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1
To make the lemon cake, preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease the sides and bottom of two 9-inch round cake pans. Flour the sides of the pans and then line the bottoms with parchment paper rounds. Set aside until needed.
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2
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
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3
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the sugar and butter until light and creamy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at time, mixing well between each addition. With the mixer running on low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk and the sour cream. Once all of the flour has been added, add the lemon zest and lemon juice and beat until the batter is smooth, about 30 seconds.
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4
Divide the batter between the two prepared pans. Bake the cake in the oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow them to cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Then remove them from the pans onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
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5
While the cakes are cooling, make the buttercream. Cream the butter in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, about 5 minutes. Add the confectioners' sugar and salt and mix, gradually increasing in speed, until the sugar is fully incorporated. Add the vanilla and whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. You may need to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple times.
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6
If you are coloring the buttercream for the 3 different colors, divide the buttercream into 3 different bowls, 2 bowls having about 40% of the buttercream each and the other bowl having 20%. Add green food coloring to one of the bowls with 40% of the buttercream, pink food coloring into the other one and purple food coloring into the remaining 20%. Use as much coloring as desired. Mix each bowl well until there is no white showing.
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7
Put one of your cakes onto your serving platter. Use the green food coloring to cover the top of the cake. Then add the other cake layer and use the pink buttercream to frost the top and the sides of the entire cake.
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8
Using the purple buttercream, take a small dollop of the buttercream and place it on the side of the cake. Spread it into the pink buttercream so it creates a light ombre effect. Continue spreading dollops of the purple buttercream onto the sides and top of the cake until you have frosted the complete cake with enough purple buttercream to create a beautiful purple-pink effect.
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9
If you have any buttercream left, place the remaining buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a large open star tip. Pipe a spiral on the top in the center of the cake.
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10
Slice, serve, and enjoy!
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11
This cake lasts up to 5 days in a sealed container.
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Cake recipe adapted from My Recipes.
