Happy Birthday Mini Loaf Cakes!

My mom is having a lunch tomorrow with her girlfriends to celebrate a birthday for one of them. The birthday lady is also moving to Montana very soon so it's also a going away party for her. Mom asked me to make a little cake for her friend and emphasized "little" because she is the kind of lady that doesn't eat much sweets and also watches her calories. So I thought making two mini loaves of kittee's vanilla lemon cake would be perfect. Instead of buttercream frosting, I made a simple lemon glaze to drizzle on top and added birthday sprinkles. Hope she enjoys them!

kittee posted this recipe at the postpunkkitchen forums so I'm sure she won't mind that I repost it here. (Note: I halved this recipe to make my mini loaves. I also used soymilk for the liquid portion and omitted the lemon extract.)

kittee's cake (recipe for 2 layer cake)
3 cups unbleached white flour
2 cups light unbleached granulated sugar (like Florida Crystals)
2 tsps baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups liquid (a combo of lemon juice and water would work or lemon juice and oj)
2/3 cup canola oil
1-2 Tbsp grated lemon zest
2 Tbsps cider vinegar
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon extract

preheat oven to 350F. grease and flour two round cake pans. combine dry. combine liquid separately. beat liquid into dry. divide batter evenly. bake about 45-50 minutes until tests done with a toothpick. let cool ten minutes, flip cakes onto rack and allow to cool. make a buttercream with 16oz powdered sugar, 1/2 cup earth balance, 1/2 cup shortening and enough lemon juice and vanilla to get a creamy texture when beaten.


A more dramatic shot by the window.