Not Your Typical Birthday Cake- Lucious Lemon and Raspberry Cake

This week was Jared's birthday.  To tell you something about him, let me just say...we're a bit different when it comes to food.  When we met and got married he was very into Body For Life.  He ate things like tuna on rice crackers and rarely ate dessert.  Soon after we got married he was somewhat banned from the kitchen.  If he thought there was butter in something he wouldn't eat it, but if he didn't know...  I on the other hand could dedicate an entire blog to my love of butter.  I'm proud to say that I have slowly worn him down over the last eight years.  But in a surprise turn of events, last week Jared got out the Body For Life book and announced that he was going to go for it again.  So when his birthday came up a few days ago I wasn't sure what he'd want.  I knew he want something that appeared to be really healthy.  So he asked for a lemon cake, and this is what I came up with. 

But really when you compare it to a typical cake, it's much lighter.  The Recipe only uses 1/2 C veg oil, which keeps it moist.  And if you use light whipping cream, you can cut some calories there too.  Although I of course prefer Heavy Whipping Cream.  :)

This turned out really delicious and the only thing I would change would be to use more raspberries.  The lemon cake isn't as heavy as a pound cake but not quite as light as an angel food cake. 

Lucious Lemon Cake

1 3/4 C Cake Flour
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
1/2 C white sugar
1/2 C veg oil
6 egg yolks
1/2 C lemon juice
1/4 C water
1 T lemon zest
6 egg whites
1/2 t cream of tartar
3/4 C white sugar
Whipping cream
Powdered sugar
Raspberries

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.  Stir to combine and get any lumps out.  Add the oil, yolks, juice, water, and zest then mix until smooth.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until they start to thicken.  Then slowly add the white sugar and beat until thick and shiny and stiff peaks begin to form.  Fold egg whites into the batter. 
Pour into a prepared pan ( I love Pam for Baking with flour).  I used a typical angel food cake pan for this, but you can experiment with others if you like.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Keep an eye on it towards the end, you do not want to overbake this.  If it's overbaked, it will be dry and you want to be sure this cake is nice and moist because it's not going to be covered with frosting.  Cool on wire rack completely. 

Once the cake is cool, beat the whipping cream for the layers.  A good rule of thunb for whipped cream is to use about 1/4 C of powdered sugar for each cup of cream.  I used two cups of cream and beat until nice and thick.

Cut the cake into three even slices.  Place the bottom layer on your cake plate and top with about 1/3 of the cream.  Then cover this with raspberries.  Don't worry about making things look perfect.  I really like the rustic look of this cake.  Add the next layers and repeat until you've added the top layer.  I like to leave it here, but if you prefer you can top it with a little more cream and raspberries.