Cakes & Bakes: Lemon birthday layer cake

It’s Justin’s birthday in less than a week. Unsurprisingly, when I asked what kind of cake he’d like, he said, “Lemon”. I turned to Delia, one of my favourites, and she didn’t let me down. I tweaked a recipe from her book, Delia’s Cakes to make him a lemon birthday layer cake.

It’s based on her all-in-one sponge cake recipe where you sift the flour and baking powder together into a bowl before simply stirring in all the other ingredients.

The recipe calls for two, 18cm diameter tins – a particular size that I don’t have. I do have one 20cm diameter tin which I used to bake the cakes in two batches. The extra 2cm meant my cakes were wider and shorter, but I still managed to slice them in half.

I usually make my own lemon curd, but we’d been gifted a jar of Tiptree’s, so I used about ¾ of the jar. I covered the cake with whipped double cream flavoured with a little lemon extract and zest. If you prefer, you could add a bit of sugar to the cream mix, but I think the rest of the cake is sweet enough.

I would have also topped it with some birthday candles… but there wasn’t enough room for all of them!

Click here to save the lemon birthday layer cake recipe to Pinterest

Lemon birthday layer cake

Delia Smith

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Cook Time 25

Course Party

Cuisine British

Servings 8

Ingredients

For the cake

175 g self-raising flour
1 level tsp baking powder
175 g spreadable butter
175 g golden caster sugar
3 large eggs
½ tsp lemon extract
250 g lemon curd

For the topping

150 ml double cream
½ tsp lemon extract
zest of 1 lemon

To serve

zest of 1 lemon

Instructions

For the cake

Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC/ 325ºF / Gas mark 3
Grease and line a pair of 18cm/7" round loose-bottom cake tins
Sieve the self-raising flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl
Add all the other ingredients and combine well
Divide the cake mixture equally between the prepared tins
Bake for 25 minutes
Remove from the oven and after about 30 seconds loosen the edges by sliding a palette knife all round then turn them out onto a wire cooling rack
Carefully peel away the liners. Lightly place another cooling rack on top of the cakes and flip them over so that their tops are facing upwards (this prevents them sticking to the cooling rack)
Allow to cool completely before slicing each cake in half horizontally using a sharp serrated knife
Put one slice on to a cake plate or cake stand base. Spread generously with ⅓ of the lemon curd. Put another slice on top and spread this one with another ⅓ of the lemon curd. Put the third slice on top and spread with the last of the lemon curd. Put the final slice on top

For the topping

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the double cream, lemon extract and zest of 1 lemon until stiff. Spread the mixture evenly over the top of the layer cake
Sprinkle over the zest of the other lemon
Slice and enjoy!

Keyword birthday, birthday cake, layer cake, lemon, lemon cake

Cakes & Bakes: Brooklyn blackout cake

This week, we discussed that we hadn’t eaten any chocolate cake for ages, so when I discovered Brooklyn blackout cake, I knew it was the next one for me to give a try.

The story goes that the blackout cake was invented in Brooklyn during the blackouts of the 2^nd World War by local bakers, Ebinger’s. It consists of layers of chocolate cake, sandwiched together with chocolate custard or pudding and topped with chocolate cake crumbs.

At first glance, it appears to be a difficult cake to produce, but it isn’t. Just tackle it in stages and you’ll see how easy… and delicious it is.

I’ve said in previous recipe posts that it can be difficult to get hold of buttermilk. However, a simple solution to this is add the juice of half a lemon to 130ml of full-fat milk, stir and set aside for 5 minutes. Ta dah… home-made buttermilk! The addition of buttermilk stops this chocolate cake from being too sweet and cloying.

I usually use buttercream between the layers of cake, but this chocolate custard was an eye opener; it spread really well and tastes superb.

This is the first time that I’ve covered a cake in crumbs; again, what a revelation! It gives the cake a different and unusual texture.

The cake is sweet, without being too sweet; moist and gooey and, from other people’s reviews, tastes even better when eaten the following day.

This is definitely a recipe to be repeated again & again.

