Happy Birthday, Gray Cow! Meyer Lemon Cake with Raspberry Jam

It’s Gray Cow’s first birthday! 🎉 I apologize for the non-Lego post this week as we take a moment to celebrate our first blog year with a lemon cookie-shaped cake. I love my cookies and Ham loves his cake, so there you have it. 😂 The oh-so-cute cookie cake mold is from Williams-Sonoma and the cake recipe is from the New York Times. We’ll return to our regular Lego talk next week but for now at least, “we gonna party like it’s [our] birthday; we gon’ sip Bacardi like it’s [our] birthday!” 🎉🎂🎉

So Happy Birthday, Gray Cow! Thank you for helping me return to writing and for allowing Ham to have a space to be creative. And most importantly, thank you to all of our visitors out there who find Gray Cow by hitting “I’m feeling lucky” on Google (😂) or through our humble social media attempts. Eek, we’re still learning how to navigate those choppy waters. 😂 In the end, it matters not how you happen upon us, we’re just darn glad you’re here. Cheers to another blog year! 🥂

Dry ingredients
Wet ingredients
Cookie cake mold
Ready for the oven

Ingredients

For the lemon cake (yields two 9” layers):

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more to flour the cake pans
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/3 cups whole milk
1/4 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
4 teaspoons Meyer lemon zest
1 cup softened unsalted butter, plus a bit more for the cake pans
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup raspberry jam

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350℉.

To start the cake batter, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Then whisk the milk, lemon juice and zest in a separate bowl. Set both aside.

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and sugar. Cream until it’s light and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time.

Once combined, alternate the addition of the dry ingredients and the milk/lemon mixture in three rounds. Remember to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.

To prepare the cake pans for baking, melt a tablespoon of butter and generously lather the pans with a pastry brush. Then dust each pan with flour and tap out the excess. Pour the batter into the prepared pans until it’s 3/4 full. Bake for 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Spread the raspberry jam on the bottom cake layer, add the top layer and enjoy. Don’t forget the scoop or two of vanilla ice cream for that extra something!