Lemon Juice Aid 1, Let There Be Cake!

Make a lemon cake by adding lemon juice to non-lemon flavor cake mixture and vanilla frosting. The info is intended more for cake makers who've had a coupla cakes under their belts, so to speak. Novices might consider also reaching outside this article to get beginner info.

I've tended to buy "classic" yellow cake (good color, uncomplicated add-in ingredients), especially when they've gone on sale for 88¢ each. (Regular price for lemon cake mix tends to run about $1.40.) Spreadable frostings seem to all cost the same, so no savings between lemon and vanilla frostings (about $1.55 at my supermarket).

Some time ago, I'd made a round, 2-layer lemon cake w/lemon frosting using a 4-oz (1/2 C) bottle of lemon juice. My recollection was it cost 80¢. More recently, I've noted in a couple of previous articles about using lemon juice that was a freebie (15 oz bottle). I've used about 1 C for two lemon meringue pies. For this cake, I used 1/4 C for cake and 1/4 C for frosting.

Pre-preparation for Cake-bake Newbies

Before starting out, read all instructions on containers. (Cake boxes have instructions and table info for pan shapes and recommended baking times.) Items needed include measuring spoons, measuring cups, mixing bowls, mixer, spatulas, cake pans, potholders, cooling rack. Helpful options: Plate for putting implements on, spoons.

Cake pan preparation, for easy removal of baked cake from pan: Various methods, such as parchment paper, spray oil, flour sprinkled onto pans and tapping to distribute the flour. The following videos are good, short guides.

• "How to Prep a Cake Pan" shows oil/flour and oil/parchment paper methods with additional tips. (Should have also included paper removal.)
• "How to Line a Round Cake Pan Perfectly Every Time | Mad Genius Tips | Food & Wine" shows a quick parchment paper cutting method but doesn't mention oil.
• "How to Prepare Cake Pans" shows one pan only.

Ensure the oven racks are in position for cake pans, preheat the oven as directed on cake mix box (about 350° for 10-ish minutes).

Cake (Yellow) with Added Lemon Juice
I like using yellow cake mix because of its color and simplicity. Using white and butter-recipe cake mixes are more hassle, imho.

 Directions:

1. Add 1/4 C lemon juice into a measuring cup. Add enough water to total the amount called for in cake mix instructions.
2. Pour the fluid into a medium mixing bowl.
3. Add the required number of eggs and amount of oil into the bowl.
4. Lightly mix these wet ingredients using a hand mixer.
5. Pour cake powder into the wet mixture, mixing as box directs (30 sec on low, then 2 min medium), occasionally scraping w/rubber spatula.
6. Pour the mixture into two prepared cake pans. (Use different pan plan and timing as you want, following box guidelines.)
7. Bake for the duration recommended, starting with minimum time. Check for doneness as required.
8. When finished baking, remove and cool as the cake mix box instructs.

Vanilla Frosting with Added Lemon Juice

The steps in this section are in the past tense. I was glad to see that the juice did not affect the frosting (such as curdling it) because of frosting's tendency to include milk.

"What Happens to Milk When Lemon Juice Is Added?" states "If the milk is cold when the lemon juice is added, the chemical reaction does not happen for some time." Seems no chemical reaction occurred during the cake's existence (about 5 days in and out of refrigerator).

The extra liquid, however, made the mixture initially runnier than I expected. I added powdered sugar to re-thicken the frosting.

 Process (YMMV)

1. I deposited a 16-oz can of vanilla frosting into a mixing bowl roomy enough to stir in juice and powder sugar (for thickening).
2. Stirred in 1/4 C lemon juice. (Amazed to see runniness!)
3. Added 1/8 C powdered sugar, then more for total of 1/2 C.
4. Added 8 drops of yellow food coloring.

With extra frosting, I was surprised that I needed to carefully spread it as thin as I did to cover the cake. If I'd used canned lemon frosting, it might have cost the same as vanilla frosting, but I probably would have run out.

Assessing My Mid-March 2020 Lemon Meringue Pie

The lemon meringue pie I prepared Sunday 3/15 (Ides of March Day) is a followup to my pie I wrote about in "Assessing My Christmas 2019 Lemon Meringue Pie". I'd considered making it 3/14 (Pi Day), but maybe a bit too late for adequate cooling before serving.

Christmas 2019's "Room for Improvement" Reminders

I revisited parts in the "Room for Improvement" section to remind myself for the next pie try.

