Lemon Debutante Cake

Lemon is one my favorite cake flavors. Cake is often quite rich and dense, but lemon flavor lightens the cake and adds interest to flavor. This cake recipe came from the Miette cookbook. This cookbook is full of beautiful cakes, tarts, cookies, etc. Different than most cakes, this is a 6-inch cake. I really liked this size, because it yielded smaller and more realistic servings. The three-layered cake is filled with lemon curd and topped with a lemon buttercream. Lemon curd is near the top of my list of favorite sweet indulgences. It is too yummy to resist, and homemade curd is the only way to go. The more I make it, the more I like swiss meringue buttercream. It was intimidating at first, but after practice I became more comfortable with making it. Real buttercream (not butter frosting- powdered sugar, butter, and milk) is light and fluffy, melts in your mouth, sturdy for frosting, and is totally versatile with flavors. It is now my first choice in frosting cakes. Edible flowers were a pretty adornment for this tasty and sophisticated lemon debutante cake.