Spice Cake with Lemon Frosting

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Birthdays are magical. And when they are you mothers birthday they should be even more so. Especially my mother.

Most people that grew up in a single family home can give you a long-winded and deeply felt story about why their single family parent is the most amazing person in the whole freaking world. Here is mine.

My mother raised four of us kids with barely any help from the men who partially created us. My mother took 8 years to get her Masters degree because she was raising two teens and two toddlers and working full time while taking night classes. She forced us to travel around the world, eating new foods, talk to different types of people, and encouraged us to travel as we grew up. She broke the cycle of abuse that trickled through our family like a leaky faucet for generations. She reads near to 10 books a month. She writes plays, poetry, and novels. She runs marathons. She makes the most amazing turkey meatloaf EVER! Emily Dickinson, Albert Einstein, & Pope John XXIII would be at the dinner party of her fantasies. She is weird... forgives us kids when we mock her weirdness.. and still encourages our own quarks to squeak to the surface of our personalities. She is the single most amazing person I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I love her dearly. And it was her birthday thus a cake.

When your mother requests a very specific cake for her 66th birthday you respond in kind.

In her mild tone, "A spice cake with lemon frosting. But no apple. I'm sick of apple. Banana and spice and lemon."... Okay, I can do that.

For my dear sweet mother. Happy Birthday and I love you more than cake! And that is pretty intense.

Spice Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Preheat 325

Spice Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

For Cake

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

3 cups all purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon mace

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

2 bananas peeled & mashed up good

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup shortening

1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

5 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

¾  cup buttermilk

For cake:
 Preheat to 325F. Spray two 8-inch pans with nonstick spray. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger, nutmeg, mace, and cloves into medium bowl. 

Using electric mixer, beat butter & shortening, both sugars until light and fluffy, this will take around 5 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Next mix in the lemon peel in vanilla and lemon juice. Alternate the flour mixture with the buttermilk. Finally add your mushed bananas. Transfer batter to prepared pans. Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 55-65 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 20 minutes.

For Frosting

2 (16 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup butter

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons lemon juice

4 teaspoons lemon zest

2 teaspoon lemon extract

4-5 cups confectioners' sugar

For Frosting: Beat cream cheese, butter, lemon juice, lemon rind, salt, and extract together until smooth and fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar in 2 additions. Beat until creamy. Add more icing sugar or juice as needed for easy spreading. Makes about 6 cups.

Poor Abby.