Lemon Cake Chicks

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Lemon Cake Chicks Dixie
By Beth Jackson Klosterboer
Prep Time:
1h 30m
Bake/Cook Time:
32m
Yield:
3 cakes

These adorable Lemon Cake Chicks will make your Easter table look festive and fun. Fluffy lemon cakes flavored with fresh lemon juice are topped with a lemon buttercream frosting and decorated with fondant. Get the kids involved in making this recipe and you'll end up with some memories as well as a delicious Easter dessert.  

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Ingredients

Lemon Cakes

  • 2 large lemons
  • 2 3/4 cups (352grams) all-purpose flour, sifted
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 3/4 cups (350g) Dixie Crystals Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 3/4 teaspoon lemon extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (240ml) whole milk, at room temperature (or warm in the microwave for 15-20 seconds)

Lemon Buttercream Frosting

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 5 cups Dixie Crystals Confectioners Powdered Sugar
  • 1 tablespoon of Lemon Zest
  • 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
  • 1-3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream or whole milk
  • Yellow food coloring

Decorations

  • 3 ounces white modeling chocolate or fondant
  • 3 ounces orange modeling chocolate or fondant
  • 1 ounce black modeling chocolate or fondant

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease three 6-inch cake pans with butter and line bottoms with a parchment paper round. Dust pans with flour, then set aside.
  2. Wash and dry your lemons. Zest lemons removing just yellow skin and avoiding white pith.
  3. Measure out 1 heaping tablespoon of zest. Set aside.
  4. Squeeze lemons allowing juice to flow through a fine-mesh sieve to remove pulp and seeds.
  5. Measure 1/3 cup (80ml) of juice and set aside.
  6. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  7. Pour butter, sugar, and lemon zest into bowl of a stand mixer or into a large mixing bowl.
  8. Beat butter and sugar on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase speed to high and mix for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.
  9. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl.
  10. Add eggs, lemon extract, and vanilla extract and beat on high speed for 2 minutes.
  11. Scrape down bowl, then turn mixer on low speed.
  12. Sprinkle flour into bowl in three batches, mixing each for about 15 seconds, just until blended.
  13. Pour in milk and lemon juice and beat on low speed just until combined. Cake batter will be very thick.
  14. Equally divide cake batter among three 6-inch round cake pans using about 2 1/3 cups in each pan.
  15. Spread cake batter into an even layer, then bake for around 26 minutes.
  16. Open oven and rotate pans. Continue baking for 4-8 minutes until tops of your cakes turn golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center of cakes comes out clean. 
  17. Allow cakes to cool for 30 minutes in pans, then turn them out onto a cooling rack.
  18. Let cakes cool completely before frosting.
  19. You can wrap cooled cakes and freeze them for up to three months.
  20. For Lemon Frosting, beat butter on high speed for 1 minute until smooth and creamy.
  21. Sift powdered sugar over butter.
  22. Pour in lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of heavy whipping cream or milk, and 10 drops of yellow food coloring.
  23. Beat on low speed for about 30 seconds, then increase speed to high and beat for 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy.
  24. Add more yellow coloring if desired. Add more heavy whipping cream or milk a little at a time if your frosting is too stiff.
  25. Decorate your cakes.
  26. Frost each lemon cake with a very thin (crumb coat) layer of icing. Set cakes aside to allow that frosting to crust.
  27. Cover your bowl of icing to keep it from crusting while you cut out your modeling chocolate or fondant decorations.
  28. Roll out white modeling chocolate or fondant to about 1/8-inch thickness.
  29. Cut out six 1 1/2-inch circles.
  30. If desired, cut a small notch out of a circle, so you can attach two circles together.
  31. Roll out orange modeling chocolate to 1/16-inch and cut out twelve 1-inch triangles.
  32. Cut six of triangles into chicken feet by cutting out two triangle-shaped notches.
  33. Create open beaks by attaching two orange triangles along long edges together using a tiny bit of water. 
  34. Roll out black modeling chocolate very thin and cut out six small circles.
  35. Brush back of black circles with a tiny bit of water and press one onto each white modeling chocolate circle creating eyes. 
  36. Add a thick layer of lemon frosting to each cake making frosting look furry by pressing a metal spatula or spoon into soft frosting, then pulling away from cake to make little furry spikes.
  37. Decorate each lemon cake chick with modeling chocolate or fondant eyes, beak, and feat.
  38. If desired, pipe yellow frosting wings onto baby chick cakes.
Dixie Crystals Insight

NOTES:

  1. This lemon buttercream frosting will crust as it dries, so be sure to add your decorations to cake while soft.
  2. You can store these cakes at room temperature for up to 3 days.
  3. Modeling chocolate will get sticky if stored in refrigerator.

Recipe created for Dixie Crystals by Beth Jackson Klosterboer@Hungry Happenings.

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