Goodnight Moon Cake

This is a recipe for a lemon chiffon cake with decorating tips to create your own Goodnight Moon cake

Step 1: Supplies

• 2 1/4 cup sifted cake flour
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup oil (safflower oil suggested)
• 7 large eggs separated + 3 additional whites
• 2/3 cups water
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 tablespoon lemon curd (optional)

For decoration you need frosting, colored candy melts, fondant and toothpicks.

Step 2: Make Batter

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
• In a large mixing bowl combine the cake flour, baking soda, and salt.
• Then add all but 2 tablespoons of sugar (set aside)
• Make a well in the center of the bowl.
• Zest and juice lemons, and separate eggs.
• Add oil, egg yolks, water, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla to the well and then beat until smooth.
• If you want a stronger lemon flavor, you can choose to add some lemon curd.

Step 3: Finish With Egg Whites and Bake

• In another bowl, beat 10 egg whites until frothy and then add cream of tartar.
• Continue to beat until soft peaks form when the beater is raised. Beat in 2 tablespoons of sugar until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised slowly.
• Gently fold egg whites into batter by hand until just blended.Cut partridge paper to fit the bottom of your pan and grease.
• Pour into pans. I used two 9 inch square pans (stills pretty full), but the recipe is meant for a 10 inch tube pan.
• Run a knife through the batter to prevent air pockets.Bake for about 30 minutes (longer for the tube pan) at 325 degrees.

Step 4: Decorate

• Let cake cool before releasing from the pan.
• Make frosting. I made my usual buttercream frosting but whipped in a little lemon juice and lemon curd to taste.
• The main technique I used for the book cover is a chocolate drawing method that I created. I full photo tutorial can be found for this here.
• All of the animals and furniture were made out of fondant and tooth picks(to help with stabilizing)