Lemon Sponge Cake

I love lemons. Not on their own as that is way too sour and gross for me. It needs to be in something like a cake or a sorbet.... or a liquor. On my recent trip to Switzerland, I managed to find my favourite mix of lemon sorbet and limoncello (which is an italian lemon liquor by the way!). It is a truly great dessert as it is super light and refreshing. I happily had it each evening and was super excited when, on my last night, I was offered a rather large portion of it as you can see here: 

Believe it or not, my all time favourite desserts are the lemon ones too. Lemon tart, Lemon Meringue Pie, Lemon Drizzle Cake, the list could go on forever. I am a huge lemon fan. I even boycotted Pizza Express for a few months because they took my favourite lemon tart dessert off the menu. Don't you hate it when that happens? They always seen to pick the meals that I go to the restaurant for. Unbelievable. Anyway, I digress...


So, as if by magic, when I last came home to England, my boyfriend's mum had created the MOST amazing lemon sponge cake. I'm pretty sure I ate about 3/4 of the cake in about 24 hours. But it was so delicious I couldn't resist. 


Obviously, I immediately asked for the recipe so I could eat this cake whenever I wanted (and share it with you all of course!). However, I then thought to myself. "I am writing a food blog and I should at least try to recreate this cake myself before I cheat and steal the recipe". And so I had a good think and this is what I came up with. I think it is pretty close to the original... I certainly managed to eat almost all of it myself (I allowed my boyfriend to have a few slices)!


It is a pretty basic recipe as it is just a twist on a Victoria Sponge Cake. Just a few lemon-y additions to please my palette. I would usually have used lemon curd for the filling and I have blogged a Lemon Curd recipe HERE in case you want to take that route (obviously you can get some ready made from the store to save some time). However, whilst in the supermarket I found some lemon jam which was such an exciting experience, I had to get it involved in my Lemon Sponge Cake. The result was great, however, I think in the future I would opt for the lemon curd filling. The lemon jam was certainly lemony and packed a punch, however, I think a thick rich lemon curd filling complements the cake better.


Recipe notes: This Lemon Sponge Cake is made up of three parts. The sponge, the filling, and the drizzle topping. The lemon curd needs to be ready before you start the sponge so either make a batch in advance or have your shop-bought jar to hand. The drizzle topping can be made whilst the sponge cooks as its takes no time at all.

MY LEMON SPONGE CAKE 

Difficulty

Easy

Timing

Preparation: 10 minutes

Baking: 25 minutes 

INGREDIENTS

CAKE:

• 3 Eggs and the equivalent weight of:
• Self-raising flour ~ sieved
• Butter
• Caster Sugar
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

FILLING

• Lemon curd (recipe here!)

DRIZZLE

• 100g caster sugar
• juice of 1 lemon

METHOD

1. Preheat your oven to 170C
2. Line the base of two 20cm cake tins with some baking parchment. *The best tins to use are the ones with the removable bases. This means turning the cake out will be a million times easier.
3. Weigh your eggs. Note down the weight as you need to use the same amount of flour, butter and sugar in this recipe. *For example, if your eggs weigh 200g, then you need 200g of sugar, flour and butter.
4. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. *This can be done with a mixer to save some time. 
5. Meanwhile, crack the eggs into a jug and mix.
6. Pour the eggs, bit by bit, into the sugar and butter.*If your mix starts to curdle, add a little flour. This should bring it all back together.
7. Then, sieve the flour and add to the mixture, along with the baking powder.
8. Add the lemon juice.
9. Divide your mixture equally between the two baking tins.
10. Cook in the centre of the pre-heated oven for 25mins
11. Meanwhile, make your drizzle. Just combine the sugar and lemon juice and mix together.
12. Check to see if your cakes are cooked by inserting a knife or skewer into the centre. If the knife comes out clean, without any batter left on it then it is ready. If not, give it another 5-10 mins and check again
13. Once cooked, remove the cakes from the oven. Keep one cake in its tin and immediately pour the lemon 'drizzle' all over the top. Leave to cool in the tin.*The hot sponge will absorb the lemon and sugar mix and create a sugary 'crust' on top.
14. Turn the other cake onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely. 
15. Once both have cooled, spread the lemon curd on top of the 'plain' bottom cake and then place the 'drizzled' cake on top. 

Ta da... one delicious lemon cake. Once it's all assembled, feel free to taste it straight away. Don't wait for a 'socially acceptable' time of day. Just tuck in. It's tea time somewhere in the world! 

Good luck and have fun! 

x

P.S At the risk of sounding like a crazy cat lady, i'd also like to say that it was my cat's birthday yesterday. Just thought you should all know that!

Madison turns one!