Naked Lemon Vanilla Cake

In Search for the Perfect Vanilla Cake...

"What is a great vanilla cake?" I asked myself.

I have been trying to think of new cake flavours to test and to include in my portfolio. Originally, I had ideas like chocolate and salted caramel, banana layer cake, tiramisu cake etc.

I would spend hours on the phone scrolling through Pinterest for ideas, to a point where my eye balls would involuntarily move up and down even after I stopped scrolling.

Okay, bad idea.

Then I thought to myself, what would be a great base recipe that I can easily change up the flavours and goes well with different types of fillings?

Then a light bulb went off and I heard "Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding!!!!!" (you know the one you hear in "The Price is Right"). What about a great vanilla cake!

A vanilla cake is SO versatile. You can dress it up in so many ways the sky is the limit.

And so I started my journey to find the perfect vanilla cake...

"What is a great vanilla cake?"

Different people have different opinions. But personally, there are two kinds that I like. One is a moist, tender golden vanilla sponge cake with a little "bite" to it.

The other is a chiffon type vanilla cake that is super light, delicate and pillowy that goes well with a hot cuppa.

Whichever it is, they should be light, mildly sweet and not overpowering with vanilla flavour (not to mention only pure vanilla extract should ever be used).

I am boring you with the details, aren't I? Sorry, what did you say? ("I just want to eat!!!")

Okay okay. Fine fine. Fair point.

I went through tons of recipes and this is the one I ended up with.

This is a golden vanilla sponge that is tight crumbed, moist and tender. I added a bit of lemon zest to give the cake a lift and to ensure there was no "eggy" taste.

To make this a proper Lemon cake, I lightly brushed the vanilla sponges with a homemade lemon juice syrup and added thin layers of fresh lemon curd between the cake and the frosting.

For the frosting, I chose a light and airy Cream Cheese Mascarpone Frosting. You hear Cream Cheese, you think HEAVY. Uh uh (imagine me waving my index finger), I am going to stop you right here my dear. This is anything BUT heavy.

The frosting is made by whipping cream cheese, mascarpone and whipped cream together till it die and resurrect.

So much air is incorporated in the frosting that it is almost cloud like. And the flavour? It is AMAZING!!!! It is subtle but cannot be mistaken. You know what I mean?

This is a great recipe for layer cakes which often require a sturdier sponge. It is also a great crowd pleaser on top of chocolate cake (No offence chocolate cake, but sometimes we need a break from even the best thing ever created on earth).

Welcome to the family Ms. Vanilla Cake Recipe! I cannot wait to hold your hand and run towards the sunset : )