Friday Fire

Well, we’ve found ourselves at Friday once again. This week was full of ups and downs in my world. Sunday and Monday I was plagued with epic tiredness and what felt like the onset of a sore throat that never quite materialized. Was it COVID? Was it a cold? Was it nothing at all? I shall never know. I am simply grateful it only lasted two days and then my energy returned.

What lit me up this week? Well, the list has turned out very short, my friends. I spent precious little time outside breathing in the fresh, crisp air of winter and surrounding myself with nature, and I admit that it took its toll on my overall zest for life. But, speaking of zest, top of my list this week is my lemon cake (referenced last week) and you really do need to hear about it, so let’s waste no further time. Here’s what lit me up this week:

1. A monumentally successful lemon cake experiment: I have a lengthy history of grand baking visions that turn out…well, decidedly less grand. But my triple-layer lemon raspberry cake was truly epic. If you need a celebration cake for lemon lovers in your life, let me point you towards the following combination (and be prepared for a novel about a damn cake):

• This cake recipe with the following modifications: swap butter for shortening, reduce lemon extract to 1 teaspoon (but trust me, don’t eliminate it completely. No amount of lemon zest and juice is going to give you quite enough lemon flavor without messing with the texture), and reduce buttermilk by 1/3 of a cup and replace with freshly squeezed lemon juice. Lastly, bake in 3 9″ layers instead of 2. Bam.
• Standard lemon simple syrup recipe (I used this one): Brush each (cooled) cake layer generously with simple syrup. Don’t be shy. It’s essential both for lemon flavour and to keep the cake moist because you’ll be storing this cake in the fridge.
• One batch of lemon curd: I used an Anna Olson recipe that I can’t seem to find online but it yields about 1 1/4 cups of curd. I used this filling between the top two cake layers. I didn’t need a buttercream dam because the curd is very thick (but still spreadable).
• Raspberry buttercream: My bad, I didn’t measure at all when I made the raspberry puree/jam. I dumped frozen raspberries into a small pan and added a couple tablespoons of sugar, cooked it down, and strained out the seeds. I let it cool. I creamed 6 tbsp of salted butter with 1.5 cups of powdered sugar and added the cooled raspberry puree. It created the most vibrant, beet-coloured buttercream I’ve ever seen with an amazing tartness. I used this between the bottom two cake layers.
• Whipped cream & cream cheese “frosting”: I coated the outside of the cake in this sturdy whipped cream frosting. Don’t skip on the cream of tartar. It majorly helps this cream stay stable for days. I use less powdered sugar (more like half a cup) and more creamed cheese (1.5 bricks vs. 1) and then folded in the zest of one lemon, a couple tablespoons of lemon simple syrup and probably a quarter cup of lemon curd. I would call this ‘lemon scented’ whipped frosting. It’s light and heavenly. Coat your cake liberally and you won’t regret it. Store in the fridge. It lasts for days. You’re welcome.

2. Family moving closer: Last year, I lived 6.5 hours from my parents. In September, we closed that gap considerably and got down to about 1.5 hours. Now my parents have decided to move and we’re 20 minutes apart. I’ve seen them more in the last three weeks than the last five years. We can have family dinners on the regular. They can go to my favourite natural food stores on the first Tuesday of every month for the 10% discount so I don’t have to make a special trip on a specific day. It’s an all around win, friends. Now if I could just get my brother to remember how much better the western half of the country is than the eastern half…#goals.

3. Home-made Oreo candy cane bark: I swear I don’t just make and eat sweets. I mean, to be fair, I do eat a lot of sweets for a grown-ass woman, but it’s not all I do. Here’s how this came to be. I had a bag of ground up candy canes (i.e. candy cane dust) burning a hole on my pantry shelf. It needed to go. I also had a package of Oreos that felt like it’d been open forever (and yet, somehow and worryingly, was not at all stale). To top it off, we bought a 1kg bag of milk chocolate chips that is taking me an eternity to make my way through. The solution: bark loaded with chopped oreos and candy can dust. It took five minutes to make. What are you waiting for?

With that, my weekend is officially on. I, for one, am going to find myself some outdoor time and peace of mind this weekend. May you find whatever it is you’re looking for right now. Happy weekend, y’all.