Chronicles of an Atypical Girl: Special Occasions- my sister's birthday

Tomorrow my big sister turns 24. Yesterday we drove up to Myrtle Beach and walked around some shops to use some time before dinner. The real reason we went up there was to eat at P.F. Chang's! Her favorite :)

I love to bake, and I wanted to make something special for her. I decided to make a lemon cream cake she could take to her office and share with her co-workers to celebrate her special day, since she has to work.
I am hoping the fresh lemon will cool off a hot summer day.
I got the recipe from Epicurious, the nifty little app on the iPhone. I am addicted to browsing recipes on that thing!

Lemon Layer Cake with Lemon Cream Frosting

For cake layers

2 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs

For frosting

1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
Lemon curd , chilled

Make cake layers:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 2 (8- by 2-inch) round cake pans and dust pans with flour, knocking out excess.

*It is very important that you spray the pans with pam and flour them- it is essential to the cakes coming out smooth!

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir together milk and lemon juice (mixture will curdle).

Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Alternately add flour mixture and milk mixture in batches, beginning and ending with flour, mixing at low speed until just combined.

Divide batter between pans, smoothing tops. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 10 minutes, then invert onto racks, remove paper, and cool completely.

After the cakes have cooled, I like to use a large serrated bread knife to level the cakes. Just cut off the rounded top to ensure the layers will sit level and avoid a lopsided cake

Lemon Curd Filling:

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into bits

Whisk together juice, zest, sugar, and eggs in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Stir in butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking frequently, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubble appears on surface, about 6 minutes.

Transfer lemon curd to a bowl and chill, its surface covered with plastic wrap, until cold, at least 1 hour.

Beat cream and confectioners sugar with cleaned beaters until it just holds stiff peaks.

Fold one third of whipped cream into lemon curd to lighten, then fold in remaining whipped cream.

Spread onto first cake layer:

Place second cake layer on top

This recipe called for me to use the same filling as the icing, but it was way too soupy to spread, much less decorate with, so I made a simple buttercream frosting to cover the top and decorate with:

BUTTERCREAM ICING
1 c. granulated sugar 1/2 c. butter or Crisco 1 egg white 1/2 c. butter 1/2 c. lukewarm milk 1 tsp. vanilla Put all ingredients together in small bowl and beat for 5 minutes. At first mixture will look curdled but will smooth out with beating. Spread on favorite cake.