Whew...this is a doozy I'll probably do on a special occasion instead, but it was sure worth it to make!

This recipe comes from the "Tidbits" magazine again, which I get from the Roche Brothers Supermarket.

* optional

For the Lemon Cake:

- Nonstick baking spray with flour

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup - or two sticks, unsalted butter (I used Land O'Lakes margarine, its a bit healthier and it does wonders for baking as well!)
capful of vanilla*
4 large brown eggs
1/2 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice (Meyer lemons are a cross between a lemon and a tangerine - so if you cant find them, just use a mix of orange juice and lemon juice in that 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup Meyer lemon zest
1/3 cup limoncello*
3/4 cup milk

1 jar Lemon Curd (I actually made my own, so I'll come to this)

P.S. Since I'm not a big fan of buttercream frostings (Cripes, all of that butter on one cake? You gotta be kidding ! XD) I give you this instead...

Lemon Curd-Cream Frosting:

2 - 3 cups powdered sugar (You may need more to thicken, but that was about right for me)
2 blocks low fat Neufchatel cream cheese
capful of vanilla
1/4 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
1 heaping teaspoon of the Meyer lemon zest
1 1/2 cups sweetened coconut flakes (Keep that one cup around, but reserve the other 1/2 cup) -
IF you are allergic or dont like coconut, you can always leave this out and just make this as a regular vanilla frosting / lemon frosting instead!
- Leftover lemon curd (and there WILL be leftovers trust me!)
- Peeps (Very optional, they were a last-minute decorative idea :P)

So lets get started shall we? *cracks knuckles*

1.) First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with the baking spray.

2.) In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder and salt with a whisk. And in a separate larger bowl, with your mixer at medium-high speed, beat granulated sugar and butter for three minutes or until pale and creamy - make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula to get it all mixed!

Gradually reduce the speed of your mixer, then add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after every addition. Add in the lemon juice, vanilla, lemon zest and the limoncello and beat for one minute.

Once your mixer is on low, gradually add in the flour mixture, along with the 3/4 cup milk. Beat this all together for two minutes and scrape the sides occasionally - I would more likely say, you should actually check to make sure there arent any extra 'pockets' of flour in the mix, so keep mixing until its ALL incorporated!

3.) Pour batter evenly into prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes (my slow oven, I needed an extra 5 minutes - plus, I was missing an extra cake pan and had to use a springform pan instead...so with extra precautions, that one actually needed 45 minutes, plus an extra 15 minutes *dies*)

4.) In the meantime - while those cakes are baking... You remember that 1/2 cup of sweetened coconut? This is optional as well, but what I did was just get an extra cookie sheet with some foil on it, and let that coconut toast in the oven for about 5 to 10 minutes....then reserve!

5.) So for the frosting: Get a large bowl - and put in the two blocks cream cheese (Let them get to room temp., they'll be easier to mix), capful of vanilla, the zest and lemon juice, and mix with your blender on low.

6.) Add in the leftover lemon curd, then put in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time until you get the right kind of consistency for the frosting. (OR you dont have to add in the leftover curd at all, you can always use it for tomorrow's breakfast instead :P)

Make sure you scrape the bowl occasionally to get any leftover globs of cream cheese and to get it to that thickness, of course!

7.) Then once the cakes are out of the oven, fully cooked and somewhat cooled, its time to assemble it - take your first layer, and spread a thick layer of the cooked lemon curd on the top, using a spatula or flat cake knife. (You'll need about a cup, maybe a cup plus to get that real thick layer)

8.) Put the other cake on top of that curd , then spread the frosting all over the cake until it looks even. (Again, your spatula or cake palette knife works well with this) Coat with the uncooked coconut, and there will certainly be enough coconut to go around - and THEN, sprinkle the toasted coconut on the top, and squish the Peeps in the frosting to stabilize them !

Then let cool in the fridge to have the frosting set, and chow down!

---

So while that cake is cooking, you can get this going as well:

Lemon Curd (inside the cake, not shown...I'll show a cut slice soon enough, for cripes sake :P) :

3/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
2 tsp Meyer lemon zest
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (used the margarine)
4 large brown eggs, whole
2 brown egg yolks

In a medium saucepot, stir together the sugar, lemon juice, zest and butter and heat until nearly boiling over. BUT - Once that DOES boil, crank it down to low (or at the lowest setting possible) and stir well!

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs with the yolks. And what you want to do is temper the mixture...add in about half of the egg mix, slowly, and keep it stirring! (You want to wait until you know the temp in the saucepan is low enough, because if not, you'll end up with egg-drop curd instead XD)

Keep stirring, and then add in the rest of the egg mixture until it gets nice and thick... the recipe says 3 to 4 minutes, but I found that it took a bit longer, more like about 5 to 10 minutes!

Remove from heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer (did not do, I dont mind my curd to be a bit 'chunky' :P) then let cool overnight in the refrigerator...er...in my case I just let cool, used a part of it in the middle layer of the cake and the rest went into the frosting!

BUT as I said before- you DONT have to put it in the frosting at all (I only did it so that it wouldn't go to waste!)- you can also just put it in a small container and use it for your breakfast instead...keeps for about a week or so in the fridge, but by then I know it would be eaten!

Enjoy ! *dies from cake making exhaustion*