Dill Pickle Lemonade Cake 1.0
This recipe was inspired by a Dill Pickle Lemonade popsicle I had last year at the MN State Fair.
For those of you that love pickles, you’ll obviously understand the genius marriage of sweet-tart lemonade and salty-biting pickle juice. For those of you that think pickles are one of the cardinal sins of food: just trust me on this one.
The popsicle itself was 90% lemonade and 10% pickle, which lent a very sophisticated backend to what was generally the refreshing sensation of lemonade. In Version 1.0 of this recipe I, too, opted to focus primarily on the lemonade.
This cake tastes fancy; it tastes like something you’d get at the end of a twelve-course tasting menu. It’s bright and lemony with an insinuation of something off. This “off-ness”, rather than tasting wrong, though, emphasizes the complexity of lemon’s tart sweetness.
For version 2.0, look for me to kick the pickle pendulum far FAR too hard.
Please observe how DISGUSTED that young boy is at my popsicle (or maybe it’s my matching nails?).
making your monster
INGREDIENTS
Dill Pickle Lemonade Cake (3x6” Rounds)
234 grams All Purpose Flour
1 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 + 1/8 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
147 grams Unsalted Butter
260 grams Sugar
2 TBSP Lemon Zest
130 grams Eggs (~2.5)
156 grams Milk
2 TBSP Pickle Juice
100 grams Lemon Juice
Dill Pickle Lemonade Buttercream (~2 Cups)
226 gram Unsalted Butter
60 grams Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
140 grams Light Corn Syrup
80 grams Powdered Sugar
2 TBSP Dried Dill
4 TBSP Pickle Juice
2 TBSP Lemon Juice
1 TBSP Spirulina Powder (or green food dye)
PROCESS
Grease and line three 6” round cake pans and preheat your oven to 350 degree F.*
Sift dry ingredients into large bowl (234 g AP Flour, 1 1/4 tsp Baking Powder, 1/4 + 1/8 tsp Baking Soda, 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt).
In standing mixer on medium speed, cream 147 grams Unsalted Butter with 260 grams Sugar and 2 TBSP Lemon Zest for 5-7 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape down bowl halfway through creaming and again at the end.
Still on medium, add eggs one at a time to mixer allowing about a minute for each egg to fully incorporate. Scrape bowl after each egg.
Whisk together 156 grams Milk, 2 TBSP Pickle Juice, and 100 grams Lemon Juice in large measuring cup. This will begin to separate very quickly, which is fine.
On low speed, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, followed by 1/2 the wet. Repeat until all the dry is incorporated, mixing only until the dry is moistened. Do not overmix.
Divide cake evenly among pans and bake for approximately 28 minutes. Begin checking for doneness around 25 minutes. The cakes are done when they have domed slightly and spring back when pressed in the middle. I like to remove the cakes when a toothpick inserted returns with just a few crumbs.
Cool cakes for 20 minutes in their pans and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
This buttercream is adapted from Sugarologie’s American Dreamy Buttercream Recipe. I prefer cakes with a thin coating of frosting. If you like more frosting, I recommend doubling this amount.
Using the whisk attachment and stand mixer, whip 226 grams Unsalted Butter until lighter in color. Scrape down bowl.
Add 60 grams Powdered Sugar and 1 tsp Vanilla Extract and mix at medium speed for a few minutes.
Add the corn syrup in 2-3 additions, allowing full integration before adding more syrup. You will need to scrape down the bowl as the corn syrup will get thrown on the sides by the whisk attachment.
Once all syrup is added, whip at high speed to fully emulsify the frosting.
Add the remaining 80 grams of Powdered Sugar alongside 2 TBSP of Dried Dill and whip until combined.
Gradually add 3-5 TBSP of Pickle Juice and 1-2 TBSP of Lemon Juice, whipping vigorously to maintain the emulsification of the frosting. If at any point it starts to split, allow the frosting to whip and blend together the ingredients.
Taste the frosting and determine if you’d like more salt, more vanilla, more pickle, etc. Be careful about adding too much more liquid, though, as the cake will become too runny. If this happens you can add more powdered sugar, to a degree, but you’ll also be making the frosting sweeter every time you do this.
As a final touch I added 1 TBSP of Spirulina Powder to dye the frosting green, but feel free to use green food dye if you’d like a more vibrant color.
I like the frosting at this whipped stage, but if you’d prefer a smoother frosting, switch to the paddle attachment and smooth out the frosting for 3-5 minutes on low.
Stack and frost the cooled cakes using about 1/3 cup frosting between each layer.
This cake lasted about five days on the counter for me and its pickle flavor really hit its peak at about day three!
*If you’d like to make this into an 8” cake, increase all quantities by ~50% and bake the cakes for 30-35 minutes. Increase the frosting by at least double as you’ll have signficantly more surface area to cover.
**If you try this recipe, send me a note at thecakeshaveeyes@gmail.com! I’d love to hear how it worked for you!
