you may be surprised at the texture. It does have a pleasant lemon flavor and it looks pretty.

Lemonade Concentrate

One interesting thing about this Six Inch Lemon Cake is that it calls for lemonade concentrate. If you’ve never used this, you’ll find it in the frozen foods section with the juice. It is a sweet and sugary mixture which you’d normally mix with water to add lemonade. With all the of the lower sugar alternatives out there I’m not sure how many people actually use this in lemonade these days. I’m guessing a lot of people buy lemonade concentrate to use in mixed drinks or Sangria. After making this cake, you’ll have a lot leftover to experiment with. I think I’m going to use my leftover lemonade concentrate in this!

Recipe

Six Inch Lemon Cake

Six inch version of Cooking Light's popular Lemonade Layer Cake

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 25 mins

Cooling 1 hr

Total Time 1 hr 45 mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Equipment

• Six inch cake pans

Ingredients

 

• 1 cup all-purpose flour 135 grams
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar 130 grams
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened 42 grams
• ½ tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 ½ tablespoons thawed lemonade concentrate
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• Frosting
• 2 tablespoons butter softened (28 grams)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
• 1 1/2 teaspoons thawed lemonade concentrate
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese 170 grams
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 six -nch round cake pans.
• Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
• Combine sugar, softened butter, lemon zest, lemonade concentrate and vanilla in a mixing bowl and beat until light and creamy. Add egg and beat for 30 seconds, then beat in the egg white. Mixture may looks a little curdled at this point, but it will smooth out after you add the dry ingredients and milk.
• With a spoon, stir in half of the flour mixture until blended, then stir in half of the milk. Continue adding remaining flour mixture and milk alternately, stirring until fully blended.
• Divide the batter between the two pans. Set on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 25 minutes (check at 20). The cakes will be fairly flat with golden brown edges. Loosen gently from the sides and let cool in pans for about 10 minutes, then carefully turn from the pans.
• To make the frosting, beat the butter, lemon rind, lemonade concentrate, vanilla and cream cheese together. Gradually add the powdered sugar until mixture is creamy. If frosting feels too soft, refrigerate it briefly before spreading.

Keyword Lemon Cake, Lemonade Concentrate

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