POLL: How did your Lemonade Layer Cake (April '02) turn out?

[Norma]

Thanks, Tizzylish. I'm noting this in my magazine for future bakings.

[MKSquared]

You might want to raise the oven temperature by 25 degrees or so. I found that the higher temps helped my cupcakes to rise up and get a muffin-like crown on top.

[Norma]

Thanks for that tip, MSquared. I will add that to my notes for this recipe.

This board is so helpful.

[gertdog]

I finally have something to say about this cake. Made it for DF this weekend. Served with strawberries.

Flavor: A
Frosting: B
Texture: D+

I really loved the lemon flavor... I used lemon curd in addition to the frosting. The frosting was rather thin but still tasted good.

I didn't love the texture. I don't think it turned out wrong, but it was dense and heavy. I think I just prefer a springier, spongier cake. There are other lemon cakes I've liked better, but no harm done in trying this recipe!

[BosunsWife]

I decided against making this particular cake. I read too many negative comments on it to waste time making it. BUT, my mom made it and I am posting on her behalf (she still hasn't figured out the boards yet). She thought it was horrible. She is a old hand at baking scratch cakes and simply could not figure out what she did wrong. She commented to me it was flat, dense and totally unpalatable (although my dad ate it, but he will eat anything LOL). She also said the frosting was slimy and the cake was sliding everywhere when she tried to frost it. At first she wondered if her baking powder/soda (I can't recall which was used) was bad, but I told her about the comments here and she said "well, I guess that wasn't it".

She said it hasn't soured her on CL cakes, but she will definitely think twice before making one again. She also (before talking to me) sent CL an email asking them if they had any feedback on the cake recipe.

[aggie94]

Gosh, I wish I could make this cake again and send a piece to everyone who hated it. I absolutely loved this cake - mine was light and fluffy and delicious, definitely NOT heavy or dense. It was PERFECT. One of the best CL desserts I've ever made.

[Carolina68]

I finally decided to give the lemonade cake a try on Saturday. I didn't feel like making a layer cake so I put it in a 9 x 13 pan and made a sheetcake. It looked ok when I took it out of the oven. After reading all the post, I wasn't expecting it to rise much and it didn't. However, the texture really baffled me. Like many others have posted, it's definitely a dense cake, not light and fluffy. After seeing this, I skipped the frosting and we topped it with strawberries and whipped topping. It did taste very good and had a great lemon flavor.

[Shirley Ekstein]

You can't lighten cakes successfully. If you try, what you are eating is a travesty of the real thing. The only thing that does work, to a certain extent, is to substitute a low-fat spread for butter. This not only works but does, in many cases, produce a fluffier and nicer cake.
Would suggest you all stop trying to lighten cakes, make the real thing, and eat less of it.

(Just a suggestion, of course!)

[jennkristy]

Mine turned out great! I made it on Easter (pretty risky, but it worked)....and followed the recipe exactly to the best of my recollection...oh! I did use smaller cake pans to make the layers a bit thicker. It was a big hit.

[britneyelise]

I'll copy someone else's rating system

Taste: A-
Frosting: F- - - - - - - -........(the frosting was awful)
Texture: B+ (my family prefers a dense, european style cake)

Next time I am only going to do one layer and do a ganauche of some sort (or an icing along that type) or just some powdered sugar.

But, the next time i am going to do it, I am going to do a grapefruit one with grapefruit rind and grapefruit conentrate.

[colleency]

As I recall, I made this into cupcakes, and it was really good. The only problem was we ate them too fast! I haven't made it again, because I don't have much baking time anymore. sigh.

[Pat]

I know this cake has been talked to death but I just had to report that I have made it successfully! I was one of the ones who had trouble when it first appeared in the magazine. I felt it was too dense and did not rise enough but had a wonderful flavor.

It is so hot here that I wanted something light and lemony so I tried the cake using Alice Medrich's advice about all ingredients being at room temperature and to the advice from some of you to change the flour I used. This time I used Gold Medal unbleached all-purpose and it turned out light and wonderful.

I just had to report since I was one to complain and try to figure out what was wrong. My DH laughed and said I couldn't stand it that I had failed with a cake. Maybe. This one was certainly a success. I will be making this again now that I know what was wrong the first time. Thanks to all of you who suggested different flour and to Alice Medrich and her cookbook.

[Robyncz]

MMMMMMmmmm. I think it's time to make this one again. Thanks for the reminder (and for the updated review!).

[Magix]

I have to say, this is the first from-scratch cake I've ever made, and I was pleased with it. I really thought it couldn't have been much easier. I used my K.A. with a paddle, and I did use the low-fat buttermilk, but I didn't have much trouble getting the layers out of the pans, and the icing turned out beautifully. Sweet, yes, but it's ICING after all!

I did serve it cold as suggested in the reviews, and thought that might have made it a little tough, but we ate the rest only slightly chilled and it was, well, a "NORMAL" texture for a cake.

Maybe my expectations are too low! Oh no, I'm too easy to please!

[Robyncz]

Originally posted by Magix
Maybe my expectations are too low! Oh no, I'm too easy to please!

Glad it turned out well for you. But I don't know why liking this cake meant your expectations were low!!! If you look at the results of the poll, almost 50 percent of the people who answered loved it. Another 30 percent thought it was good. That's an 80% endorsement. Sounds like a pretty good cake to me!

[Magix]

Thanks, Robyncz, I feel better now that I added to the rumbling. I also have to say that as a newcomer I was a little surprised to see all the nay-sayers, and wasn't sure that was normal.

I guess it all comes down to personal taste, and I thought it was darned "tasty."

[ourthreegirls]

Ummmmm.....ok, I'm a BIT late on this , but I FINALLY made this cake today (after a fiasco with a BOXED cake mix that I was trying to throw together - perhaps an omen I shouldn't have been trying that box mix? ). Personally, I loved it! But it got mixed reviews in my family...
kids, of course, loved it....it's loaded in sugar - what more could they ask for?

my husband said he really liked the flavor, but thought it was a bit too dense for his taste...

my mother said overall she liked the cake, but thought the frosting was WAY too sweet for her taste (and she is the QUEEN of sweet tooths in our family). Oddly enough she didn't taste the lemon (although everyone else did - she must have OFF taste buds!)

The only thing I added was sliced strawberries around the edge of the cake to make for a nicer presentation. Repeater in this house! (not that anyone cares, since it's nearly 2 years since the recipe made it's debut )

Jennifer

[colleency]

Originally posted by ourthreegirls
Repeater in this house! (not that anyone cares, since it's nearly 2 years since the recipe made it's debut )

Jennifer

I like it when people bring up old recipe threads. It reminds me that I should make something again, or even try it for the first time!