Lemon meringue cake

I have to confess, I’m pretty darn chuffed with this recipe. I made it for my boyfriend’s mum’s birthday this year (having made a French flag cake last year) so I wanted it to be quite big and fancy. I was inspired after seeing a recipe for lemon meringue cupcakes in the Hummingbird Bakery’s book, Cake Days (definitely the best of their three in my opinion). I made my own version of their lemon sponge and took it in my own direction from there.

Part of my reason for making it was to give my new blow torch a whirl, and OHMYGOD it’s so much fun. If you’re into baking then you definitely need to treat yourself to one – they’re brilliant. The cake is three layers of lemon cake, covered in the zingiest lemon buttercream, and topped with Italian meringue, which is cooked already so it’s safe to eat. If you don’t want to make frosting, you can fill it with lemon curd. I have a brilliant homemade recipe, but if you want to buy it in, then I must stress that buying a quality one will make ALL the difference. There are a few stages but it’s not difficult at all and you will end up with a really pretty, fairly impressive cake! The cake serves 16 people I reckon.

For the cake, you need:

• 160g soft butter (or baking margarine stuff like Stork)
• 550g caster sugar
• 480g plain flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• zest of four lemons
• 4 large eggs
• 500mls whole milk (I used gold top)
• cake release and round 8″ discs of baking parchment
• 3 x 8″ cake tins

For the buttercream:

• 500g icing sugar
• 120g soft butter
• 50mls milk
• zest of one lemon
• juice of two fresh lemons
• 2 tsp lemon essence (if you can get it)

For the Italian meringue:

• 300g caster sugar
• 225mls water
• 6 egg whites
• sugar thermometer
• blowtorch

1. Preheat the oven to 180°c.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a standmixer until pale and fluffy. Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt. beat until you end up with a sandy texture.
3. Mix the eggs and the milk together and gradually add to the mixer. Add the lemon zest. Beat on medium speed until well combined, making sure to scrape down the edges.
4. Grease your cake tins with cake release, butter, or oil and evenly distribute the mixture between the pans. You might have to do it in more than one go if you only have two tins.
5. Bake for 20-35 mins, depending on your oven. Don’t open the door for at least 15 mins so that it doesn’t deflate. When the sponges spring back to the touch and a skewer comes out clean, they are cooked. Leave to cool in the tin for at least 10 mins, then turn out onto a cooling rack and leave to cool. Peel off the baking parchment at set aside.
6. For the buttercream, pop the icing sugar and butter into a standmixer and beat on medium until combined. Add the lemon zest, juice, and essence along with the milk and beat on medium for a minute before turning up to high for 2-4 mins until it’s lovely and fluffy. Set aside.
7. To make the meringue, pop the sugar and water into a saucepan and heat up on a medium heat. Turn the heat up once it starts bubbling and boil for 5-10 mins until you reach the soft ball stage. It should have a marking on your sugar thermometer around the 118-120°c mark. While the sugar is boiling, pop your egg whites in a clean bowl and beat until foamy but not overly fluffy. You just want there to be no leftover liquidy egg white – all fluff all the way.
8. When the sugar syrup hits the right temperature, turn the speed of the mixer up to medium and CAREFULLY add in all the syrup as it mixes. When all the syrup is added, turn the heat up to full and beat until the sides of the bowl are lukewarm. The egg whites will be cooked by the sugar syrup and the meringue will fluff up and becomes very white and voluminous. Set to once side to cool.
9. To assemble your cake, everything needs to be cold. Pop the bottom layer of the sponge onto your cake plate and smooth over around a third of the buttercream, taking it over the sides. Add the next layer and repeat. Add the top layer and smooth the remaining buttercream over the top and sides. The middle layers are the most important, so use most of the buttercream for filling.
10. Pop your meringue into a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe in whatever style you like. I went for roses on top and wiggly columns up the sides. Ensure you’ve covered up any gaps where buttercream might be showing through.
11. Now, the best bit! Take your blow torch, and singe all of the meringue. Move the blowtorch all the time, going back and forth over bits until you find the right amount of golden-ness. It will catch very quickly, so keep the blowtorch moving so as not to burn any of it.

Serve with a cup of tea!