Those Cakes We Like … Are Full Of The Zest Of Life

We're also short one kidney after buying all the eggs for this recipe.

Guess who didn't take her own advice about chilling the frosting overnight.

The Cakes household was celebrating last month. Mr Cakes turned 40, and, as is traditional in our house, he requested a special cake to mark the day of his entry to this chaotic world. This year’s request was for a lemon and lime creation, with cream cheese frosting and a lemon and lime curd filling. It is pure coincidence that the flavour profile of this cake would be an excellent dessert for a taco dinner.

A Little Slice of History

Sadly, there isn’t a lot of history I can explore for the cake on this occasion. It’s a variation of the lemon drizzle cake recipe from back in April, only with some lime zest and juice joining the party. The histories of the frosting and the filling, however, are open for a little investigation.

Of course there would be no cream cheese frosting without cream cheese, another baking staple whose creation can be chalked up to a culinary error. Cream cheese came into being in the 1870s, when a New Yorker by the name of William Lawrence attempted to make a French cheese called Neufchâtel, so this particular ingredient is a wholly American creation, and a fairly modern one at that. The addition of cream to the recipe created the rich, creamy cheese which became known as Philadelphia Cream Cheese. It was during the 1960s that cream cheese frosting gained popularity, coinciding with the increased availability of Philadelphia Cream Cheese in grocery stores across the USA.

The lemon and lime curd is all British, the earliest mention of lemon curd in recipe books tracing back to 1844 and its inclusion in The Lady’s Own Cookery Book by Lady Charlotte Campbell Bury. Early recipes for lemon curd involved the use of lemons to acidify cream, forming curds which were then separated from the whey — unless of course you were the Little Miss Muffet of the popular nursery rhyme, in which case you ate your curds and whey together. The modern form of lemon curd is actually closer to an even older recipe for lemon cheese, which calls for the use of the zest and oils of the lemon, combined with sugar, eggs and butter.

This recipe is a complicated process which is best completed over 2 or 3 days rather than trying to rush it all into place in one go. If you want to keep things simple, consider halving the recipe and making a dozen lemon and lime cupcakes with cream cheese frosting instead. You’ll still need to prepare the lemon and lime curd in advance if you plan to include it.

This is a celebration cake, so it will be heavy on the carbohydrates. This recipe clocks in at a whopping 1096.05 carbohydrates for the whole cake (including chocolate drip and cherries), or 73.07g per serving. This is why it’s a cake for special occasions.

Your Equipment

For the curd:

Digital kitchen scales. Rebecca has gone through at Wonkers’ request and added “cups,” using various internet exchange rate sites, but these are imprecise and you should really use a kitchen scale.

Saucepan with wire cooling rack over it (or bain marie if you have one)

Heat-proof mixing bowl and a second bowl for the eggs

Hand whisk

Sterilised jam jars.

For the cake:

Digital kitchen scales

Stand mixer (or large mixing bowl and hand whisk)

Lemon zester (or use the zesting surface of a box grater)

8 inch cake pans x 3

Cake board

Cake wheel

For the frosting:

Digital kitchen scales

Stand mixer (or large bowl and hand whisk)

Piping bag and star shaped frosting nozzle

For the drip (optional):

Saucepan and wire cooling rack (or bain marie)

Heat-proof mixing bowl

Palette knife (or use the back of a butter knife)

Your Ingredients

A king's ransom of eggs, and a few other odds and ends.

For the lemon and lime curd:

1 unwaxed lime, you’ll need the juice and the zest

1 large unwaxed lemon, juice and zest (or use 2 small ones)

115 g sugar (1/2 cup)

60 g butter (1/4 cup)

2 large eggs

For the cake:

400 g unsalted butter (1 3/4 cup)

400 g sugar (2 cups)

400 g self-rising flour (2 2/3 cups)

6 large eggs

2 tsp baking powder

2 lemons (juice of both, zest of one)

1 lime (juice and zest)

For the frosting:

200 g powdered/confectioner’s/icing sugar (1 1/2 cups)

200 g softened butter (unsalted) (5/6 cup)

200 g Philadelphia Cream Cheese (other brands are available) (5/6 cup)

For the drip (optional):

100 g white chocolate (1/2 cup)

50 ml heavy cream

A few drops of lime green food colouring ( or carefully mix your own using yellow and ice blue)

15 Candied cherries to decorate

The Important Bit

Day 1: Firstly, you need to make your lemon curd. This is best done at least a day before you bake your cakes as it needs time to set in the refrigerator. Put the 1 large lemon’s and 1 lime’s juice and zest, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup butter into your heat-proof bowl and place it on the wire rack above a saucepan of simmering water or use your bain marie if you have one. The bottom of the bowl should not touch the water.

