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: Rhubarb and cream sponge cake

This week’s recipe, a rhubarb and cream sponge cake was a winner. However, there are a few things I’d do a little differently next time. Don’t worry, I’ve altered the recipe below to take these factors into consideration.

I can be a very impatient person; I really love rhubarb, but I should have waited a couple more weeks to let it grow before I harvested stems from our one and only little plant. I picked almost all of it for the rhubarb and vanilla sponge pudding last month. I could have done with at least another stick for making my rhubarb syrup.

Another thing, I think a finished sponge sandwich looks neater and better if you bake a single cake and slice it horizontally, than if two separate cakes are cooked and layered one on top of the other… that’s just me. However, on this occasion, I think the amount of cake mix in a single tin was too much and too heavy and the weight of it hindered the rise and made the texture a bit dense.

One thing that I am glad that I did was use up a spare container of extra thick double cream that Morrison’s delivered as a substitute for whipping cream. It was like slathering clottted cream over the rhubarb syrup… yum!

All in all, I think it was a success; it was all eaten in a couple of days. I’ll make it again, with my little adjustments… and perhaps buy another rhubarb crown or two for future years!

Like my rhubarb and cream sponge cake recipe? Save it to Pinterest

Rhubarb and cream sponge cake

2020-05-18 20:38:13

Serves 8

Cook Time

30 min

Cook Time

30 min

For the sponge

8 oz/220g caster sugar
8 oz/220g butter or margarine (at room temperature)
4 large eggs
8 oz/220g cake flour, sifted
2½tsp baking powder
1½tsp bicarbonate of soda
2tsps vanilla extract

For the filling

2 large sticks of rhubarb, cut into 1cm slices
3tbsps caster sugar
1tbsp water
300ml/10½ fl oz whipping cream

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For the sponge

Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC325ºF/Gas mark 3
Line or lightly grease two 20cm/8" loose-based cake tins
In a large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter until light and airy
Lightly beat the eggs and vanilla extract in a 1-litre/1¾pt measuring jug
Pour the beaten egg into the sugar & butter mixture in 3 stages - mixing in thoroughly each time - stir in a tablespoon of the flour if the mixture looks like it will separate
Into a medium mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and bicarb
Fold the flour into the mixture, taking care not to knock the air out
Add equal amounts of the mixture to the 2 prepared tins, level off and bake on the centre shelf of the oven for about 30 minutes
When cooked leave in the tins for a minute before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely

For the filling

Place the sliced rhubarb evenly on the bottom of a pan sprinkle over the caster sugar and water
Over a medium heat, bring the pan up to a simmer - stirring gently to allow the sugar to dissolve - for 5-7 minutes until the rhubarb has softened but hasn't lost its shape
While still hot, spoon the rhubarb and syrup over one of the sponge layers. Allow to cool
Whip the cream and spoon it generously and evenly over the rhubarb before placing the other sponge layer on top
Dredge with icing (powdered) sugar and serve

Notes

Refrigerate to store

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!

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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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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/

Cakes & Bakes: Sponge cake with raspberry and mascarpone cream

A Victoria sandwich is a quintessentially British cake and this sponge cake with raspberry and mascarpone cream is a little twist on that. It follows the Delia Smith all-in-one sponge recipe that I use as the base of many of my sponge cakes.

I spread a few large dollops of the wild raspberry jelly I made in the summer between the layers and used a mascarpone/fromage frais mix instead of whipped cream. I like that little bit of acidity it gives to counter the sweetness of the jelly. This is a lovely cake to have for afternoon tea!

Sponge cake with raspberry and mascarpone cream

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Cook Time 30

Total Time 30

Servings 8 slices

Ingredients

For the sponge
8 oz/220g self raising flour sifted
2 tsp baking powder
8 oz/220g caster sugar
8 oz/220g butter or margarine at room temperature
4 large eggs
4-6 drops vanilla essence
For the filling
8 tbs raspberry jam or jelly
250 g mascarpone
200 g fromage frais
1 tbs castar sugar
3 drops vanilla essence

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC325ºF/Gas mark 3
Lightly grease two 20cm/8" loose-based cake tins
Into a large mixing bowl, sift the flour and baking powder, holding the sieve high to give the flour a good airing. Then simply add all the other ingredients to the bowl, and whisk - preferably with an electric hand whisk - until thoroughly combined
If the mixture doesn’t drop off a wooden spoon easily when tapped on the side of the bowl, add 1 or 2 teaspoonfuls of tap-warm water and whisk again
Add equal amounts of the mixture to the 2 prepared tins, level off and bake on the centre shelf of the oven for about 30 minutes
When cooked leave in the tins for only about 30 seconds, then loosen their edges by sliding a palette knife all round and turning them out onto a wire cooling rack
For the filling, combine the mascarpone and fromage frais in a bowl; a balloon whisk will amalgamate them more quickly
Stir in the sugar and vanilla extract
Spread 4 tablespoons of jam/jelly over one of the sponge sandwiched, do the same with the other Spread the cream mixture over one of the sandwiches then put the other one, jam side down, on top
Press down carefully to sandwich everything together and finish off with a light dusting of icing or caster sugar