Super Zingy Lemon Cake

I first saw this cake on the first series of the GBBO and have been hunting for it for ages. I absolutely love lemon cake but and have never had one with home made curd that I've made myself, so I thought it was about time I tried it for myself.

So first I'll go through the making of the curd and then I'll go through the actual cake method. I got the recipe for the curd from Ruth Clemens' Pink Whisk blog (which I love), and the one for the sponge from ITV.


Lemon Curd
 
Ingredients:
Zest and Juice of 6 Lemons
120g Butter
450g Caster Sugar
4 Eggs
Makes 1litre of Lemon Curd.

1.Step one is to zest all 6 lemons, so I’ll meet you for the next step in half an hour! 
You need a coarse style grater for the zest.

2.Next, juice all 6 lemons.
It’s important to do it in this order so that once you have grated a knuckle or two in the zesting stage you can follow it up by getting the sting from the lemon juice too! 3.Put the zest and the juice into a thick based pan along with the butter and the sugar.

4.Break the eggs into a large jug and beat well.  Keep to one side.
5.Place the pan over a medium heat and allow the butter to melt and sugar to dissolve.
Once this has happened add the mixture little by little to the jug of eggs, whisking well after each addition.

6.Once both mixtures have been fully incorporated pour back into the pan and return to the heat.
Stir frequently as the lemon curd heats.  Over a medium heat it should take about four mins to begin to boil.  Bubble for a further three minutes to thicken.
7.Take from the heat and pour into ready prepared kilner or jam jars.

8.Allow to cool at room temperature before storing in the fridge. I was told to put a silver spoon in the jar with the curd so to stop the glass from cracking...which I did - and it didn't crack so I guess it worked.
Kept in the fridge the Lemon Curd will last up to three months, but I guarantee you’ll be needing to make some more far sooner than this!

Now for the cake! 

Ingredients:

175 g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

175 g caster sugar
2 lemons, zest only, plus juice of 1 lemon
3 free-range eggs
1 tsp baking powder
150 g self-raising flour

For the filling:

150 ml double cream, whipped
1 jar of lemon curd
Icing sugar, for sifting.

1.Preheat oven to 160C (fan)/180c/gas mark 4.

2.Grease and base line 2 x 7 inch sandwich tins.

3.Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

 

 

4.Add the zest and combine evenly.

5.Add the eggs one at a time with a spoonful of the flour, beating well after each.

6.Fold through the remaining flour.

7.Add the lemon juice and stir to combine.

 

8.Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

9.Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

10.Once cool spread the base of the cake with whipped double cream, followed by a good layer of lemon curd. Set the second cake on top, dust with a little icing sugar and serve. I used a stencil I bough from IKEA and then placed in on the pretty cake stand I also bought from there, cute!

 

11.Eat! Nom!

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Chocolate Dipped Norwegian Shortbread

It was kind of a brutal week this week, so to make things a bit happier I thought I'd bake something yummy as I haven't been able to bake a lot recently. I also know I haven't blogged for a while, I went on holiday to Turkey (which was amazing) and have been knackered since so I've been a bit lazy.

But here it is...the yummiest biscuit in the world...no joke. We make these in Norway at Christmas time, but to make them a bit more special I dipped them in chocolate and added some fun sprinkles to make them look pretty :) They taste of gorgeous butter, and only has 5 ingredients so they're super easy to make.

Recipe:
330g plain flour
250g butter
100g icing sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
300g chocolate - I used Cadburys...it just felt right for biscuits

Method:

1. Mix flour and baking powder and sift into a mixing bowl.
2. Cut up butter and crumble into mixture as well as you can.
3. Add the icing sugar and mix into a smooth dough.
4. Roll out into a long sausage about 4-5 cm thick.
5. Wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 180 degrees (160 fan oven)
7. Remove from fridge and with a sharp knife cut into slices about 0.5cm thick.
8. Place evenly spaced on a lined baking tray, they don't grow ridiculously in the oven so they won't need a stupid amount of space.
9. Bake for 12-20 minutes depending on oven, they should just be starting to turn golden around the edges.
10. Leave to fully cool on a cooling tray.
11. Melt chocolate over a banne-marie and take the cooled biscuits, one at a time and dip half of it in the chocolate, once you've filled a tray, sprinkle with whatever treats you'd like to use and place in the fridge for an hour to cool.
12. They chocolate will never be a solid as it once was, but as long as you don't leave them right in the sun you should be fine!
13. Eat. Nom!!!

These are incredible, I can't put it in to words, but seriously, try them. You won't be disappointed! Pin It Now!