Hello Lovelies,
So it was my birthday last week. 23rd July 1998. Reppin a 90's baby. So to celebrate I shared a cake with my hostel girls.
This is my homemade lemon curd. Such a simple spread to make but so versitile.
It had crystalised lemon slices to garnish which I thought were stunning and caught the light so magical.
Look at these beautiufl lemons, picked fresh from the orchard. The yellow colour is so vibrant.
I turned 17 on my birthday, so one year off the big milestone 18. I enjoyed my birthday, although I had to go to school like most of my birthdays it wasn't too bad.
This is a lemon curd cake. 5 layers of fluffy vanilla sponge, with lemon curd samwiched inbetween each layer. Frosted with a lemon swiss meringue buttercream and garnished with crystalised lemon slices.
This was such a successful cake because my Dad ate this whole slice. My dad doesn't have a sweet tooth at all and he really enjoyed it. He is always curious when I use lemon as the main ingredient because he loves the flavour lemon. I choose lemon as the main ingredient for my birthday cake because my star sign is a Leo. My name is Lindsay. I used Lemons. Leo, Lemon, Lindsay. lol
This is such a stunning shot of the cake and really shows off how beautiful the cake really was.
Lets learn how to make this beautiufl beast!
-Pick a basket of fresh lemons from the orchard.
-Whisk your egg yolks and eggs till the egg white has broken up.
-Melt butter,lemon juice and sugar on the stove until the butter has melted.
-Pour the hot lemon juice mixture on the eggs slowly so you don't cook them.
-Return the mixture to the stove and cook over low heat until the mixture begins to thicken.
-You know when the curd is ready is when you can draw a line down the spatula. Set aside.Press glad wrap on the top of the mixture to stop it from developing a skin.
-Prepare a simple vanilla sponge and bake in an oven of 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
-Prepare a simple lemon syrup to pour onto the sponges with a squeezy bottle. This just intensifies the lemon flavour.
-Prepare your cake board by placing a bit of icing on a cake board.
-Place a sponge on the cake board and pipe some icing around the edge of the cake. This creates a barrier for the filling. Spoon lemon curd into the center of the cake and smooth it out for an even spread.
-Layer by layer keep stacking!
-Apply a crumb coat, this means spread thin icing on the cake and this encases the crumbs and ensures a smooth cake finish. Place in the freezer for 1 hour at least.
-Colour the icing yellow and add your final layer of icing. Dip the offset spatula in hot water to warm it up. Dry the spatula and then smooth the icing.
-Garnish with rosettes and crystalised lemon slices.
Recipe (lemon curd, sponge cake, frosting)
Ingredients
Lemon curd (do half this quantity and you will have perfect amount between each layers and not much wastage)
250ml lemon juice
100g sugar
170g unsalted butter
4 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
Sponge Cake (do double this quantity for a 5x tier cake)
4 eggs
110g sugar
100g flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
75g unsalted butter melted
pinch of salt
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
180g egg whites
300g sugar
280-310g butter
Vanilla paste
Photo tutorial available in this blog entry,
Lemon Curd:
-Squeeze lemon juice and add to a pot with cubbed butter and sugar.
-Heat the mixture until the butter melts.
-In a seperate bowl add yolks and eggs to a bowl and whisk until the egg whites begin to break up.
-Pour the lemon juice mixture in the bowl with the eggs whisking until all the mixture is incoperated.
-Pour the mixture inot the pot and heat until the mixture begins to thicken.
-You know the mixture is ready when you can draw a line through the mixture on the spatula.
Sponge Cake:
-In a very clean bowl, prefebly glass add your eggs and sugar. With an eletric beater, whisk the the mixture until it has tripled in volume and leaves a ribbion when the beaters are lifted up from the mixture.
-Fold the sifted flour, salt and baking powder into the mixture.
-Add the melted butter to the sponge mixture and mix until well incoperated.
-Pour the batter into lined baking tins and bake at 180 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
-Ensure you have a clean bowl and add your egg whites and sugar. With a hand whisk and the bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk the egg whites until they have doubled in volume.
-You know your egg whites mixture is ready when you can rub your fingers together with the mixture and feel no sugar granules.
-With a free standing mixer, mix the meringue on medium speed for 5 mins and then the last 5 mins on high speed.
-When you feel the bowl and its temperature is netrual then you are ready to add your toom temperature cubed butter.
-Beat on medium speed, gradually adding butter pieces.
-Beat on high speed for 2 minutes until the frosting comes together.
Follow the photo tutorial for the assembly process.
That's really it. I hope I have simplified this cake for you because I think everyone should make this cake.
Until next time lovelies..
