The Second Cake: Mini Lemon Poppyseed Cakes with a Lemon Syrup and a Lemon Glaze (Whew!)

Okay.

     So we've got half of my mom's birthday cake tale down, right? Right. Well, here's the second half.  The light, summery, more-feminine cake I was wanting to present.  This cake is, as the title implies, very lemon-y.  But frankly, I loved it.  Like, was-kinda-upset-I-didn't-make-more-of-it-and-left-it-with-my-mom loved it.  It's true, lemon-on-lemon-on-lemon (yes, it's a trio!) action does sound a bit blah, bland, and redundant.  Originally, in fact, I was going to do the lemon cake with the lemon syrup and make a delicious, refined lavender glaze, garnished with lavender, of course, of the sort that you only hear about in very dainty, deluxe bakeries and cafes.

     Well, unfortunately, lavender was NOWHERE to be found for this venture.  I mean NOWHERE. Other than the internet.  Which was not going to happen.  So here's the magical triple-lemon threat I came up with instead...and I must say, I was not disappointed at all. No sir-ee.

Not. One. Bit.

Birthday Showdown: Mini Chocolate Devil's Food Cake with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

Okay, I admit it.

     I've been avoiding the heck out of updating this blog recently.  Why? Because I've got 4 recipes to load on here in addition to the one I'm about to hit you with.  For my mother's birthday last week I decided to make her cake. But I couldn't pick just one. So, I made two. (I was going to make a 3rd, but the whole point of that one was the frosting, which was an unforgivable failure...so that was out.)
     Both of the cakes turned out MARVELOUSLY, though I'm certainly glad I experimented with this chocolate one the first time around.  Or at least, I'm glad I experimented with the original frosting recipe that was with the cake recipe, because if there's one thing I've learned from these experiments, ladies and gentleman, it's that I have no idea what the heck Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frostings are supposed to be, but they don't like me...and me?  I'm not so sure I like them either.

     This chocolate cake, however, I grew to like very, very much.
(Note: Photos of finished cakes are from my practice session when I didn't get the frosting quite right, but I assure you, it still tasted FANTASTIC...that's why there wasn't time to snap photos when I perfected it on the second go!)