Cake Slice Bakers: Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake

This month for Cake Slice Bakers, we chose to make the Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman.

Because I have a very good reason, I deviated slightly from the recipe and added strawberries.

The inside is a moist lemon chiffon cake filled with tangy lemon curd and a middle layer of fresh strawberries. Instead of Lemon Whipped Cream, I made a Strawberry-Cream Cheese Swiss Meringue Buttercream. (That’s a mouthful, eh?)

It was perfect in every way. And didn’t need any ice cream–just some lightly sweetened strawberries.

You can find the recipe HERE. (It’s even printer ready.)

Strawberry-Cream Cheese Swiss Meringue Buttercream

1 cup pureed strawberries
1 lb. unsalted butter, room temperature
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup water
5 egg whites
pinch cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. pure almond extract
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Beat the butter and cream cheese together with an electric mixer until fluffy. Chill until cold.

Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer and fit it with the whisk attachment. Turn mixer on medium speed until egg whites are foamy. While the mixer is running start preparing the sugar syrup.

In a small saucepan, stir together sugar and water. Bring to a boil and let cook, without stirring, until it reaches 240 degrees F (234 degrees F if you live at 5,000 feet above sea level) on a candy thermometer.

When the syrup has comes to 235 degrees (sea level) or 230 degrees (high altitude), turn the mixer on high and beat the egg whites until they are stiff, but not dry.

Remove the syrup from the heat** (see note below) and carefully pour the syrup against the side of the bowl into the egg whites while the mixer is still running. Continue beating on high for 3-5 minutes, or until steam stops rising from the mixing bowl.

Turn the mixer down a bit and add the chilled butter/cream cheese mixture a spoonful at at time. Don’t worry if it becomes curdled. Just keep beating it and it will come back together. When all the butter/cream cheese has been added, add the extracts, beat well again. Then add the strawberry puree. It will separate a bit–keep beating and it will come back together.

Use it immediately, or keep it in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 or 3 days. It will also freeze well for about a month or so.

**The syrup should be cooked to 240 degrees F (sea level) or 235 degrees (5,000 ft. above sea level). In order to prevent over-beating of the egg whites, start beating them when the syrup is within 5 degrees of being cooked all the way–i.e. 235 degrees at sea level, or 230 for high altitude.**

By the way…

This is my reason:

Only I’m not 6 years old. I just couldn’t bear putting 28 candles on the cake this year. Jeez. Or am I only 27? No. I’m 28. Dang. Well, that means my husband only has two more years to plan my CJane-esque 30th Birthday Gala. And I have two more years to plan my awesome cake. And that also means I’m two years away from actually being 30…whoa. (Deep breaths, deeeeeep cleansing breaths.)

Have a great weekend!

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33 Comments

  1. Happy birthday deary!

    and i must say.. the cake is quite a spectacle with the strawberries and the cream cheese frosting. Lovely photos!

  2. Happy BIrthday! I hope it was a great day. I wish I’d had a birthday cake like that. I love lemon. I’m going to have to try that one out… maybe a late birthday celebration.

  3. Happy Birthday! Your cake is lovely. I think your substitutions sound fantastic… I gotta try that strawberry icing (WOW!).

    I thought 27 was harder than 30. I guess I was used to the idea once I actually hit the big 3-0. Maybe that will be the case for you too :)

  4. This is the kind of flavor variety that would work so well with this cake! I thought it was delicious but wanted a bit more! The strawberries are a fantastic addition! Happy Birthday!

  5. Happy Birthday! Out of all the cakes I’ve seen so far, yours has the tightest crumb. I think chiffons can be too springy sometimes, but yours looks really good. I’ve wanted to try a cream cheese SMBC for a long time now, but hesitated because my powdered sugar cream cheese frosting can get soupy after I beat to too long and this kind of frosting requires more beating than the powdered sugar kind. I’m sure the SMBC cream cheese frosting is way silkier though.

  6. LOL! Happy Birthday Ol’ Lady! Just kidding . Hope you have a fantastic day!

    Your cake looks fabulous. Love the flavors of strawberry and lemon together. Your strawberry cream cheese swiss meringue buttercream is brillant! (Did I get that right?) LOL!
    ~ingrid

  7. Your cake looks perfect paired with strawberries and cream cheese.
    Happy birthday, and remember it’s not how old you are but how young you feel. I hope you enjoy your special day.

  8. Oh dang it! I meant to call you yesterday and wish you a Happy Birthday, then the days craziness set in and I forgot. Hope you had a great day – the cake looks wonderful.

  9. 28!!! Still a baby. And 30 – NO BIG DEAL!!!!! Trust me on this one. And BTW – Happy Birthday.

    Cake looks wonderful with the stawberry filling.

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