Lemon Meringue Cake of Dreams!

This week at work we have been competitive baking.  This is the cake that won (!) against some very stiff competition, notably a hazelnut torte.

The finished cake, slice removed!

I absolutely love this cake.  This is because I absolutely love lemons.  And meringue.  And Pav the boyfriend loves it too; it’s the one he requests most frequently for his birthday cake.

It’s not that hard, but it is a bit time consuming and has a couple of interesting techniques.  It is however absolutely achievable.  It’s a Julie Le Clerc recipe from issue 99 of Cuisine.  If you’re into baking, you can do a lot worse that Julie Le Clerc as your guide.

Lemon Meringue Cake

There are 3 recipes here.  All with sugar and eggs and 2 of them with lemons.  Best to give them separately, so you don’t get confused.  But you do need 9 eggs in total, and about 10 lemons to be safe.  Plus 2 and a half cups of caster sugar.  You’ll need at least 3 bowls too – or some intra-baking washing up, at the very least. 

I do the ‘chiffon cake’ first.  To me, this is the hardest part because you can mix too much and mix too little (which is possibly worse).  But take care and you’ll be fine.  Grease and line the bottom of a 20cm cake tin and heat the oven to 170C on fan-bake. 

Firstly, sift together and set aside in a bowl:
·         1 c flour
·         1.5 t baking powder
·         Pinch of salt

Then separate:
·         3 large room temperature eggs

If you need advice on separating eggs, here’s how I do it: with my hands.  Because your hands are soft, I think they’re the best tool for not breaking the yolk.  It’s fatal to beating eggs to get yolk in it, so be very careful.  Here’s my egg separating technique: over a cup (not the bowl you want to beat in) gently crack an egg.  Carefully pull the shell apart and empty the egg into you hand at the finger part.  Split your fingers a little bit and let the white run through into the cup.  Gently pass the yolk from hand to hand – always over the slightly split fingers – letting the white dribble into the cup and being sure not to break the yolk at all.  Put the yolk into a large bowl (this is the bowl which will eventually hold the whole cake batter).  So long as there is no yolk in white in the cup, pour that into a bowl for beating.  The advantage of this method (apart from using your soft soft hands) is that if you do break a yolk and get it in the white, then you only ruin one white, rather than any others that happen to be in the bowl you’re working with.  If you do ‘ruin’ a white, don’t despair. You need 2 full eggs for the lemon curd.

Right, so you’ve got two bowls, one with 3 yolks, one with 3 whites. (Three bowls if you count the flour mixture.)

Beat the whites with

·        a pinch of cream of tartar

until soft peaks form.  Then, while still beating, gradually add

·         ¼ c caster sugar

until stiff, glossy peaks are formed (about 2 minutes with an electric beater, longer by hand).  If you can turn the bowl upside down without getting egg white on your shoes, you’re good to go.  Set this aside for a moment while you deal with the yolks.

Add to the yolks:

·         Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

·         ½ c caster sugar

And beat for 5 minutes until very thick and pale.   If you do it in this order, you don’t need to clean the beater blades between the whites and the yolks.  Then gradually add (while still beating):

·         ¼ c fruity olive oil or canola oil

Then continue beating gently while alternating between adding the flour mixture and
·         1/3 c lemon juice (approx 3-4 lemons worth)

Beat only just enough to make a smooth batter.

Take the whites and stir a ¼ of them into the yolk mixture.  Then gently fold in all the whites into the yolk mixture; take care not to lose the air you’ve worked so hard to beat in.  You do need a smooth, uniform coloured mixture here.  I’ve done that wrong in the past, and it wasn’t impressive.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until top springs back when pressed with your finger.

Just out of the oven

While the cake bakes, make the lemon curd.  You can pass on this part and buy some, but you will be left with 4 yolks that you have no use for.  I reckon it’s less hassle to make the curd than it is to find a use for the yolks later!

Beat together:

·         4 large egg yolks
·         2 large whole eggs

Then add the remainder of these ingredients into a heavy-based saucepan:
·         ¾ c caster sugar
·         Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
·         ½ c lemon juice (approx 5-6 lemons)
·         125g unsalted butter in rough chunks

(It’s easier to zest the lemon before you juice it.)

Before the butter melts

Place the saucepan over a low heat and stir with a metal spoon constantly until the butter melts.  Once it’s melted stir constantly for another 7 minutes or so until the curd forms and coats the back of the spoon as shown. 

Lemon curd coating the back of the spoon and therefore done!

It will be thinner than the stuff you buy because it’s hot.  It will thicken on cooling.  Don’t walk away while making the curd as it can change texture quickly and the bottom half tends to go quicker than the top.  You need to move it around. 

Once it’s the right consistency, take the curd off the heat and continue stirring intermittently as it cools.  I think this helps with both cooling and making sure the right texture is achieved. 

By now the cake will be almost done.  Once cooked, take it out of the oven and cool on a rack. 

Once both the curd and the cake are cool, the fun starts.  Place the cake flat on a board or something else without a lip.  You now need to cut the cake into 3 or 4 rounds (I’ve only ever managed 3) parallel to the ground.  I have an ancient electric knife I use for this, but it’s fine to use a breadknife or normal knife.  Be careful, don’t rush it.  I find it helps to turn the board while cutting from the side to the middle, rather than try to cut all the way through from one side to the other. 

Now spread the bottom layer with curd, place the next cake layer on top and spread again.  Repeat with your 3-4 rounds of cake, ending with the top of the cake.  Place in the fridge to chill for half an hour.

Now for the Swiss meringue and final baking. 

Heat the oven to 200C.  In a nice clean glass bowl (must not be plastic), combine:
·         4 egg whites left over from the curd
·         1 c caster sugar
·         1 t vanilla essence

Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, without letting the water touch the bowl.  

Beat for 5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is hot.  Remove from the heat and beat for 10 more minutes until the mixture is stiff and glossy.  

Swiss meringue as it goes on the 3 layers of cake

Take the cake out of the fridge and place on a flat room temperature baking tray and gently pile the meringue on the cake – spread around the sides and across the top.   Do this without tearing at the cake or filling.  Make decorative swirls as you like on the meringue. 

Before baking

Place in the oven and watch like a hawk for about 4-5 minutes until the meringue starts to turn brown on the tips. 

After final baking

Remove from the oven and transfer to a plate to be proudly served.  Needs no accompaniments.  Expect spontaneous acclamation. 

Keeps for 2-3 in the fridge, but its physical beauty fades over that time.