Alexs Lemon Cream Cheese Butter Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Set aside an ungreased 9- by 13-inch pan.
• For the crust, place the cake mix, melted butter, and egg in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for two minutes. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. The batter should come together in a ball. With your fingertips, pat the batter evenly over the bottom of the pan, smoothing it out with your fingers until the top is smooth. Set the pan aside.
• For the filling, rinse and dry the lemons well. Grate the zest from the lemons and set aside; you should have about 2 teaspoons. Cut the lemons in half, and squeeze into a small bowl; you should have about 6 tablespoons. Set the juice aside.
• Place the cream cheese in the same mixing bowl that was used to make the crust, and with the same beaters (no need to clean either) blend with an electric mixer on low speed until fluffy, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and add the lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs, melted butter, and cornmeal and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and add the confectioners' sugar. Beat on medium speed until the sugar is well incorporated, 1 minute more. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with the rubber spatula so that the filling covers the entire surface and reaches the sides of the pan. Place the pan in the oven.
• Bake the cake until it is well browned but the center still jiggles when you shake the pan, 45 to 47 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool, 30 minutes. Cut into squares and serve.
• Store this cake, covered in aluminum foil, at room temperature for up to 4 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or freeze it, wrapped in foil, for up to 6months. Thaw the cake overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F. Generously spray 10- or 12-cup fluted tube cake pan.
• In large bowl, beat Cake ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl constantly. Increase speed to medium; beat 2 minutes. Pour into pan.
• Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes; turn upside down onto cooling rack or heatproof serving plate, and remove pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Place cake on serving plate. In medium bowl, beat powdered sugar and lemon juice, a little at a time, using whisk until thick glaze forms. (You may not need all the juice.) Pour evenly over cake. Store cake loosely covered.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line the base of two 20cm sandwich tins with baking parchment. Beat the butter and sugar together for 3 mins using an electric whisk until smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Fold in the flour and baking powder until well incorporated, then fold in the yogurt, vanilla and lemon zest. Divide between the tins and bake for 30-35 mins until golden and a skewer inserted into the middles comes out clean.
• Meanwhile, make the drizzle. Tip the sugar, lemon juice and 100ml water into a small pan set over a medium heat and stir until dissolved. Add the lemon zest, bring to the boil and simmer for 2-3 mins until the zest has softened and the liquid is syrupy. Remove the zest to a sheet of baking parchment using a slotted spoon, and remove the syrup from the heat.
• Leave the sponges to cool for 10 mins in the tins, then pour over the warm drizzle. Leave to cool completely.
• For the icing, beat the butter and icing sugar together using an electric whisk for 4-5 mins until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go. Add the vanilla and soft cheese and beat for 4 mins more until thick and creamy. Don't worry if it doesn't look thick at first - it will loosen, then thicken again as you beat it.
• Remove the cooled sponges from the tins. Spoon the icing into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. Put one sponge on a cake stand or serving plate, and pipe just under half the icing around the edge using a circular motion for a wavy effect. Pipe a little more icing over the empty middle (this doesn't need to be neat) and smooth with the back of a spoon. Chill for 45 mins-1 hr until set. Top with the second sponge, then pipe eight blobs of icing around the edge at regular intervals, leaving a gap between each. Spoon the candied lemon zest into each gap, then serve.