A tiny cake, but with a big impact. A nice, light lemon cake with a simple strawberry jam filling, topped with colorful marshmallow fluff frosting. You could even go simpler, and leave off the frosting. Just sprinkle with a little powdered sugar before serving. This was lovely for Mother's Day!
Jam:
If you're making homemade jam, make it first so it can cool. A high-quality store bought jam will work well, too. For this cake, I made the following and used it to layer the cakes once it cooled.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook until starting to thicken (20-30 minutes):
~12 oz strawberries, washed, hulled, and finely diced
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
In a small bowl, mix together:
2-3 Tbsp cold water
2-3 Tbsp cornstarch
Slowly pour the cornstarch mixture into the strawberries, stirring constantly. This will thicken up the jam nicely. You can make this thinner or thicker, depending on your preference. A thinner jam may run off the sides of your cake a bit.
Pour thickened jam into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to avoid a film forming on the top. Let jam cool completely. To speed this, you can place the bowl in a container of ice and put a baggie of ice on top of the plastic wrap.
Lemon Cakes:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Butter and line three 6" pans with parchment paper. I usually cut a circle for the bottom, then strips to line around the edges.
In a bowl, whisk together:
1/4 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
zest of 1 lemon
Add and whisk until smooth:
1/2 cup milk (lactose-free or dairy-free works great)
1/4 cup oil (I like avocado oil, but any light oil will work)
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
2 drops lemon essential oil (I like the DoTerra lemon oil for baking)
Divide batter between the three pans. Bake at 350 F for about 14-16 minutes, until cakes are set in the middle. Carefully remove from pans, removing parchment paper, too. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
In a mixer, beat together until light and fluffy (3-4 minutes):
1 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup marshmallow fluff
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
Assembling Cake:
Once cooled, layer your cake with jam. Then, spread a thin "crumb/jam" coating of frosting over the entire cake - this fills any holes and smooths out the sides. Place the coated cake in the refrigerator to chill.
Divide the remaining frosting into four bowls. Color the frosting, as desired. I used a mixture of purple and pink coloring, adding amounts bit by bit using toothpicks, until I ended up with the colors I wanted. (I left one as white, and the others shades of purple). Place each color into a small, freezer ziploc (or icing bags). Trim the corner off each to pipe.
Starting at the base of your cake, pipe 2-3 circles around the entire cake. Use the back of a spoon to spread the frosting, flattening it a bit. Pipe 2-3 circles of your next color. Again, use the back of a spoon to spread the frosting. Repeat with the final colors, until your cake is a beautiful gradient of color going up the cake to a pale top. You'll end up with something that looks uniquely your own, but the gradual coloring changes make it so pretty.
I prefer this cake at room temperature, so the frosting stays soft, but you can always keep it in the refrigerator, removing it about 45 minutes - 1 hour before serving. Enjoy!
It looks humongous in this picture, but this pretty cake is small and dainty - just 6" in diameter (a bit more with the frosting)
A lovely slice of strawberry-lemon cake, perfect for any celebration.
Beautiful Mini Lemon-Strawberry Cake - gluten free!
Makes one 6" cake with three layersJam:
If you're making homemade jam, make it first so it can cool. A high-quality store bought jam will work well, too. For this cake, I made the following and used it to layer the cakes once it cooled.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook until starting to thicken (20-30 minutes):
~12 oz strawberries, washed, hulled, and finely diced
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
In a small bowl, mix together:
2-3 Tbsp cold water
2-3 Tbsp cornstarch
Slowly pour the cornstarch mixture into the strawberries, stirring constantly. This will thicken up the jam nicely. You can make this thinner or thicker, depending on your preference. A thinner jam may run off the sides of your cake a bit.
Pour thickened jam into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to avoid a film forming on the top. Let jam cool completely. To speed this, you can place the bowl in a container of ice and put a baggie of ice on top of the plastic wrap.
Freshly made jam on the left, and speeding up the cooling process on the right. Just make sure your bag of ice doesn't leak at all as the ice melts.
Lemon Cakes:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Butter and line three 6" pans with parchment paper. I usually cut a circle for the bottom, then strips to line around the edges.
In a bowl, whisk together:
1/4 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
zest of 1 lemon
Add and whisk until smooth:
1/2 cup milk (lactose-free or dairy-free works great)
1/4 cup oil (I like avocado oil, but any light oil will work)
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
2 drops lemon essential oil (I like the DoTerra lemon oil for baking)
Divide batter between the three pans. Bake at 350 F for about 14-16 minutes, until cakes are set in the middle. Carefully remove from pans, removing parchment paper, too. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
Lemon cakes, cooling.
Frosting: (this is the same as my favorite marshmallow frosting recipe)In a mixer, beat together until light and fluffy (3-4 minutes):
1 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup marshmallow fluff
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
Assembling Cake:
Once cooled, layer your cake with jam. Then, spread a thin "crumb/jam" coating of frosting over the entire cake - this fills any holes and smooths out the sides. Place the coated cake in the refrigerator to chill.
Layered with jam - you can see it was a bit runny, but it didn't make the cake soggy at all, so worked just fine!
No problem if there are little bits of jam that end up sticking through, though it is best to try to get them covered up. After chilling and adding more frosting, this was completely hidden.
Divide the remaining frosting into four bowls. Color the frosting, as desired. I used a mixture of purple and pink coloring, adding amounts bit by bit using toothpicks, until I ended up with the colors I wanted. (I left one as white, and the others shades of purple). Place each color into a small, freezer ziploc (or icing bags). Trim the corner off each to pipe.
Four bags of frosting in freezer Ziplocs - I find the freezer Ziplocs to be tough enough to squeeze without breaking while piping. I've had issues with other styles.
Starting at the base of your cake, pipe 2-3 circles around the entire cake. Use the back of a spoon to spread the frosting, flattening it a bit. Pipe 2-3 circles of your next color. Again, use the back of a spoon to spread the frosting. Repeat with the final colors, until your cake is a beautiful gradient of color going up the cake to a pale top. You'll end up with something that looks uniquely your own, but the gradual coloring changes make it so pretty.
You don't have to leave any frosting white -- you could make four colors, just make them complimentary, varying shades.
I prefer this cake at room temperature, so the frosting stays soft, but you can always keep it in the refrigerator, removing it about 45 minutes - 1 hour before serving. Enjoy!
Yummy, simple layers of lemon and strawberry!
