Lemon Cake

 It's my favorite cake flavor.

My only problem? Every recipe I tried was never as good as the way my mom made it - out of a box! Don't get me wrong, box mixes are great. (I'm looking at you, gluten-free brownie mix from ALDI.) But homemade lemon cake should taste better than a box mix!

So I got down to work to make the perfect lemon cake.

(Spoiler alert: I did!)

I chose 4 lemon cake recipes - all of which had marked differences - made them all, and then had a sampling party with some highly critical taste testers (AKA my family). I took notes, made more cake, took more notes, made more cake, etc. until finally:

Moist, flavorful, and the perfect texture.

If you like a lemon cake with just a hint of lemon flavor, this is not the cake for you. This lemon flavor is strong enough to punch you in the nose and taste buds.

So, in case you don't live close enough to order from my bakery, or just want to make it yourself, here's the recipe:

Cream together:

1 cup oil*

3 eggs

1 tsp lemon extract

Zest of 2 lemons

Juice of 2 lemons + whole milk to 1 1/3 cups

In a separate bowl, whisk together:

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Add to oil mixture and mix to combine. Pour into two 8-9" baking pans and bake at 325(F) for 25-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. (Rotate the pans halfway through if your oven bakes unevenly like mine.)

* Use a mild flavored oil like canola, not olive! (I made that mistake for you.)

For the frosting:

Cream 2 sticks butter in a stand mixer, then add the following ingredients, switching between dry and wet ingredients as necessary:

7 cups powdered sugar (add 1 cup at a time)

juice and zest of 1 lemon

1 generous tsp lemon extract*

1-2 drops yellow gel food coloring (optional)

*I like a very strong lemon flavor. If you don't, begin with less lemon extract and work your way up to your desired flavor.

Sometimes I try new cake decorating ideas. Sometimes they are less pretty than others. (But still delicious.)

Love and Lemons,
Leah Joy

Little Free Library

For quite some time, I'd been wanting to build a Little Free Library for our yard. Especially at the beginning of quarantine, when the libraries were closed for some time, I thought it would be a helpful service for the neighborhood. Of course, by the time I got one up, the libraries were open again, but now I'm prepared. :)

I found this cabinet on craigslist, and while I loved the basic shape, it needed to be a bit deeper. My brother-in-law helped me make the necessary adjustments. By which I mean, he did all of the hard work, and I sanded and painted.

We used some old sign boards from my dad's real estate business (they get new signs every time they change their name - and they change their name a lot). 

My dad had some metallic blue oil-based paint lying around, which he gave me. I kind of regret using this paint as oil-based paint is awful to clean up, and the inside of the library STILL stinks of it a year and a half later. But it is pretty.

This past summer, Jo had a lot of fun running around our yard taking pictures. She took both of these artistic shots of our library.

Love and Books,

Leah Joy