Earl Grey and Lemon Cake
Ok guys Mothers Day is nearly here and we realise this is a brilliant time to bake a gift. Not all of us have Mums but this is suitable for anyone your Dad, Grandparent, sister or best friend. Just make it with lots of love.
Get ready to wow your Mothers with this delicious and easy cake. Most Mothers love having a cup of tea so we thought we would combine earl grey tea into a cake and who has ever heard of earl grey tea without a slice of lemon? That’s right no one so we’ve added lemon too. If we are completely honest it is a really nice combination. It’s not too sweet, so is easier to eat more of. It makes a perfect treat so get your scales out and start baking …
The first job is to set the oven because once your cake batter is ready it really needs to go straight in the oven. This will help it to rise.
Make the lovely tangy lemon curd, it is so easy to do but feel free to use shop bought if you want.
When making the sponge make sure the ingredients are at room temperature, this will make it so much easier to work them . For a well risen sponge don’t over mix .
We loved the idea of indulgent fresh cream it just suited this cake perfectly and I’m sure all the Mums will agree. We did add a little icing sugar and vanilla for a hint of sweetness.
We think cakes should look pretty not perfect we like the homemade look. We used edible flowers but we think the little iced flowers that you buy in supermarkets would look cute too .
Ingredients
Lemon Curd
2 lemons, zest and juice
100g caster sugar
50g butter
2 eggs, beaten
Earl Grey Cake
240ml whole milk
7tbsp Earl Grey loose tea
1 tsp vanilla extract
220g unsalted butter
300g caster sugar
3 eggs
300g plain flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
Sweet Cream
500ml double cream
4 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C fan, grease and line two 8” cake tins
For the curd; put the zest, juice, sugar and butter in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water
Lightly heat until the butter has melted, stirring a few times
Gently whisk in the beaten egg, continue whisking for around 10 minutes until thickened
Strain through a sieve then leave to cool and set in the fridge
For the cake, warm the milk in the saucepan and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the loose leaf tea and vanilla, stir and leave to brew for 4-5 minutes
Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
Add in the eggs one at a time mixing completely between them
Sift the flour and baking powder, add half of this to the wet mixture and fold in, add the milk and combine then fold in the remaining flour mix
Split the batter evenly between the two tins and bake for 35-45 minute, a skewer should come out clean
Leave the cake in the tin for around 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely
To make the sweet cream combine the ingredients and whisk until soft peaks have formed
Once the cake is completely cool sandwich the layers together with the lemon curd and half the sweet cream between the two cakes, sift icing sugar n the top of the cake then pipe the remaining whipped cream around the top edge.