Click here to save the Brooklyn blackout cake recipe to Pinterest

Brooklyn blackout cake

Jane Hornby

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Cook Time 30

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 8

Ingredients

For the custard filling and topping

250 g/9oz golden caster sugar
500 ml/¾pt full-fat milk
140 g/5oz dark chocolate broken up into pieces
50 g/1¾oz cornflour
2 tsp espresso powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

For the cake

140 g/5oz unsalted butter plus extra for greasing
100 ml/3½fl oz vegetable oil
140 g/5oz buttermilk or 130ml full-fat milk with the juice of ½ a lemon stirred in
100 ml/3½fl oz coffee made with 1 tsp espresso powder
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
250 g/9oz plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp baking powder
50 g/1¾oz cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
250 g/9oz light muscovado sugar

Instructions

For the custard (This needs to be prepared first as it needs to chill completely)

Put all the ingredients, except the vanilla, into a large saucepan and bring it gently to the boil, whisking all the time, until the chocolate has melted and you have a silky, thick custard
Stir in the vanilla extract and a pinch of salt, then scrape the custard into a wide, shallow bowl. Cover the surface with cling film, cool, then chill for at least 3 hours or until cold and set

For the cake

Preheat the oven to 175ºC/175ºF/Gas mark 4
Grease & line the bases of 2 x 20cm round cake tins with parchment paper
Melt the butter in a pan or in the microwave
Once melted, beat in the vegetable oil, buttermilk, espresso powder and eggs
Over a large mixing bowl, sieve all the dry ingredients (except the muscovado sugar) together
Stir in the muscovado sugar, squashing any large lumps with the back of a spoon/spatula
Pour over the wet ingredients and combine until the batter is smooth
Divide the batter equally between the prepared tins and bake for 25-30 mins until risen and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean
Cool for 10 minutes in the tins, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, parchment-side down
Remove the parchment linings from the cakes. If the cakes are domed, trim them flat
Cut each cake in half horizontally using a large serrated knife
Put your least successful layer and any trimmings into a processor and pulse it to crumbs (I simply cut it into pieces and rubbed them together using my fingertips). Tip the crumbs into a large bowl
Sit one layer on a cake plate and spread it with a quarter of the custard
Sandwich the next layer on top, add another quarter of the custard
Top with the final layer of cake
Spoon the remaining custard on top of the cake, spreading it around the top and down the sides until smooth
Chill for 15 minutes to firm up the custard again
Hold the cake over the bowl containing the crumbs, then sprinkle and gently press a layer of crumbs all over the cake. Brush any excess from the plate. You’ll have some crumbs left
Chill for at least 2 hours before serving

The cake can be made up to 2 days ahead; it gets fudgier and more enticing the longer you leave it!

Keyword Brooklyn, cake, chocolate, chocolate cake, New York

Cakes & Bakes: Pecan sponge layer cake with maple syrup buttercream frosting

It feels like it’s been ages since I made an iced sponge cake; it’s something we enjoy mid-afternoon with a cuppa. I recently replenished the stock of dried fruits and nuts in my pantry so I decided to bake a pecan sponge layer cake with maple syrup buttercream frosting.

During lockdown I couldn’t get my hands on any flour, so I stocked up on different types that I bought online direct from Shipton Mill. One was their soft cake and pastry flour; the consistency of the cake was much lighter as a result. I won’t be going back to plain old self-raising in a hurry!

Pecans are probably my favourite nuts to cook with however, you can try this recipe using walnuts or brazils instead.

I have a very sweet tooth, so the amount of frosting suits my taste. If you think it’s too much, you could always use 100 grams each of butter and icing sugar and 50ml of maple syrup.

It’s pretty much the best cake we’ve had in a long time, lovely with coffee or tea.

Click here or on the image below to save my pecan sponge layer cake with maple syrup buttercream frosting recipe to Pinterest

Pecan sponge layer cake with maple syrup buttercream frosting

2020-08-25 12:06:27

Serves 8

Cook Time

30 min

Cook Time

30 min

Ingredients

175g/6oz butter, softened
175g/6oz caster sugar
3 large eggs
175g/6oz self-raising flour, sifted
1tsp vanilla extract
50g/1¾oz pecans

