Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush two 9-inch round pans with melted butter and dust lightly with flour, or spray generously with cooking spray. Line the bottoms with circles of parchment or waxed paper.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter together until very pale and little tails form as the beater goes around.

Add the sugar and lemon zest and beat well, until mixture is fluffy.

Scrape bowl well. Add eggs one at a time, beating to blend before adding the next one.

On low speed, add the dry ingredients, lemon juice and lemon oil, if using. Mix just until incorporated, being careful not to over mix.

Divide into prepared pans. Bake 45 to 50 minutes, until light golden in color and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out with just a few crumbs on it.

Heat the sugar and water in a small saucepan, gently swirling the pan until the sugar dissolves. Cook just until the syrup is clear, do not boil. Cool. Flavor with lemon juice.

Put the egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar and butter in the top of a double boiler. Place over gently boiling water; upper pan should not touch water. Cook, whisking often, until the curd thickens, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a clean container. Cover the surface with plastic wrap, so it touches the hot curd, to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate. You can keep lemon curd, refrigerated, up to a week. It also freezes very well.

Put the lemon curd in a large bowl and whisk until smooth. If the lemon curd is very cold, let it sit at room temperature for about a 1/2 hour, so the warmed gelatin will incorporate easily into the curd, without seizing.

Pour the liqueur into a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over it, and allow to soften, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, whip the cream until it comes to soft peaks that hold their shape. Set aside.

Place the bowl of softened gelatin over barely simmering water and stir until the gelatin melts, about a minute.

Whisk the liquid gelatin into the lemon curd. Immediately whisk in 1/3 of the whipped cream; then fold in the rest.

You will need about 2 1/3 cups meringue buttercream flavored with 1 tablespoon orange-flavored liqueur and 1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice. Have the cakes, lemon syrup, lemon cream and one pint of fresh raspberries at the ready.

With a serrated knife, trim any dome from both cakes so they are flat, not rounded. Trim the sides of the cake if they seem dry. Keeping the knife level and parallel to the bottom of the cake, split each cake in 2 equal and even layers.

Put one of the cake layers on a cardboard circle or a flat serving plate. Moisten it with a quarter of the syrup. Spread on roughly 1/6 of the lemon cream. Press 1/3 of the raspberries into the cream, and then top with more cream—just so it covers the raspberries, using no more than 1/3 of the lemon cream in this layer. Gently flatten a second cake layer on top and brush it with another 1/4 of the syrup.

Repeat the layering, ending with the last cake and syrup. Wrap the assembled cake and refrigerate for about 1 hour, to let the gelatin filling set.

Beat room temperature buttercream until it is very smooth. Add more liqueur and/or lemon juice, to your taste. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and place it on a cake turntable. With a sharp serrated knife, trim the sides of the cake, just enough to even any sharp angles, brushing off any loose crumbs.

With an icing spatula, frost the sides and the top of the cake with the buttercream (less than 1/4-inch thick) to seal in the crumbs and lemon filling. Refrigerate (ideally) overnight to let the buttercream get hard.

Finish the cold cake with another thin coat of buttercream, or rolled fondant. Decorate with a buttercream or royal icing border and optional design.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush two 9-inch round pans with butter and dust lightly with flour, or spray generously with cooking spray. Line the bottoms with a circle of parchment or waxed paper.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda into a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the vinegar, oil, vanilla, and water; then add to the dry ingredients. Mix for 2 minutes–with a hand whisk or with an electric mixer on low speed. Divide into the prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until the centers of the cakes spring back when touched with a finger. Cool completely.

Mix the sugar into the hot coffee, stirring until the heat of the coffee melts the sugar. Cool.

You will need about 2 1/3 cups meringue buttercream flavored with 1 to 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract. Have the cakes, coffee syrup, and the chocolate truffle filling at the ready.

With a serrated knife, trim any dome from both cakes so they are flat, not rounded. Trim the sides of the cakes if they seem dry. Keeping the knife level and parallel to the bottom of the cake, split each cake in 2 equal and even layers.

Put one of the cake layers on a cardboard circle or a flat serving plate. Moisten it with a quarter of the syrup. Carefully whisk the cold truffle filling, a few strokes at a time, until you can pull your finger through the filling and it holds good shape. Spread a third of filling on the moistened cake. Gently flatten another cake layer on top and brush it with another quarter of the syrup. Repeat the layering, ending with the last cake and syrup. Wrap the assembled cake and refrigerate for about 1 hour, to let the filling set.

Beat room temperature buttercream until it is very smooth. Add more vanilla extract if you wish, to your taste.

Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Place it on a cake turntable. With a sharp serrated knife, trim the sides of the cake, just enough to even any sharp angles, brushing off any loose crumbs.

With an icing spatula, frost the sides and the top of the cake with the buttercream (less than 1/4-inch thick) to seal in the crumbs and truffle filling. Refrigerate (ideally) overnight to let the buttercream get hard.

Finish the cake with another thin coat of buttercream, or rolled fondant. Decorate with a buttercream or royal icing border and optional design.

In a saucepan, mix the 1 1/3 cups of sugar with the water and corn syrup. Place over low heat and gently swirl the pan until the sugar dissolves into a clear syrup. Raise the heat to medium-high and cook until the syrup reaches the soft-ball stage (240°F on a candy thermometer.) Do not stir after the syrup begins boiling.

As the syrup boils, whip the egg whites with an electric mixer until they are foamy. Gradually add the remaining 2/3 cup of sugar and whip until they form soft peaks. You want the syrup to reach soft-ball at the same time the egg whites form soft peaks, so begin whipping the whites when the surface of the boiling syrup is thick with bubbles.

When the syrup reaches soft-ball stage, with the mixer running, pour the syrup in a thin stream over the whites. Aim the syrup between the bowl and the whisk, taking care not to let it run onto the whisk, which spatters the syrup onto the sides of the bowl. Continue beating about 10 minutes, until the egg white and syrup mixture–the Italian meringue–is cool.

With the mixer running, beat the softened butter into the meringue, a little at a time. Scrape the sides of the bowl and continue beating until the mixture becomes a very smooth, spreadable buttercream. Beat in desired flavorings.