Sweet Baked Life

A moist lemon cake, brushed with lemon syrup, filled with raspberry preserves and lemon buttercream then lightly frosted with lemon buttercream frosting swirled with raspberries.

This is probably the most elaborate cake I have ever made!

And thus, for a special occasion – my 22nd wedding anniversary!

Not sure where the time has gone, but I’m proud to be part of this lasting union — we have made it through the good times and the hard times. We have loved with our hearts full even when times were difficult. Together we have laughed, loved, argued, cried, rejoiced, struggled, excelled, celebrated, grew, learned, and so much more. We continue to communicate and love one another unconditionally – we are committed to us.

So just like the sweetness of honey — babe you’re stuck with me!

Speaking of the sweet stuff…this is not the typical cake recipe I normally make. I usually stick to simple recipes and are quick to make and taste delicious.

But, because I was celebrating a special day, I had to make something a bit more creative and challenging.

And the challenge is like a good marriage. Don’t be afraid of the length of the recipe, even though there are several steps, it really does come together easy and it’s well worth the effort.

You will make your loved one’s heart swoon with this over-the-top, beautiful cake!

And let me tell you, it’s probably the best cake I have ever made!

You see, I recently purchased three 6-inch cake pans and I immediately starting thinking about what I was going to make to celebrate our 22 years together.

I always like to make something that is reminiscent of our wedding cake we enjoyed on that beautiful first day of June; filled with lemon and fresh fruit. In the past to celebrate “our” day, I have made treats such as my Lemon Raspberry Cream Cake, Lemon Marshmallow Tarts, Lemon Raspberry Oat Crumble Bars, and Strawberry Icebox Cake.

The hubs knew I was baking up something in the kitchen, but did not know exactly what it was. So when I was done creating this stunning cake, I asked him if he wanted a slice to celebrate our anniversary a bit early. He amicably agreed to be my “taster” — something he does not usually offer to do. I knew he was going to like this cake, and I was excited to see his face when I showed him this stunner.

He did think the cake looked pretty, however when I sliced it and brought him a piece, I could see that he was in awe as he had a huge smile and his eyes were sparkling. He then exuberantly said, “Wow, now that’s a cake!”

After taking his first bite, he loved it! And I think he loved it maybe as much as he loves me!  Yes, he enjoyed it that much!

Now, when I was first planning out this cake in my head, I was not sure how it was going to turn out. As you might know, I’m not really into making fancy, perfect cakes due to the fact that I don’t have the training and I defiantly don’t have the patience to put something so magnificent together.

I like my cakes to be a bit more rustic — that’s really more me.

Well, this cake actually could have been a disaster.

As I was starting to assemble the cake, the layers started shifting. I’m not sure if it was from the combination of the raspberry preserves along with the lemon buttercream in between the layers or just my pure lack of experience.

In any event, the two fillings were beginning to seep out the between the layers of the cake. Just then my son sent me a text to pick him up.

Ugggh, what was I going to do! I quickly did the crumb coat on the outside of the cake, made room in the fridge, and popped it in before I dashed out of the house.

My fingers were crossed, hoping that by putting into the fridge that it would firm up the buttercream and stop if from tilting!

When I finally got home about an hour later, it looked pretty good! I was happy and impressed that I actually made such a cake!

What I really didn’t count on was the raspberry oozing out of the layers. I tried to control this, but was not successful. But when I did the crumb coat, the raspberries mixed with the buttercream and it gave the cake a beautiful a pink glow.

This was not really what I was going for, but I really liked how it looked. Especially since pink is my favorite color! So, if you want a more “perfect” looking cake, I guess you could pipe the buttercream frosting around the perimeter of each layer, making a type of dam, before adding the raspberry preserves.

I did another light coat with the remaining buttercream after the cake was chilled, then simply decorated the top with fresh flowers from my garden and a few candied raspberries.

The best part was when I cut this beautiful Lemon Raspberry Anniversary Cake — I was hoping that it would not fall apart or slide apart or something worse. But to my surprise the slices came out PERFECT!

Not only that, the taste was incredible. And like I said, I did some extra steps in assembling this cake, such as cutting each cake in half so it would have more of a dramatic effect, brushing each layer with lemon syrup and adding raspberry preserves to each layer — normally I would have just used the cake layers as they were, added buttercream and called it a day.

I also took extra care in adding lots of lemon so the cake would be super tart and lemony — I added both freshly squeezed lemons (from our friend’s lemon tree) and lemon zest to both the cake batter and the frosting. The tang from the lemon and the sweetness from the raspberry preserves were an amazing combination.

My hubs, our son, and I absolutely loved the taste of the cake. And I was impressed with the beautiful, rustic and simple look of this stunning cake!

“To love is nothing. To be loved is something. But to love and be loved, that’s everything.” — T. Tolis

Happy 22nd Anniversary babe, love you!

Sweetly forever,

 

{the cake part of the recipe was inspiredd by My Cake School | Lemon Buttercream and Lemon Syrup based on my own recipes as well as the creative direction}