For the frosting

300g/ icing (powdered) sugar, sifted
150g/ butter, softened
100ml maple syrup

To finish

8 pecan halves

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For the cake

Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC/325ºF/Gas mark 3
Grease & line two 18cm/7-inch round cake tins
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter & sugar until light and fluffy
In a measuring jug, whisk the eggs and mix in the vanilla extract
Add the eggs, bit by bit, into the butter/sugar mixture stirring constantly
Carefully fold in the flour in 3 or 4 rounds, trying not to lose the airiness in the mixture
Chop the pecans, fairly finely, and carefully fold them into the mixture
Divide the batter equally between the two prepared cake tins, gently levelling the tops with the back of a spoon
Place them on the centre shelf and bake for 30 minutes or until the tops have turned golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes away clean
Put the cakes, still in their tins, on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Then, remove them from the tins, peel off the parchment liners and allow to cool completely

For the frosting

Combine the softened butter and icing sugar
Stir in the maple syrup until the mixture is light and fluffy
Set aside while the cake layers cool completely

To finish

Use about a ⅓ of the frosting to sandwich the two cakes together
Spread the rest on the top and sides of the sandwiched layers and stud the top with the 8 pecan halves

Notes

Instead of self-raising, I used cake flour to which I added 2 tsps baking powder

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Coconut and lime cake

Inspiration for our weekly Cakes & Bakes posts come from all manner of places. This week’s was slightly out of the ordinary – a scrap of crumpled old paper with Justin’s handwriting on it, that fell out of a book whilst we were tidying some shelves.

He’d jotted down a recipe for a coconut and lime cake. I showed it to him but he couldn’t remember doing it or where he’d, in fact, copied it from; I guessed it might have been an episode of a Rachel Allen cookery program from years ago maybe. I’m probably wrong!

The notes he made were pretty vague. The instructions read thus: “Mix all ingredients together. Bake in cake tins. Gas Mark 3 → 30-35 mins”.

Delia’s All-in-one sponge method is pretty similar; however, with the addition of lime juice, I thought that the mixture would be prone to curdling if I just chucked it all in together. In the end, I did the classic creaming of the butter & sugar, adding the eggs (pre-beaten) a little at a time interspersed with a serving spoon of the flour, then the juice, followed by the sifted flour/baking powder and dessicated coconut.

The other thing I did differently was to use a single cake tin instead of dividing the mixture equally between two. I merely upped the cook time from 30 minutes to an hour, keeping the temperature the same. Sometimes I prefer to simply slice the one cake horizontally through the middle; I find that it sandwiches back together better after spreading the icing.

Oh, and I didn’t have any coconut milk powder (the original recipe calls for 2 tablespoons) – I substituted it with powdered skimmed milk and a little coconut extract. It worked for me!

Finally, I decided against the water icing topping and went instead for a butter icing. I think it turned out brilliantly. It’s an attractive, ‘summery’ looking cake. The combination of coconut and lime is a well established cooking classic – sweet, yet zingy. I can vouch for the fact that it works really well in this sponge cake manifestation!

Click here to save the recipe to Pinterest

Coconut and lime cake

2019-06-25 14:43:18

Serves 6

Cook Time

1 hr

Cook Time

1 hr

For the cake

170g/6oz butter, softened
170g/6oz caster sugar
3 eggs
juice of 2 limes
170g/6oz self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
60g/2oz dessicated coconut

For the icing

285g/10oz icing sugar (powdered sugar)
50g/1¾oz butter, softened
2tbsp lime juice
Zest of 2 limes

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If you don’t have Buy Me a Pie! app installed you’ll see the list with ingredients right after downloading it

For the cake

Preheat the oven to 160ºC/325ºF/Gas mark 3
Grease and line a 15cm/6" loose-bottomed cake tin with baking parchment
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and the sugar
In a measuring jug, lightly beat the eggs
Pour the eggs into the butter/sugar mixture in 3 stages and mix in, with a serving spoon of the flour (to prevent curdling)
Mix in the lime juice
Fold in the dry ingredients (flour/baking powder/dessicated coconut)
Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin, levelling out the surface
Bake for 50 minutes to an hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes away clean
Allow to cool in its tin for 5 minutes before removing it and letting it cool completely on a wire rack

For the icing

Sift the icing sugar into a bowl to remove any lumps
Add the butter and combine well
Add the lime juice, a tablespoon at a time, until the required consistency is achieved
Sprinkle over the lime zest and serve

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/