Lemongrass Milk:

Because lemongrass has such a subtle flavour, we are going to infuse the cake with it in two ways: lemongrass milk and lemongrass paste. To make lemongrass milk, start by cutting your lemongrass stalks into ¼" (0.6cm) slices.

Put the lemongrass into a small saucepan with milk. Bring almost to a boil then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 4 minutes. As soon as the milk heats up be sure to stir frequently to prevent the milk from burning.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow it to steep for 10 minutes. Strain the milk into a measuring cup. You want to have ⅔ cup (158ml), so top it up with more milk if needed. Discard the lemongrass pieces.

Lemongrass Cake:

Grease two 6" cake pans with butter. Cover the bottom with a cut out circle of parchment paper and flour the sides. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set it aside for now.

Then you are going to cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. I used my Kitchenaid stand mixer, but you can easily mix this cake by hand. I mixed them on medium-high with a paddle attachment for about 4 minutes.

Reduce the speed and mix in one egg at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.

Next, alternately add the dry ingredients and lemongrass milk in this order - dry, milk, dry, milk, dry. Make sure that everything is fully incorporated between each addition but don't overmix.

Finally, gently mix in the lemongrass paste.

Pour the batter evenly into your two prepared cake pans. I like to use a kitchen scale to easily check if they are even.

Bake the cakes for approximately 35 minutes. Check doneness by inserting a toothpick into the centre. You want it to come out almost clean. Make sure not to over-bake as you would lose the tenderness of this delicious lemongrass cake, as well as some of that subtle lemongrass flavour.

Cool the cakes in their pans for 10 minutes before turning them out on a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way. Cool completely before decorating.

If your cakes baked with a rounded top, you can level them off to be flat with a cake leveler or sharp knife.

Coat the top of the first cake with a layer of frosting. Place the second cake on top and cover the top and sides with the remaining frosting.

Key Lime Frosting:

Zest and juice your key limes.

Using your stand mixer (or elbow engines), mix the butter, zest, salt, and vanilla extract together on medium speed until nice and creamy.

Alternately add and mix in the icing sugar and lime juice in the following order: 1/3 of the confectioner's sugar, 1/2 of the lime juice, 1/3 confectioner's sugar, 1/2 lime juice, 1/3 confectioner's sugar. Mix well between each addition.

Finally, mix in the milk. You can add more milk or confectioner's sugar to adjust the consistency if necessary.