Recipe: Quick Lemon Filled Sponge Cake

Quick Lemon Filled Sponge Cake
rec.food.recipes/Nancy G. Washburne/1995

Great for taking to potluck dinners if you work all day

2 commercial flan bases (16-inch layers with fluted raised edges sold in my area in several supermarket chains)
1/2 cup Grand Marnier OR 1/2 cup orange juice spiked with lemon juice
OR 1/2 cup pineapple juice spiked with Cointreau
2 large or 3 small fresh lemons
2 cups canned or made-from-boxed-mix lemon pie filling

Buttercream Frosting*:
1/4 lb (4 oz.) butter
2 cups confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
fresh squeezed juice of 2 lemons after grating
1/4 tsp. salt

Fruit for garnish/decoration:
2 peeled kiwi fruit sliced thin, and/or peeled sliced peaches, washed blueberries, sliced big strawberries etc.

Put one layer, flat bottom side down, on serving platter/tray. Set other layer on counter, flat bottom side down; sprinkle both with 1/2 cup juice stuff, using it all up. If cakes seem dry, add more juice to dampen without totally soaking layers. Pour lemon filling on layer on platter.

Grate whole rind of a lemon on to filling. Invert other layer onto filling and press together gently.

Halve skinless lemon and squeeze some juice onto the flat top exposed. Grate peel from other lemons, set aside; squeeze juice, remove seeds, save.

Make Buttercream Frosting:
Cream butter, beat in powdered sugar and salt to fluffy; add vanilla. Thin to spreadable consistency with fresh lemon juice as needed. Dump ALL THE REST of grated lemon rind into frosting and mix well. Spread on top layer. Decorate with fruit pieces, if desired, overlapping kiwi slices with sliced strawberries for color are pretty. Even undecorated this is SO tasty, luscious, fast.

*If you are really pressed for time, make a glaze out of fresh lemon juice, grated rind, and enough powdered sugar in to thicken and forget the Buttercream Frosting, it will do well.