ICCHFC - Week 34: Lemon cream cake

As far as I'm concerned, bad cake is better than no cake. Not the most encouraging of starts to a Cakers post, but this week's baker did not reach the culinary heights she was looking for.

I think she was aiming for something like this:

But her Lemon cream cake turned out like this:

Now, this cake was so deliciously lemony, the only experience I can compare it to is sucking a lemon, that was very sweet. The cake was so moist from the lemon syrup and the icing offset the richness brilliantly.

Things may have not gone completely to plan, but, by golly, it was still a VERY tasty treat.

If only everyone had voted for the espresso and walnut cake that I wanted, maybe things would have been different...

Lemon cream cake (taken from Good to Know Recipes)

Ingredients:
For the cake:
8oz butter, softened
8oz caster sugar
8oz self-raising flour
3 medium eggs
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
For the syrup:
4tbsp caster sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
For the topping:
150ml carton double cream
6tbsp lemon curd
8" round cake tin, lined with baking parchment
Disposable piping bag

Method:
1. Set the oven to gas mark 3 or 160°C. To make the cake, tip the butter, sugar, flour and eggs into a bowl and beat until smooth then beat in the lemon zest.
2. Spoon the mixture into the lined tin and level the surface. Bake the cake in the centre of the oven for 1-1¼hrs or until the sponge feels firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean after being inserted into the centre of the cake.
3. Meanwhile, make the syrup. Pour 4tbsp of water into a pan and add the sugar. Bring the mixture to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves, and boil it rapidly for 1-2 mins. Remove the pan from the heat and add the lemon juice.
4. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, pour the syrup over it. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 15 mins, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. To prepare the topping, pour the cream into a bowl and whisk until it starts to thicken. Add 4 level tbsp of the lemon curd to the cream and continue whisking until it's thickened then spread the lemon cream over the top of cake. Put the remaining lemon curd in the piping bag and cut off the end of the bag to give a small hole. Pipe random lines over the top of the lemon cream. Keep the cake chilled until ready to serve.