White Chocolate Lemon Cake

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour three 8 or 9 inch pans, adding a circle of parchment or wax paper to the bottom of each pan.
• In a microwave safe bowl, add the milk, and white chocolate. Melt in the microwave for 40 seconds, then in smaller increments until the chocolate has almost melted completely. Stir until remaining chocolate has melted.
• Add vegetable oil to the milk & chocolate mixture and stir. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt for 30 seconds and set aside.
• In the bowl of your mixer, add the room temperature butter and cream cheese, lemon extract, and lemon zest,. Mix on low speed just until smooth.
• Gradually add the sugar and mix at medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, mixing after each one until the yellow of the yolk is blended.
• With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the milk/oil/chocolate mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (We did 3 additions of the dry mixture, 2 additions of wet)
• Mix the batter just until combined- be careful not to over-mix. Divide the batter between the three pans. (If filling three 8 inch pans, you will have enough batter to make a test cupcake or two if you'd like)
• Bake at 325 degrees F for 33-35 minutes (peek in at the 30 minute mark) or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pans on a wire rack before turning out.
• This recipe makes just under 9 cups of batter. Works for cupcakes also (although there will be little to no dome).

Lemon Curd Filling

• Combine sugar, cornstarch and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly, until mixture thickens and comes to a boil (3-4 minutes).Boil, stirring, for 1 minute more. Remove the pan from the heat.
• Spoon about ½ cup of the hot mixture into a small bowl with egg yolks and stir quickly until combined. Continue stirring, while pouring the egg mixture back into the saucepan.Return pan to medium heat and cook, stirring, until the curd is thickened and lemon colored (1-2 min). Remove from heat and stir in the butter, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
• Let the lemon curd cool, then pour into a bowl and refrigerate. It will thicken up a bit more as it cools. (This will fill a 2-3 layer 8 or 9 inch cake with some leftover.)

For the Whipped Cream Filling

• Chill the mixing bowl and beaters/ whisk attachment in the freezer for 10 minutes.
• Pour the whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla into the chilled mixing bowl, begin beating on low speed gradually increasing to medium high speed.
• The cream begins to thicken (approx. 1 ½ minutes) and soft peaks form. (Peaks that slightly bend over.) Watch closely as this happens quickly. Do not over mix.

For the White Chocolate Buttercream

• Combine white chocolate chips with 4 Tablespoons milk and put into a microwave safe bowl. (If using white chocolate bars, chop into small pieces).
• Microwave for 15 seconds let sit for a minute or two, stir and microwave again 15 seconds letting it sit a minute to soften further, stir. Be careful not to over heat the chocolate. The chocolate will continue to melt as it is stirred. Let the chocolate cool down before using.
• Mix the butter until softened and smooth. Then, add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Add the white chocolate and milk mixture. Add vanilla. Add another Tablespoon milk if needed. Mix on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes and it will become smooth and creamy.
• Makes about 5 cups of frosting.

Assembling and Frosting the Cake

• Place the first cake layer on the pedestal or cake board. Pipe a dam of white chocolate frosting about ½ inch from the edge of the layer. (See notes for info on piping dams.)
• Spread a layer of lemon curd over the top of the layer, within the dam. Then, add a layer of whipped cream on top of the lemon curd. Apply the second cake layer and repeat the steps, with piping the dam, and adding the lemon and whipped cream filling. Top with the third cake layer.
• We did not top the cake with lemon curd although we did do this with our Lemon Velvet Cake if you like the look! (You will likely have some curd leftover.)
• Fill in any gaps between the cake layers with frosting. (We do this using the same piping bag we used for the dam.) Apply a thin layer of frosting to the top and sides of the cake. At this point we like to freeze the cake for 10 minutes to firm things up--you could also refrigerate for longer. Then, apply the second layer of frosting. Decorate however you like! (We piped daisies using a small round piping tip 4.)
• Refrigerate the cake in an airtight container. For best texture, remove the cake about 1-2 hours or so before serving to allow the cake and frosting to soften.