You Can't Have Your Cake And Eat It Too: Lemon Speculoos Cake

I love making layer cakes, Josh hates eating cake or any dessert for that matter. But a wise woman once said, "You can't have your cake and eat it too." I know it was a woman who said that and not a man because the saying deals with matters concerning cake. I am not sure if she was wise though, because to this day I do not understand the saying, I just know that it applies in this situation.

So what did I do in this predicament? I made a cake anyways. But before you jump to conclusions of me being an insensitive wife, you should know that I made it with the forethought that Josh would have a whole plate of celebratory birthday bacon waiting for him at our next staff meeting.

It's a shame Josh doesn't like desserts that much, especially considering how tasty this cake was! It was composed of layers of moist and dense lemony cake covered in light yet spicy Speculoos Buttercream. 

And for those of you who don't know what Speculoos is, it's basically the consistency of peanut butter but it is made from Biscoff type cookies. That's why the call it "Cookie Butter" at Trader Joe's. Sounds delicious, right? I mean honestly, the inspiration to make this cake came from the fact that I had a jar of this Cookie Butter in my cupboard because no sane person can walk down the aisle of the super market and pass up a jar clearly labeled "Cookie Butter." Except for maybe Josh, but I've already exhausted that subject. 

I will say one more thing regarding that matter however. Josh couldn't have his cake and eat it too, but you CAN! So give this recipe a whirl.

Lemon Speculoos Cake

*adapted from Desserts For Breakfast

Makes one 8-inch, 3 layer cake

Lemon Cake Ingredients

2 3/4 cups (385 gr) flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups 4200 gr) sugar

2 tsp fresh lemon zest

4 eggs, at room temperature

3/4 cup whole milk

4 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Speculoos Frosting Ingredients

2 1/4 sticks (18 Tbps) butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cup speculoos spread (available at Trader Joe's, called Cookie Butter)

4 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

9 oz. cream cheese, cold

colored or dark chocolate sprinkles

Lemon Cake Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8x 2 inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment rounds and grease again and flour. Set aside.

2. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a mixer bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and lemon zest together until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes on medium.

4. Add the eggs to the creamed butter one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5. Add the flour in three additions, alternating each with milk and lemon juice.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans. Bake for 40-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes come out cleanly. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before turning out of the pans and cooling completely.

7. Cut each cake into 2 even layers (4 layers total). Wrap each layer in plastic wrap and store in fridge for at least an hour. If you will be composing the cake the next day add a layer of foil and plop them in the freezer.

Speculoos Frosting Directions

1. Beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

2. Add the speculoos spread and beat until well-combined.

3. Gradually beat in the sifted powdered sugar.

4. Gradually add small chunks of the cold cream cheese, beating well after each addition.

5. Frost cake, adding sprinkles between each layer and on top. (Directions on how to properly frost a layer cake here.)

6. I finished off the sides of my cake by taking a cake spatula and half-hazardly swiping it across the sides of the cake (see below). Then I swirled the top.