Lemon and Strawberry Cake
This show-stopping lemon and strawberry cake is the perfect dessert for any special occasion. It's light, refreshing, and packed with flavour. Enjoy a cream cheese frosting with a strawberry filling.
Recipe by @maxythebaker
Ingredients and Method
Ingredients
- For The Sponge:
- 4 Large Free-range Eggs
- 350g Caster Sugar
- 400g Melted Margarine/Baking Spread
- 400g Self-raising Flour
- 1 Lemon Zest
- 1 tbsp Sour Cream
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- For Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 250g Unsalted Butter
- 200g Icing Sugar
- 600g Full Fat Cream Cheese
- Pinch Of Salt
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- For Strawberry Filling:
- 200g Fresh Strawberries (chopped)
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 1/2 Lemon (juiced)
- 1 tbsp Water
- For Syrup:
- 80g Sugar
- 100ml Water
- 1/2 Lemon (juiced)
- For Decoration:
- Sliced Fresh Strawberries
- Lemon Zest
Method
- Prehead the oven to 160c (Fan).
- Generously grease and line 3 x 8inch baking tins.
- Begin by making the sponge, add the eggs and sugar to a large bowl and combine using a whisk. Pour in the cooled melted margarine and whisk further.
- Sift the flour into the mixture and mix well until a smooth batter is formed.
- Add sour cream, lemon zest and vanilla extract to the batter and mix until incorporated.
- Equally divide the batter across the 3 baking tins and bake for 30mins or until a skewer inserted into the sponges comes out clean. Once baked, set the sponges aside to cool. Whilst the sponges are baking, prepare the filings
- To make the strawberry filling, add all ingredients to a small saucepan and place over a medium high heat. Allow this to cook for about 5-8mins, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Once cooked and reduced, transfer into a bowl to cool.
- To make the cream cheese frosting, add the softened butter and icing sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on a medium high speed until pale and fluffy.
- Add the cream cheese and salt and mix for 2-3 minutes until combined. Flavour with vanilla and continue to mix by hand using a spatula until incorporated. Refrigerate until needed.
- To make the simple syrup, add the sugar and water into a small saucepan and place over a medium high heat until the sugar is dissolved. Transfer the syrup to a bowl, squeeze in the lemon juice, stir and set aside until needed.
- To assemble, begin my soaking the sponges with the syrup. Place once sponge on a serving plate or cake stand.
- Fill a large piping bag with a large round nozzle with cream cheese frosting.
- Pipe a border of the cream cheese frosting around the perimeter of the first layer of sponge, then fill the centre with a couple of spoons of the strawberry filling. Cover with another layer of sponge.
- Repeat step 13 for the next layer.
- Decorate the top of your cake as you wish using the cream cheese frosting and slices of fresh strawberries.
- Finish the cake with a sprinkling of lemon zest and enjoy!
