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Celebrate the arrival of spring with a beautiful cake. Lemon cake has been the centerpiece of many celebratory times in my life; baby showers, christenings, birthdays and weddings.

Light and lemony, it truly can be a cake for any celebration, or just because you feel like it. The frosting is a typical cream cheese with the addition of lemonade concentrate to add a little zing. Decorate with fresh flowers and berries to add a little sparkle to your beautiful creation.

Lemon Cake with Strawberries

1 3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

3 tablespoons lemon zest

3 eggs, room temperature

1/4 cup lemon juice

3 cups AP flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

2 pints strawberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 3 9-inch-diameter cake pans by lightly buttering and sprinkling with flour, tapping out excess.
Beat sugar, butter, and lemon zest until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, incorporating each egg before the next addition. Slowly beat in lemon juice.
In a separate mixing bowl, sift all dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients into the butter sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk.
Divide the batter into prepared pans. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool for 15-20 minutes before removing from pans to cool on baking rack.

Slice strawberries

Frosting

12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

5 tablespoons frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

Beat the cream cheese and butter to death! Actually, until light and fluffy and no appearance of lumps. Slowly add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add lemonade and zest.

To frost your COMPLETELY COOLED cake

Place one cake layer on platter. Top with about 1/2 cup, or more frosting. Gently spread frosting. Place strawberries over frosting, and top with the next layer of cake. Continue with remaining layer. Top cake with remaining frosting, decorating how you wish. Top with remaining strawberries.

Enjoy!

Andrea Charroin was a trained baker and pastry chef in San Francisco before she and her family moved to Redding nine years ago. After falling in love with Redding’s downtown, Andrea and husband Westley opened a little pastry shop, Rene-Joule Patisserie, across from the Cascade Theatre. For the three years Rene-Joule was in business, it was renowned for making everything from scratch, using the best ingredients and keeping with a seasonal menu. To this day, Andrea is asked about her Marathon Bars, Orange Twists and sourdough bread.