Cake Batter

1. Grease 2 x 8″ cake pans and line with parchment.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
3. In a small bowl, combine vinegar and milk and set aside to curdle.
4. Then in the mixer, combine sugar, flour, and baking soda.
5. Add milk mixture, butter, and vanilla.
6. Beat 1-2 mins on medium speed to combine – don’t overmix.
7. Scrape down the sides.
8. Now here is where I added a bit of extra flavor.
9. The original recipe says to divide the batter here and bake for 40mins.
10. I did divide the batter in half.
11. To one half I added some unsweetened desiccated coconut, and to the other half, the zest of 4 lemons.
12. Then I baked them as instructed.
13. When they came out of the oven, I brushed a lemon simple syrup over the lemon cake, and some light coconut milk reduced with a touch of brown sugar over the coconut one.

Buttercream

1. Beat the butter and vanilla until fluffy.
2. Add sugar 1 cup at a time.
3. Mix in first so that it doesn’t fly everywhere with the mixer, then whip together with the mixer well to fully combine.
4. Add milk to reach desired consistency.
5. Beat it all for a few minutes to ensure it’s all fluffy and perfectly mixed.
6. I added buttercream and whole fresh raspberries between the two layers, then iced the sides and top.
7. I toasted some coconut flakes to put around the lower rim.

Candied Lemon Slices

1. On the top, I decorated with candied lemon slices (boil lemon slices in simple syrup with lemon juice slowly until transparent, then dry in a 200°F oven until slightly crispy), raspberries, aquafaba meringues, and some flowers.

Aquafaba Vegan Meringues

1. Follow Recipe on the blog for Aquafaba Vegan Meringues