Lemon Cake

I am sure this has happened to all of us at one time or another.....

Yesterday, I was at a friend's home spending the day sewing, chatting and eating. We meet up once a month and have a great time. When we meet at our homes, the hostess provides the main entree and drinks while the others bring goodies to go with the entree. This time we were being treated to barbecued tri-tip. Yummm! There was a vegetable plate with dill dip and some very yummy appetisers with prosciutto, brie cheese and apples as well as a fruit plate. I brought dessert. I made a lemon cake with lemon frosting. It fell (as in the layers slid around on the plate) to one side and it was a disaster. I took the mess with me and tried to rescue the cake somewhat when I arrived, but it was never going to look fantastic ever again! It tasted great, but not so much in the looks department. Has this kind of thing happened to you?

The cake was a recipe from the latest issue of the Sandra Lee magazine. There was a lot of ingredients and in the end, I wasn't really satisfied with the cake itself. It just wasn't something to write home about. On the other hand, the frosting was special. Whipping cream, lemon curd, lemon juice and one package of dream whip. I don't know exactly what is in dream whip, but you can make yummy desserts with it. What really impressed me was that there was no added sugar. There was a tart lemon taste, but not too tart. I think I will work on the cake part some more and will file the frosting for future use.

Lemon Frosting:

1/2 package (2.6 ounce) box whipped topping mix (Dream Whip)
1/2 cup lemon curd
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Beat together at medium speed in electric mixer until blended.

1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Add whipping cream to lemon mixture, beating at high speed until stiff peaks form. Frost cake and refrigerate.

Note: can reserve 1/4 cup of whipped frosting, adding 1 cup of lemon curd to make a filling for the cake layers.

In the end, we had a great time together and no one was afraid to eat the cake. Good thing for me cause that was a lot of cake!