Stir occasionally using your whisk until the butter has completely melted.

In a separate bowl, lightly whisk your 2 eggs using a fork. Slowly add the lightly whisked eggs to your melted butter and citrus mix, whisk it through the mixture until it is well combined.

One day I'll purchase an actual bain marie, but until that day...

Keep heating the curd mixture for 10 minutes or so, you should be able to feel when it starts to thicken. It’s done when the mixture is thick and custard-like.

If you prefer a smooth curd, simply strain the lemon and lime curd through a fine sieve before filling your sterilised jars with the curd and putting them in the fridge to set overnight.

Day 2: It’s time to start making your cake. Pre-heat your oven to 350F/180C and lightly grease your 3 cake pans with a little bit of butter.

In your stand mixer, combine the 2 cups sugar and 1 3/4 cups softened butter until it is pale and fluffy. Add the 6 eggs, 2 2/3 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 2 lemons’ juice and 1 lemon’s zest and 1 lime’s zest and juice. Mix until you have a smooth, loose cake batter.

All ready for baking.

Divide your mixture between the cake pans and smooth the top using the back of a spoon. Place the cakes in the oven for around 30 minutes. Check they’re fully baked by inserting a wooden skewer, if it comes out clean then your cake is done, if not then return it to the oven for another 5 minutes and repeat the test.

Allow the cakes to cool thoroughly.

Give your used equipment a wash and set your stand mixer up ready to make the frosting.

Using the stand mixer, combine the 5/6 cup butter and 1 1/2 cups powdered/confectioner’s sugar until smooth.

Add the 5/6 cup Philadelphia Cream Cheese (other brands are available) and mix for another minute or two.

Trim your cake so that it’s even. Take the cake which you will use as the bottom layer and place it on your cake board. Spread the top of the cake with 2 tbsp of your lemon and lime curd. Top this with a layer of cream cheese frosting approximately the thickness of the end of your pinkie finger (or about 1cm to us Brits).

First layer done.

Place the next layer of your cake and repeat the previous step. Then place your final cake.

Standing tall. I wonder if I can get a doctor to say it's 6'3?

Place your cake board and stacked cake carefully onto your cake wheel. Using the back of a butter knife, or a palette knife if you have one, spread a thin layer of cream cheese frosting over the surface of your cake. This is your crumb coat. Chill your cake, and the remaining cream cheese frosting, in the fridge for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

Day 3: Take your cake carefully out of the refrigerator and place it onto the cake wheel again. Now spread a new layer of cream cheese frosting over the crumb coat. Use the back of a butter knife or palette knife to smooth the frosting as you go. You want this layer to be a bit thicker than the crumb coat, you should not be able to see the surface of the cake when you’ve finished coating it.

Return the cake to the fridge for an hour or two.

If you plan on using the chocolate drip, you want to start making it about 15 minutes before you remove the cake from the fridge.

Simply melt the 1/2 cup white chocolate in a heat-proof bowl above simmering water, or a bain marie. Add the 50 ml heavy cream and stir it through until the mixture is smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, but loose enough to pour. Remove from the heat and mix through your food colouring.

Take your chilled cake and return it to the cake wheel. Pour the chocolate drip carefully around the edge of the cake so that it forms drips down the side, it should set as the drips run down the side of the cold cake. Spin the cake wheel slowly while you do this.

Now pour the chocolate drip over the centre of the cake so it coats the top smoothly.

Return the cake to the fridge for about an hour to allow the drip to set.

Return the cake to the cake wheel and pipe the remaining frosting around the edge of the cake and on the top. Add any other toppings or decorations you feel are appropriate, I opted for some candied cherries.

When it's finished it should look a bit like this, only slightly larger as I used some of the batter to make cupcakes.

** If you decide to make cupcakes you can cut a cone shape from the top of the cupcakes, add a tsp of lemon and lime curd, then a spoonful of cream cheese frosting on top of that. Cut the section you removed from the top of the cake in half and stick the halves on top of the frosting to form wings – you’ve now made lemon and lime fairy cakes. **

Lemon and lime fairy cakes, a quicker variation of this recipe that you can bake with the kids.

Serve your cake (or fairy cakes) to an appreciative audience and take a well deserved bow. Don’t forget to cut a generous slice for the chef. And a nice drink.

I think that’s enough work for this month. I’ll see you next month for a savoury treat involving every baker’s nemesis — filo pastry.

In the meantime, help Trix to buy eggs so she can finally bake one of my recipes. And keep the light on at Your Wonkette. But only if you can afford to,