Reminder 1: The filling color was less yellowy than I expected.
Action: To make the filling more yellowy, I added 6 drops of yellow food coloring into the freshly prepared pie filling.

Reminder 2: The meringue was maybe too thin in a couple of areas near the crust edge.
Action: To avoid post-baked pie showing gaps at filling, I slathered the meringue more thickly near the pie edge.

Reminder 3: With so much time for the pie to cool and set, consider the pie to be a 6-hour process.
Action: After baking the meringue-covered pie, i cooled it for about an hour, then put it in a cake-taker into the fridge for about 4 hours more. (Too little cooling time, and the pie doesn't firm up for clean cutting.)

Reminder 4: Each time after cutting into the pie, I need to cover with plastic wrap, pressing out air from cut areas.
Explanation and action: This info referred to my Christmas pie's "weepiness" (wateriness), which occurred all four days of cutting and serving, dabbing the excess fluid between days. Wrapping after 3rd day cut/serve seemed to help prevent much weepiness for the next day. HOWEVER, this newer pie had weepiness issues all four days, even as I had plastic-wrapped each remainder portion. More about pie weepiness later.

This Pie's Good

The filling coloring came out nicely lemony looking. The meringue baked prettily and showed no gaps into the filling. As expected, the pie tasted yummy! I left plenty of time for pie cooling. As for Reminders 3 and 4, they're related to one major misstep, maybe two.

This Pie's Bad and Ugly

The weepiness (both bad and ugly) was a major disappointment. I went over my links from the Christmas pie article. Based on a couple of items from "Lemon Meringue Pie & Tips for Beginners", two actions I took contributed greatly to the liquidity (good for financial assets, bad for lemon meringue).

** Misstep: I had let the pie filling cool off before pouring it into the baked pie shell. I should not have squeezed in a non-pie task during the pie-making process. Future: Ensure no interruptions for future lemon meringue pie projects.

Advice from Meringue for Pie section:

Please make sure your filling is piping hot, fresh from the saucepan, when you pour it into the shell and add the meringue!! The filling has to be hot because the steam will travel up through the egg whites and cook the meringue from the bottom. If the filling has cooled, when the pie goes in the oven, the heat will heat up the filling and the steam will get trapped between the filling and meringue, creating a watery layer that causes the top and filling to separate.

** Misstep: I used plastic food wrap.

Advice from from Pie in Oven section:

When it’s browned to your liking, pull it out. I would let it cool for an hour or so before serving, but this is one of those pies that tastes best at room temperature on the same day it’s made. If it doesn’t get eaten all in one day, put it in the fridge loosely covered with foil. Plastic wrap will create too much moisture.

** Possible misstep: One other stage of the pie making that might have affected the pie quality. The pie shell had been zipper-locked in the freezer for a few months. When I brought it out to thaw in preparation for baking, I noticed a few hairline splits in the dough. Patched them with a few small loose dough lumps. After baking the shell, I noticed more hairline splits. I decided to use the shell anyway.

Room for Improvement

Overall project process: Consider the process to be a mission! Ensure no time breaks or interruptions.
Specifics:

• Try using a refrigerated pie shell that unrolls onto a pie pan, then fork-prick it and bake as instructed.
• Be sure the pie filling is hot when pouring it into the cooled and baked pie shell.
• For covering leftover pie, use aluminum foil, not plastic food wrap.

Future Pie

I have another 3 tablespoons of a 15-ounce bottle of lemon juice to use up. I'll consider making the next lemon meringue pie around April Fool's Day, Good Friday, Easter, May Day, .... My Room for Improvement section will help guide me.

This Pie's Title

I'd been thinking about making this pie for awhile, as the remaining pie shell didn't fit well in the freezer. However, other distractions and tasks kept surfacing. On Pie Day (3/14, aka 3.14), by the time I thought about making it, it was already mid-afternoon, a bit late for enough cooling time.

Sooo, maybe the next day? After also pondering Ides of March, March Madness, St. Patrick's Day, and Middlemarch for March significances, I decided on mid-March as a reasonable nod to calendar timing.

Some bites of March info:

• "A number of things to know on Pi Day" explains pi as a mathematical term and celebration of the number on March 14, along with the tasty edible.
• "Why beware the Ides of March?" has a lot to say—not good, depending on POV of knifers and victim.
• National Geographic's "St. Patrick's Day" provides an overall view of the holiday.
• "March Madness explained in 2 minutes" is helpful for a short explanation of fanmania over college basketball.
• "Middlemarch" has nothing to do with March, but is a story about a fictitious town in the middle of England.