Lemon Cake from Cook's Illustrated

 Peter's Cake. Just the way he "ordered" it: a lemon cake "stump" not frosted, with a 3 foot long gummy snake coiled on top! ...I think that he liked it!    This was the first "fun/crazy" cake I've baked or helped bake in a LONG time- I really enjoyed the challenge.  We served it with whipped cream, it was quite tasty, and I look forward to baking another.  

 

Notes:
~ Cake is on page 129 & 132 in "The Dessert Bible" by Christopher Kimball
~ I made the top of the stump & leaves with pie crust.
~ Used store-bought lemon curd for the filling AND gave the whole cake a "crumb coat" with the lemon curd (worked well!).
~ The gummy snake came from nuts.com: HERE.
~ I used Lemon extract in place of Lemon Oil.
~ The night before the party, Dad & Mom helped me make the marzipan mushrooms!   (we found the marzipan at IKEA)

~ I made lightly sweetened stabilized whipped cream: 1c heavy whipping cream, 1/3-1/2c sour cream, about 1/2 Tablespoon powdered sugar & about 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

~1960's Lemon Yellow~

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