lemon ruffle cake

I had so much fun making and decorating my moms birthday cake! My first ruffle cake, which for my first I am okay with the imperfections!

I started with 2 cake mixes, one yellow and one white. I like to doctor up my cake mixes to make them here is the recipe for my doctored up Lemon Cake!

1 yellow or white cake mix

4 eggs

1/2 Cup water

1/3 Cup oil

1 Cup Sour Cream

1 package of Lemon Instant Pudding

Combine ingredients and Bake according to the directions on the cake box. I used tow 8-inch rounds for each cake. Since I did one yellow cake and one white so 4 layer the cake would look striped when we cut into it. When making the White cake mix, I used only the egg whites.

For filling between the cake's layers I used Lemon Curd. I discovered a new way to make it so it doesn't need to be strained and ends up perfectly smooth!

4 TBS unsalted butter

3/4 Cup Sugar

3 large eggs

1/3 Cup FRESH Lemon Juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Combine sugar and butter in a glass bowl, and beat until fluffy. Then beat in the eggs. Add the lemon juice. Once it is all combined, pour into your stove-top pan and heat on low-medium until it gets creamy and thick. Be sure to CONSTANTLY stir the curd and don't let it boil! You can freeze or store it in the refrigerator.

For the frosting I wanted something light, but still lemon flavored. Here is the recipe!

1 pint of Heavy Whipping Cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 package of Instant Lemon Pudding

Use your hand mixer to beat until it gets thick enough to pipe or spread, if it is too thick you can add a teaspoon or two of milk until it gets to your desired consistency. note* I should have doubled this recipe to make the ruffles work better.

Fifty is Nifty

My amazing mom turned fifty this week. My sisters, Dad, and I decided to throw her a big surprise party! We plotted and planned for weeks, trying to gather emails, make decorations, and order food.

The cake was my first ruffle cake! I will post more details about the cake soon!

We decided that doing a black theme was just too dreary! So we thought of something more cheery and bright and landed on lemons and limes!

We had mini Vanilla Cupcakes from Sweet Tooth Fairy. YUMMO. Best Vanilla Cupcakes ever.

We also had Coconut and Pistachio Macaroons from the Sweet Tooth Fairy. If you haven't ever tried a french macaroon, you must! They are light and fluffy and melt in your mouth.

Several of my aunts made gooey rice crispy treats. I love sticky melted marshmallows!

We got Citrus flavored and colored candies, and had them all over the table. Adding jars of colored candy helps decorate your party and adds an extra treat for your guests, especially if you have little kids! Using real lemons and limes in vases is a great way to decorate, inexpensive and pretty!

With the help of my Grandpa we gathered old photos of my mom and scanned them so we could make them black and white and order prints online. We used clothes pins and twine to hang them along the back wall for everyone to see.

Lemon water and Lemonade to drink, with grey striped paper straws. (which I found on Amazon for a great deal!) My sister printed out the cute labels using this free printable.

We used my silhouette machine to make the Happy Birthday Sign that we hung on the front of the table and the round paper streamers that were hanging behind the table. We cut our 150 scalloped circles and I sewed them together on my sewing machine!

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you!