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1. Prepare Cream Cheese Icing; cover and chill.
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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
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3. Coat bottoms of 3 (9 inch) round cake pans with cooking spray (do not coat sides of pans), and line bottoms of pans with wax paper. Coat wax paper with cooking spray. Dust with flour; set aside.
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4. Combine sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat at medium speed of an electric mixer until well blended. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour and baking soda; stir well. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture. Stir in pecans and extracts.
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5. Beat egg whites at high speed until stiff peaks form (do not overbeat). Fold egg whites into batter; pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 23 minutes. Let cake layers cool in pans 5 minutes on wire racks. Loosen layers from sides of pan using a narrow metal spatula; turn out onto wire racks; let cool completely.
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6. Place 1 cake layer on a plate. Spread with 2/3 cup Cream Cheese Icing, and top with another cake layer. Spread remaining icing over sides and on top of cake. Garnish with lemon zest if desired. Yield: 20 servings
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(serving size: 1 slice)
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Cream Cheese Icing
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1 Tbsp light butter, chilled
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1 (8oz) pkg Neufchatel cheese, chilled
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1 (1 lb) package powdered sugar, sifted
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1 tsp vanilla extract
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1. Beat butter and cheese aat high speed of an electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually add sugar and vanilla; beat low speed just until blended (do not over beat or icing will become runny). Cover and chill.
