crazy for lemon cream cake

Steve & I had the pleasure of having both our parents visit us for Mother’s day again this year.  This gave me a reason to play around with creating cute jar desserts for all of us to enjoy.  Last years mini no-bake cheesecakes were quite the hit, so I scoured high & low to find a pick that could compete.  The choice ~ lemon cream cake.

The original recipe called for creating this cake in a 10″ pan and cutting it in half to spread the lemon cream mixture between the two cakes.  I’m fairly certain if I tried this feat the cake would not turn out so pretty so I decided to break out my mason jars and create 8 individual cakes instead.

Here’s what you need:

1 pkg	White Cake Mix, plus ingredients to prepare
1 pkg	Lemon Cake Mix
½ cup	Sour Cream
1 tsp	Vanilla Extract
1	Lemon, juiced + Zest from 1/2 the lemon
1 cup	Whipping Cream
8 oz	Mascarpone Cheese
1 cup	Powdered Sugar
4 Tbsp	Room Temp Real Butter

Prepare the white cake mix as the box states and add the sour cream and vanilla.  Spray eight 8 oz wide mouth mason jars with a non-stick cooking spray and pour batter inside.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Cut in the cake to create a space for the cream and remove top.   Cut off excess cake to create a flat cake top.  (These extra pieces are great for snacking and dipping in the magnificent cream you’ll be mixing up next!)

Beat the whipping cream, Mascarpone cheese, lemon juice, zest and powdered sugar until creamy and stiff.  (caution: splatter alert)  Also in case you were wondering… Mascarpone cheese is a fancy Italian cream cheese you can find in the specialty cheese section at most grocers.

Taste this mixture and you’ll want to dip anything and everything you can find in it.  I think this alone would make a fabulous fruit dip!

Fill the center of your cakes with this cream and place the top cake back on. Then add a bit more of the cream for the frosting.  This next step I feel is optional but it does give it that extra punch of lemon taste.

Mix 1/4  of the lemon cake mix with 4 tablespoons of room temperature butter and sprinkle on top.

Once assembled I kept these in the fridge for storage & took them out an hour or so before serving.

I’m happy to say they were a hit with the moms and the dads too!  This is definitely a great light dessert (in taste… not in calories :-) that is perfect for a spring or summer party.

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