Simply the Zest

katefox3141

Consider this my official farewell-to-summer cake, because apparently summer has decided to overstay its welcome and I am officially ready to squeeze every last drop out of the season. While I’m over here dreaming about pumpkin spice, apple cinnamon, cozy sweaters, and anything remotely resembling a crisp fall day, the weather continues to throw lemons at me. So, naturally, I made lemonade… except I made it into cake. This lemon cake is decorated to look like an actual slice of lemon, because when life gives you lemons, you make cake—and when life gives you oppressively hot September weather, you get a little zesty and make dessert about it. It’s bright, citrusy, and basically a giant edible ray of sunshine, which is fitting because apparently that’s all the weather is willing to give me. So here’s to squeezing the most out of summer while I patiently wait for fall to juice its way into my life.

A beautifully decorated lemon cake featuring a vibrant yellow frosting and a design that resembles a sliced lemon on top, with white and orange accents.
When life gives you lemons, make cake.

And then there’s the macro situation… or lack thereof. My calorie-tracking app apparently decided to erase all the ingredients for this cake, so I have absolutely no idea what the macros are anymore. RIP to those numbers…they’ll haunt me well past Halloween. But at least I can confidently tell you exactly how to decorate it! So while I may not know how many calories are in each slice, I do know how to turn a cake into a lemon slice, and honestly, that feels like the more important life skill anyway, so, ex-squeeze me for the lack of macros on the recipe below…but enjoy a photo gallery and video how to!

Here’s everything I used for this cake:

  • Two #18 piping tips and one #16
  • Yellow and dark yellow gel dye
  • Clean sponge, cut into small sections
  • Lemon cake recipe (below)
  • Buttercream frosting (recipe below), divided up into mostly white, a little bit of light yellow, and a little bit of dark yellow
A round cake covered in a smooth layer of light-colored frosting, sitting on a cake turntable with parchment paper underneath on a countertop.
Start with a fully frosted cake.
Top view of a round cake with a smooth icing surface, marked with cuts dividing it into eight sections.
Use a toothpick to draw 8 segments.
Three piping bags filled with different colored icing, arranged on a countertop. The bags display a nozzle tip, including white, yellow, and a lighter cream color.
Load up the white and dark yellow frosting with #18 tips and bright yellow with #16 tip.
A round cake with a smooth white frosting on top, featuring a triangular decoration made of yellow and white frosting in the center.
Use the dark yellow to outline each section, then come in with the white.
Top view of a round cake decorated with orange and yellow icing in a triangular pattern on a smooth surface.
Fill in the remaining section with bright yellow.
A round cake decorated with white frosting and an orange triangular design on top, resembling a slice of citrus fruit, with a hand gently resting on the side.
Continue to fill in each segment., then freeze cake before painting the side.
Two bowls with bright yellow and orange liquids, accompanied by two small blue sponges, placed on a textured surface.
Put dark yellow dye + 1 TBS clear vanilla or vodka into a down and light yellow dye + TBS clear vanilla into a bowl.
A person with gloved hands is decorating a round cake with yellow frosting, designed to look like a lemon slice, on a countertop.
Put on gloves and dab one sponge into dark yellow and dab on a FROZEN cake…I recommend freezing 1-2 hours.
A round cake decorated with yellow frosting and white icing, resembling a lemon slice, placed on a countertop with a paper towel underneath.
Dip another sponge into the lighter yellow and fill in as desired to finish.
Rind, set, decorate.

Recipe and Instructions

Gluten free lemon cake with protein cream cheese frosting

  • Servings: 12
  • Difficulty: Beginner
  • Print

A fun lemon cake decorated to look like it's namesake!

If not gluten free, use any kind of white or yellow cake mix. Monkfruit can also be replaced with regular powdered sugar for frosting. Protein powder can also be replaced with additional monkfruit or regular powdered sugar.

Ingredients

CAKE
*1 box of gluten free yellow cake mix (I used King Arthur GF cake mix)
*1 packet of sugar free lemon Jell-o powder (0.3 oz)
*2/3 cup fat free or skim milk
*160 g (2/3 cup) unsweetened applesauce
*4 eggs
*1.5 tsp lemon extract

FROSTING
*1/2 cup butter, softened (can use a light butter to cut calories)
*8 ounces 1/3 the fat cream cheese at room temp
*12 ounces Lakanto powdered monkfruit
*4 ounces Quest vanilla milkshake protein powder (cuts the sweetness of the monkfruit and makes a nice, stiff, spreadable frosting; omit and use all monkfruit if desired)
*1 TBS vanilla
*1/4 cup + 2 TBS milk
*1/2 tsp lemon extract
*1/4 tsp citric acid if you like less sweet frosting

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease two 9-inch heart-shaped pans.
  2. Whisk cake ingredients together in a stand mixer on low for 60 seconds before switching to medium-high for two minutes.
  3. Pour batter evenly into pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean from the center.
  4. Allow cake to cool fully before frosting.
  5. To make frosting, whisk cream cheese and butter for 3 minutes before adding in half the powdered monkfruit, protein powder, vanilla, lemon extract, and milk.
  6. Add in remaining monkfruit mix fully. If too stiff, add an additional TBS milk.
  7. Frost cooled cake according to photo or video tutorial.
  8. Keep cake covered and in the fridge. It is best served at room temp, so remove from fridge 30 minutes before eating. Enjoy!

MACROS
…blame NutritionIX for deleting my recipe.
A round cake decorated with bright yellow frosting and designed to look like a lemon slice, placed on a blue plate.
Just trying to make the most of a zesty situation.
A round cake decorated to resemble a lemon slice, featuring bright yellow and orange frosting on a blue plate.
Serving up a little slice of summer before fall takes over.
A close-up of a round, yellow cake with intricate orange and white frosting designs on top, set against a blurred background.
Sour about the weather, sweet about the cake.

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Published by katefox3141

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