Attempt #2: Meyer lemon cake with raspberry filling and almond buttercream

So today I made my second attempt at finding the perfect cake/frosting for my friends' wedding cake.

I made a lemon cake (recipe from this book) using meyer lemons (which are a mix between lemons and oranges, therefore less tart than regular lemons). I used the same black raspberry jam as the last cake because it was delicious, and an almond buttercream (recipe from this book). The buttercream really took me out of my comfort zone, but more on that later.

I made the cakes in 6" pans this time because that 9" cake was HUGE and just way too big for just a tasting portion. The cakes cooked perfectly and then I set them out to cool:

Aren't they pretty?

After they came out of the oven I made a simple syrup flavored with the juice from the meyer lemons so that I could brush the cakes with it and keep them moister (is that a word?) for longer. Before I brushed them with the syrup, I leveled and torted each layer with this tool which is my new favorite thing (aside maybe from my new revolving cake stand). Basically, you just adjust the blade to the level you want it to be and shimmy it through the layer until it's level or cut in two. It was a little bit hard to lift the layers once they were cut in half because they were so delicate, but luckily none of them broke.

So to make the buttercream, first I had to boil water and sugar together until they reached the "soft ball" stage which means I had to buy a candy thermometer so I could see right when it got there:

which was SCARY. I'd never done it before but it was actually pretty easy. So while that was boiling, I was whipping up the egg whites in the KitchenAid:

until they were "frothy." So once the two were at the right stages, I drizzled the syrup into the egg whites and then whipped them together until they had cooled down to "body temperature" which was kind of hard to judge. I think I started adding the butter too soon because the buttercream never quite thickened to the state I am used to - but it is still delicious. So anyway, once they were whipped together I added all three sticks of butter (it's called buttercream for a reason) and whipped it all together until it reached the texture I assumed it was supposed to have. It's a glossy, delicious, light frosting but it isn't thick enough to pipe with, in my opinion.

I brushed the torted layers with the lemon simple syrup, then stacked them with the black raspberry syrup.

Finally I put a crumb coat on the assembled cake :

And then (impatiently) let it chill before I finished decorating it. This time I was working with my leaf tip, so I put leaf borders along the top and bottom of the cake:

It looked a lot better on the top than it did on the bottom...I think by the time I got to the bottom the buttercream was melting in the piping bag from the heat of my hand:

Then I just kind of got weird with the rest of the cake, and I personally don't think it looks great, but in the interest of full disclosure I'll include the pictures here...swirls on top of the cake with leaves + leaves and swags on the sides.

So! Will update again after we taste it :) Stay tuned. Will this be the winner??

Oh, and gratuitous pictures of the boys:

ADDING ON:
So we tasted it. I didn't like the texture of the buttercream...it was too soft for my taste. I personally like a sturdier buttercream. Maybe I just messed this one up, who knows. J liked the texture of this icing more, so I guess it's a matter of opinion. We both agreed that this cake was much moister but we weren't sure that was a good thing - was it too moist possibly? We liked the flavor of the icing more this time, but felt that the raspberry flavor of the filling got drowned out by the lemon flavor of the cake (which was strong). Not sure how this one scores for me personally. Too sweet I think...but in the end my opinion isn't the one that matters! The bride & groom have to love it! Jared, we'll see what you guys think when you come to visit THIS WEEK! Can't wait to see you two!