Lemon Meringue Cake

My husband John loves lemons..and he loves lemon meringue pie..but since the weather has been overcast  I was worried that my meringue would deflate since Ina Garten from Barefoot Contessa advised that avoid making meringues on a rainy or moist day coz it deflates it.. so i decided to make a cake instead..there's this recipe that I got on tv from Giada de Laurentiis (again) i love the desserts that she makes..but i doubled the recipe for this so i can make a 2 layer cake.. I made the Lemon Curd first for the filling since in needs to cool and set..so here it is:


Lemon Curd

3 eggs
1 c white sugar
1/2 c lemon juice
1/4 c melted butter, unsalted
1 tbsp lemon zest

In a top of a double boiler, beat eggs and sugar. Whisk in lemon juice, and slowly add the melted butter while whisking. Add the zest and continue whisking and cooking over simmering water for 15 minutes or until thickened.

Now for the cake..

Lemon Cake
(recipe adapted from Giada de Laurentiis)

6 eggs, separated (yolks and whites)
2 c sugar, divided in half
2 c all- purpose flour
1/2 c vegetable oil
pinch of salt
2 large lemons, juice and zest or if you only have the lemon juice concentrate just use 1/2 cup

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or if using a dark non-stick pan lower the tempearature to 325 degrees F.
2. Butter and flour 2- 8 inch or 2- 9inch round cake pan or you can also line the bottom with wax or parchment paper so the cake comes off easily. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl whip egg whites and 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy, almost like a meringue.
4. In a medium bowl, combine egg yolks, 1 cup of sugar, vegetable oil, flour and salt,whisk until all incorporated. Mixture will be really sticky.. add the lemon juice and zest.
5. Fold in half of the egg whites to the egg yolk batter, until well combined. Add the other half of the meringue batter, folding it with the whisk until the color looks pale yellow. Divide batter into the cake pans and bake for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool..

For the meringue frosting, i got this recipe from Paula Deen. She calls it Fluffy 7-minute frosting.. it actually almost taste like in between marshmallows and meringue..


Fluffy 7-minute frosting
 (adapted from Paula Deen)

1 3/4 sugar
1/2  water
4 egg whites, room temp
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla extract



1. In a medium saucepan,bring sugar and water to a boil. Boil for 3-4 minutes or until a candy thermometer reads 242 degrees Fahrenheit.. I usually just eyeball it..
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy..Slowly pour the simple syrup mixture and continue to beat on high for 7 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Add vanilla. continue beating until frosting reaches desired consistency.

Before i stack the cakes i brushed them with more lemon juice, not only it keeps the cake moist but it also add more lemon tart taste to it that my husband loves. you don't have to do this you can just use water if you like but my husband always asks for the lemon tart taste everytime he eats something with lemon in it..