Cheery, bright daffodils popping up in the yard right now COMPLETELY contradict the dreary gray skies overhead. To combat the winter blues, I’m dreaming of a sunnier, warmer time when fly-fishing line flew over honey-holes teeming with hungry fish! And birthday cake!
Let me first admit…I am not a fly-fishing expert, nor do I claim to be. No where close! My beginner skills involve tying bugs onto my line, casting it (hopefully without flogging the water), mending the line here and there, and occasionally landing a nice trout. I’ll just leave it at that…like the many bugs I’ve cast into the willows on river banks!
We were very blessed to live near many sources of clear water teeming with trout of all types–rainbows, cutthroat, brook, brown and the occasional tiger. We were also fortunate to live across the street from a fishing guide master who shared his fly-fishing tricks and tips! Thank you J. and J. for your patience and fishing wisdom, in addition to fun float trips!
Clarks Fork Yellowstone River, WY 
Pacific Creek Wilderness Area, WY
One sunny summer day, several years ago, Son B and I decided to take a little fly-fishing trip. Armed with mental copies of “Fly-fishing for Dummies,” rods and reels, and a box of bugs, Son B and I set out on an hour-long ride to the South Fork of Wyoming’s Shoshone River. Bouncing along the gravel road, we marveled at Carter Mountain’s sharp peaks, dodged the cotton-tail rabbits and antelope in their self-appointed crosswalks, and hoped we wouldn’t run into any bears.
Safety alert! The South Fork in Shoshone National Forest is known for its bear activity, most importantly Grizzly activity. When you’re planning a trip out into the mountains where you might run into a bear, about an hour away from civilization, you better be prepared and packing something. We were with a couple cans of bear spray from the local Wal-Mart. If Son B and I came across a bear, we’d just make it mad before we became its afternoon snack. Gulp!
With visions of big fish swimming through our heads, and high-powered pepper spray at our sides, we began wading up river. An overhead cast here and a roll cast there, A River Runs Through It we weren’t! To get around some of the river bends, every once in a while we lumbered onto shore and tromped through the bushes. Going through the willows, Son B repeatedly yelled, “Ha! Bear!” in our pitiful attempt to scare any away.
South Fork Shoshone River, WY 
Splashing and crashing back into the South Fork, Son B continued his due diligence. Only this time, he hollered, “Ha! Fish!” Noooooo….. Son B did his best to keep bears AND fish away! I’d love to tell you we caught massive cutthroats using 4-weight line and wet flies. Wrestled them to the riverbanks before epic-picture-posing and catch ‘n’ release. But nooooo….. All we caught was an amazing time in the outdoors, water-logged boots and a bit of a sunburn! Thankfully, without bears!
On this soggy, doggy, gray-kind-of-day, I’m fondly remembering this fantastic faux-fishing trip with Son B up the South Fork. And cake! My annual 29th birthday cake to exact! This year’s edition features layers of moist sour cream white cake, fillings of sweet strawberries alternating with tart and tangy lemon curd, and swirled in lemony-bright buttercream–Sunny Day Strawberry Lemon Cake!
I prefer a tender, moist cake, so for this b-day delight, I knew I had to make my Sour Cream White Cake. It’s lightly flavored with fresh lemon zest and vanilla.
Rather than buying over processed cake fillings, I make my own. These fresh fillings are cost-effective using ingredients I typically have on hand…butter, sugar, lemon juice, and seasonal fruit. For this Sunny Day Strawberry Lemon Cake, the fillings I’m going with are Lemon Curd 1.0 and 2.0, as well as Sweet Strawberry Filling. When using softer fillings like these, be sure to use a frosting dam on the top of each cake layer. Pipe an icing border on the layer’s edge and fill as desired. This prevents the tasty middles from oozing out as you continue to frost the cake.
To wrap up all of this deliciousness in a package, I chose my go-to recipe for buttercream frosting, Italian Meringue Buttercream. Somewhere around my first 29th birthday, I gladly spooned down teeth-achingly-sweet buttercream made with powdered sugar and shortening or butter. My more mature palate prefers this Italian Meringue version. It’s silky smooth and light-as-air. It frosts a cake beautifully and works well with a wide-variety of cake flavors, fillings, and mix-ins! For this cake, I opted to make the Lemon Variation of the recipe. Decorate with rosettes like I did, or simply ice it. Any way you slice it, Sunny Day Strawberry Lemon Cake will brighten your day!
Sunny Day Strawberry Lemon Cake
Sunny skies are ahead with this tangy lemon and sweet strawberry filled sour cream white cake! Not a cloud will be in sight with its light-as-air Italian meringue buttercream!
- Total Time: Approximately 2-1/2 Hours
- Yield: One 4-layer, 8-inch Cake 1x
Ingredients
1 recipe Sour Cream White Cake, prepared with 1 tsp. lemon extract and 1 tbsp. fresh lemon zest
1 recipe Sweet Strawberry Filling
1 recipe Lemon Curd 1.0, prepared with egg yolks from Sour Cream White Cake
1 recipe Lemon Curd 2.0
Instructions
Prepare Sour Cream White Cake according to the recipe, substituting 1 tsp. vanilla for 1 tsp. lemon extract and 1 tbsp. fresh lemon zest. Bake and cool. Cut each 8-inch layer into halves for total of four 8-inch cake layers. Set aside for filling and icing.
Prepare Sweet Strawberry Filling according to the recipe. Be sure the filling has a jammy consistency and is cool before filling.
Prepare Lemon Curd 1.0 using the 4 egg yolks remaining from the Sour Cream White Cake recipe. Cool and reserve for filling the cake.
Prepare Lemon Curd 2.0 according to the recipe. Cool and set aside to mix in with the Italian Meringue Buttercream Frosting.
Prepare Italian Meringue Buttercream Frosting according to recipe. Prepare Lemon Variation by mixing all of Lemon Curd 2.0 recipe evenly into frosting.
Assemble the cake:
Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate. Using an icing bag fitted with a circular tip, or a zip-top gallon bag with a corner snipped off, pipe a border of Italian Meringue Buttercream around the cake layer. Spread half of the Sweet Strawberry Filling evenly inside this icing border. Cover with a second cake layer.
Again, pipe an icing border on the second cake layer. Using all of Lemon Curd 1.0 recipe (approximately 3/4 cup), evenly spread lemon curd inside the icing border. Top with a third cake layer.
Repeat icing border on the third cake layer. Evenly spread remaining strawberry filling inside the icing border. Top with a fourth cake layer.
Using Lemon Curd 2.0 and Italian Meringue Buttercream Frosting mixture, frost top and sides of the cake layers as desired.
As with any fruit-filled layer cake, refrigerate leftovers for up to a week in a tightly covered or plastic wrapped container.
IMNPB
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