Golden State Warriors Lemon Curd Cake

This cake has been a long time coming! Every year, when the NBA playoffs come around, I always think about making a Warriors-themed cake (not sure why these thoughts don't pop up during the regular season, haha). But I always find myself busy with one thing or another and it never happens. This year I have no excuse! I'm currently on vacation before residency starts and one of my goals is to work on this blog and catch up on all the baking ideas I've had stored up… hopefully.

Additionally, I finally started using Instagram this past year (follow me: @diamondsfordessert :D!), and not too long ago, I discovered Joy the Baker's account @drakeoncake!!! It's the best, seriously. I was listening to music and 0 to 100 came on and I thought, you know what would be even better than Drake + Cake? Drake + Dubs + Cake!

I been Steph Curry with the shot

Been cookin' with the sauce

Chef Curry with the pot, boy

360 with the wrist, boy

So there you go. It was either 0 to 100 or Summer Sixteen :). Originally I was going to do a blueberry lemon cake, but the blueberry frosting ended up being a lot of work and not very blueberry-ish. So it ended up being a lemon cake with blue frosting (still looking for a good blueberry frosting!), but still yummy with the tart lemon curd filling. I ended up making a mini cake, but included the instructions for a full sized cake, a mini cake, and cupcakes (in case you're not up to making a full sized cake, but still want to try this recipe). Enjoy!

P. S. And yes, it is raining 3s in the background. I didn't want to wait for online shipping to buy basketball themed paper, so I made my own. Also, go Dubs! Happy NBA Playoffs :).

Lemon Curd Cake (large)
adapted from Buttercream Blondie & The ATK Family Baking Book

Lemon Curd
6 ounces butter
zest of 3 lemons
1 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
pinch of salt
9 egg yolks

Lemon Cake
1 1/2 cups sugar
zest of 3 lemons
1 1/2 sticks (6 oz) butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 and 1/4 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup milk
5 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar

Vanilla Frosting
3 sticks (12 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
3-4 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
food coloring of choice

Chocolate Letter Decorations
yellow candy melts (or white chocolate + yellow candy coloring)

Lemon Curd: Melt butter and lemon zest in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and add sugar, lemon juice, salt, and egg yolks. Place back on med-low and cook until thickened (show be able to coat the back of a spoon), stirring constantly, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and strain the curd. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the curd so a skin doesn't form. Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

Lemon Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside for now. Rub the lemon zest into the sugar. Cream the sugar and butter. Mix in vanilla. In a separate mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt. Alternate mixing in dry ingredients and milk to the butter mixture.

In a different mixing bowl, add egg whites and cream of tartar. Use an electric mixer on medium speed to beat until frothy. Then gradually mix in the 1/4 cup sugar and continue to whip until stiff peaks. Stir some of the egg white into the batter to lighten in. Then fold in the rest of the egg whites in two additions, just until combined. Do not over mix.

Divide batter evenly between the two round cake pans. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean, the tops are set, and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let cool in pans for a few minutes, then transfer to cooling racks to completely cool.

Vanilla Frosting: Cream the butter. Mix in 3 cups of powdered sugar. Add the milk and vanilla extract. Then if necessary, mix in more powdered sugar. Add food coloring of choice.

Chocolate Letter Decorations: Print out desired text from computer (make sure to flip the text horizontally so it's mirrored when it's printed out). Place parchment paper over the printed text. Pipe out melted candy melts/colored white chocolate over the text and fix details with toothpicks. Let set and dry. Once ready to use, cut off excess parchment paper around the text. Place chocolate side down on frosted surface of cake, lightly press on the letters, then gently peel off the parchment paper.

Decorate: Place one layer of the cake on a clean surface (I use a round piece of cardboard covered with foil so it's portable). Put some of the frosting in a disposable piping bag/zippered plastic bag. Cut off some of the tip of the bag and pipe a ring of frosting along the edge of cake (this keeps the lemon curd from oozing out the sides). Spoon some lemon curd onto the middle of the cake and then smooth it out. Place the next layer of the cake on top. Repeat again with next layer. Once the last layer is on, press down gently on the cake.

Frost the whole cake with a thin layer of frosting for the crumb layer. Refrigerate the cake for 8-10 minutes for the frosting to set a bit. Add another layer of frosting, smoothing out this layer. Then decorate as desired, piping on frosting decorations, adding chocolate candy letters, or using sprinkles.

Lemon Curd Cake (small, I made a small cake)
Lemon Cake: Follow recipe above, but instead of using two 8" cake pans, use one 12 1/4 x 9 1/8 inch rectangular sheet pan. (I had enough batter to also make 6 cupcakes in addition to the rectangular cake).  Spray the sheet pan with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool on metal rack. Once cool, flip the cake onto a clean, flat surface covered with plastic wrap.

On a sheet of paper, print out a 5 3/4" diameter circle (easy to do with MS Word using the circle shape) or draw one using a compass. Cut out the circle stencil and use it and a knife to cut out two 5 3/4" circles from your rectangular cake. Cut both circles in half hamburger bun style and then decorate as indicated above.

Lemon Curd Cupcakes
Lemon Cupcakes: Follow recipe above, but instead of using two 9" cake pans, use cupcake pans. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let rest in pan for a few minutes, then remove cupcakes to cool on a metal rack. Let cool all the way before filling and frosting.

Decorate: Use a knife to cut a cone out of the top of each cupcake. Cut off most of the cone, leaving a cap to put back on the cupcake. Spoon some lemon curd into the hole. Place the cake cap onto the cupcake. Frost cupcake as desired.

Now, I'll leave you with this old but still wonderful gem of a video (from Ayesha Curry aka the real Chef Curry's Little Lights of Mine):