Raspberry Lemonade

Lemon Cake with a Fresh Raspberry Puree and Mascarpone Cream Filling frosted with Lemon and Raspberry Icing.

Yesterday I helped a friend develop some cupcake decorating skills.  Afterwards, I thought more about lemons and raspberries … and lemonade.  How wonderful!

I thought it threw and decided fresh raspberries were the way to go.  I just knew the color would be wonderful – a lovely rich pink with natural flavoring - the genuine berry must surely be better than an artificial berry flavor, yes?  Also - bottom line, I really love my lemon cake recipe.

Developing the cream filling took a little more effort with trial and error, and that was ok too. This is the part I like – thinking, creating, imagining. I debated as to whether I should add a hit of yellow food gel to up the lemon color, but opted not to. Perhaps next time I will and compare the two.

I also think next time the cream filling will need more body in order to support multiple layers.  It seemed as though filling was oozing out the sides and into the crumb coat despite having time to set-up in the fridge. 

I love that I can call this a “test kitchen” cake. 

I kept trying to figure out how to frost it.  The harder I thought about it, the less traction I gained.  It was only until I let the thought go, that a solution came to me.  A technique I’ve been wanting to try but haven’t.  An ombre frosting!  Oh yeah – this would be a perfect vehicle for something new.

 

 

 

It was easy to decide on the yellow variant up the sides, but the top was either going to be white or another version of a raspberry pink ombre.  I need to practice this a few more times to get the steadiness nailed down.  Wait? Pursuit of perfection?  Welcome to Crazy Town.

 

 

 

 

There is something about color and the gradiant from one shade to another that really draws me in.  I can't explain it nor do I need the answer.

 

I'm mosly satisified with the end results of this cake.  I'm not very sure of how it tastes.  My hunch is that the filling and the frosting are both too sweet.  I discovered today that the German powdered sugar is not as fine a grain as the American powered sugar.  I believe I added too much and greatly increase the 'grit factor' due to the size of the grain.  We'll see what the feedback is like.

I like the layers...and I'd like to see it with a bit of yellow food gel in the cake.

After I finished this cake and delivered it to our friends at Starbucks, I recognized (again) I have a great life.    I'm sober.  My life partner makes it possible for me to bake and produce what I can imagine. He supports this effort physically, emotionally, and fiscally.  We get to live in an amazing part of town and I truly feel at home here.  All of my needs are met and so many of my wants.  I'm so happy a cake reminded me of the good I have in my world.