For a cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Heavily grease and dust with flour three 9-inch round cake pans.

For cupcakes: Place cupcake liners/papers in cupcake tins. This recipe will make 28-30 cupcakes.

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. These are your 'Dry Ingredients'

Zest one or more lemons to make 2 teaspoons of chopped lemon zest (the yellow part only, not the whites). Add the zest to the buttermilk, mix and set aside. These are your 'Wet Ingredients'.

In a large mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time and fully incorporate before adding the other egg. Add the vanilla and extract and beat for about 2-3 minutes on high to get light and fluffy.

Starting with the wet ingredients, and ending with the dry ingredients, add in small alternating batches to the butter & sugar mixture. Add about 1/4-1/2 cup of buttermilk, then add 1/2-3/4 cups of flour, then add the buttermilk, and lastly add the flour. Repeat until all ingredients are added. Beat for about 2 minutes.

If baking cupcakes, pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups filling about 3/4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool then ice with Lemon Buttercream Frosting.

If baking a cake, pour the batter into three 9" prepared cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool then ice with Lemon Buttercream Frosting.

Beat butter and shortening until fluffy. Add vanilla and 1/8 cup of water. Beat until well combined. Using slower speed on mixture, slowly add powdered sugar. Increase speed to high and beat at high for about 5 to 10 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add more water to thin and more powdered sugar to thicken.

I find that using the full 1/4 cup is the perfect balance for icing cakes, but I tend to add more powdered sugar to make it slightly thicker for decorating.