Our First Amazing Recipe Post!

So a few weeks ago, I wanted to bake something warm and yummy and had some fresh lemon stuff to use up (juice and grated peel). I had already made lemon bars, so I didn't want to do that again. I was thinking more like, cake. But of course I couldn't find a recipe for lemon cake that actually used fresh lemon peel and juice anywhere that could be easily adapted for the dairy-free needs of my son. Some recipes only used lemon jello, which made me laugh. Seriously? Where's a good recipe when you need one?

 I did, however, find a recipe for making yellow cake from scratch, which I thought I might fiddle around with. I changed a few things around, crossed my fingers (and licked the bowl), and voíla! It was freakin' amazing.

This cake is best when still warm, with a little citrus glaze drizzled on top. Seriously, no one could leave this cake alone in our house. It tastes like sunshine and warmth--it is so moist and light--perfect for the middle of the winter! : ) (And I didn't even steal this off Pinterest!)

Sunshine Lemon Cake
1/4 c fresh-squeezed lemon juice (bottled lemon juice can be used, but it tastes better with fresh!)
1 c orange juice
2 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs, separated
3/4 c butter or margarine, softened (I used dairy-free margarine, but you could use whatever)
2 1/2 c granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease and flour a 9x13-inch pan (or 2 9-inch rounds).  Pour lemon juice together with the orange juice into a pourable measuring cup and set aside.  Sift the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt together in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.  In another medium-sized bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff but not dry (will form stiff peaks that hold their shape--do NOT curl over--when beaters lifted out).  Set aside.

In a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and lemon zest.  Add the egg yolks and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.  Add a third of the flour mixture to the bowl, followed by a third of the juice, just mixing to combine after each addition.  Continue this--adding thirds and just mixing--until all combined.  Gently fold in the stiff egg whites with a rubber spatula.  Pour batter into the prepare pan, smoothing the top with the spatula. 

Bake 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Set cake to cool on a rack about 15 minutes.  Serve warm with citrus glaze drizzled across the top.

Citrus Glaze

In a small bowl, combine 3/4 c. powdered sugar, 1 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel, and 3-4 Tbsp. of orange juice (enough to reach glazing consistency).  This sounds like not very much for a whole cake, but all you need is enough to drizzle in criss-crosses across the top of the cake--and this yields just enough! : )