When a friend has a birthday, I am usually the person who gets volunteered to bake the cake. I usually agree and ask the birthday boy or girl to tell me what kind of cake they want. I’ll try and come up with the desired flavor and type of cake and have found some very good cake recipes this way. Last year, other than the plain old white cake with vanilla buttercream frosting or chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, I made a Boston cream pie, a flourless chocolate cake and red velvet cake. I’m still working on a good red velvet cake recipe, if you have a good one, let me know.

I also usually bake the cake for my own birthday and I have one recipe that I’ve been making since I first found it in the March 2004 issue of Fine Cooking. It’s a lemon flavored white cake with a lemon curd filling and a lemon buttercream frosting. If you’ve been paying attention at all, you probably could have guessed that my favorite cake would be lemon. You probably also could easily understand that one of the things I love about the recipe is that the white cake uses only egg whites, but the lemon curd filling puts the yolks to use so there is no waste. I do love that kind of efficiency. The cake recipe by itself is a winner, light and moist and lush, so if you’re not a big fan of lemon, you could also do this with lime or some other fruit flavor or just make the cake vanilla flavored and make the frosting vanilla, but double it and use it in between the layers. There are lots of possibilities.

triple-lemon layer cake (adapted from Fine Cooking)

• 2 1/3 cups cake flour plus a little extra for the pans
• 2 3/4 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 T lightly packed finely grated lemon zest
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened, plus a little more for the pans
• 1 cup whole milk
• 5 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/4 t cream of tartar
• 1 recipe lemon curd for the filling (see below)
• 1 recipe lemon buttercream frosting (see below)

Position a rack in the middle of the oven: heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 8×2 inch round cake pans. Sift the cake flour, baking powder and salt together into a medium bowl. Pulse 1/4 cup of the sugar with the zest in a food processor until well combined.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and lemon sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and beat until smooth, about 1 1/2 minutes. Beat in a quarter of the milk just until blended. On low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the milk in three batches, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula; beat just until blended.

In another large bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer (with clean beaters or the whip attachment) on medium speed just until foamy. Add the cream of tartar, increase the speed to medium high and beat just until the whites form stiff peaks. Add a quarter of the whites to the batter and gently fold them in with a whisk or a rubber spatula; continue to gently fold in the whites, a quarter at a time, being careful not to deflate the mixture.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Smooth the tops with the spatula. Bake until a pick inserted in the centers comes out clean, 30-40 minutes. Let cool in the pans on a rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the inside of the pans and carefully invert each cake out onto the rack. Flip them right side up and let cool completely.

With the palm of one hand pressed on top of a cake layer, cut each in half horizontally, using a long serrated knife. Put on of the four cake layers on a serving plate, cut side up. With an offset spatula or a table knife, spread a generous 1/3 cup chilled lemon curd on top of the cake layer. Lay another cake layer on top, spread it with another generous 1/3 cup curd, and repeat with the third cake layer, using another 1/3 cup lemon curd. Top with the fourth cake layer.

At least a few hours before serving, spread a thin layer of frosting on the cake, filling in any gaps as you go. This is called a crumb coat. Chill until the frosting firms up, about an hour, and finish frosting the cake with the rest of the frosting.

lemon curd

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 T lightly packed finely grated lemon zest
• pinch salt
• 6 large egg yolks

Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the sugar, lemon juice, zest and salt. Whisk in the yolks until smooth. Return the pan to medium-low heat and cook, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens, 5-8 minutes. To check if the curd is thick enough, dip a wooden spoon into it and draw your finger across the back of the spoon; your finger should leave a path. Don’t let the mixture boil. Immediately force the curd through ha fine sieve into a bowl using a rubber spatula. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

buttercream frosting

• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2 T lightly packed finely grated lemon zest
• 3 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 2 T fresh lemon juice
• 1 T cream

In a medium bowl, beat the butter and lemon zest with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar in batches and beat until light and fluffy. Add the lemon juice and cream and beat for 1 minute.