Lemon Poppyseed Wedding Cake
My daughter, Elizabeth was married this summer.
It was a perfect day.
The bride was beautiful.
The groom was smiling.
The parents were tearful.
But… their spectacular day that we had planned for almost a year and a half was somewhat altered. The 120+ guests at a local ranch, strings and keyboard muscians playing classical music for the ceremony, bluegrass band for the reception, caterer serving mouthwatering Montana beef tenderloin and salmon, mountains of flowers, horse drawn carriage to the reception, bridesmaids luncheon, rehearsal dinner packed with family and friends traveling from all over the country….none of that was to be in the era of the Summer of 2020 Covid Wedding.
Our daughter and her handsome husband did have a their special day in our backyard in Montana. Only twelve of us attended including our priest and good friend who performed the ceremony. The wedding party dined at the local golf club with a diminutive, but delicous, cake and we offered a few toasts out on the putting green.
Honestly though, as different as it was form what we had palnned, it was so perfect, I don’t know how we could have improved a thing.
The grooms sister and her fiancé were part of the collateral damage of Covid. Their wedding planned for last April has been moved to December and not knowing if they are going be able to have it, we decided to bake them a wedding cake and during our makeshift backyard BBQ rehearsal dinner, let them have their “cake cutting” moment. Kimmons, our youngest, has become a proficient baker so she took the lead creating a lemon poppyseed cake with meringue decorations.
This is for you Lindsey and Jack and all the other couples who have had to pivet, postpone, cancel or elope during Covid.
Print
Lemon PoppySeed Wedding cake
12 TBSP unsalted butter- room temp
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs- room temp
2 cups All Purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 TBSP poppy seeds- sifted
2 TBSP lemon zest
2 .5 TBSP lemon juice
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla- For the Lemon Buttercream
3 sticks butter, room temp
4 oz cream cheese, room temp
5-6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
4 TBSP lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
yellow food coloring gel
Method- 10-12 slices
- Read through this recipe carefully. Make certain ingredients are at room temperture where noted. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour the sides and base of two 9″ round cake pans. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream sugar and butter until yellow and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time until incorporated.
- In another bowl, sift flour, baking powder and poppy seeds. Slowly begin to add the flour mixture on low speed into the bowl of the mixer. Do not over beat. On low speed, add in lemon juice, lemon zest, buttermilk and vanilla.
- Divide the batter in half and pour into prepared pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Check with a cake tester for doneness. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Once cooled, loosen with a sharp knife from edges of the pans and let rest until ready for frosting. You can wrap in plastic and freeze until needed.
- For the Buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth and light. Do not whip. Slowly add in powdered sugar (on low speed) until icing is fluffy. Add in vanilla and lemon juice.
- Using a tooth pick, add a tiny drop of food gel until the desired color is achieved. A little food gel goes a very long way.
- The icing should be light and fluffy and easy to spread. You may need to adjust the amount of sugar based on the humidity in your area.
- With an off-set palette knife, add a small amount of icing to the fist layer, then add another dollop of icing to the center spreading outwards to the edges with your knife. Top with the second layer of cake and continue frosting. Chill until serving time. Remove from fridge 30 minute prior to cutting this cake.
