top 12 recipes of 2012
happy thanksgiving!
roasted spaghetti squash with sausage
butternut squash with pecans and blue cheese
seeded maple granola
victoria sponge cake with lemon curd
What to do with some of that meyer lemon curd you made last week? Why put it in a cake of course!
I spent many a sneaky moment last week with my head buried in the fridge swiping spoonfuls of lemon curd straight from the jar. It’s that good, I needed no vehicle other than my trusty spoon.
But as delicious an activity as that was, I thought I might should find a more imaginative way to consume the second jar tucked away in my fridge. And so…cake!
This is a fun and delicious twist on the classic Victoria sponge cake (which is sandwiched with cream and jam). Instead of adding vanilla to the batter, I used a teaspoon of lemon zest although I don’t think the vanilla would go amiss now that I think of it. You could also use a teaspoon of lemon extract though honestly, the lemon curd provides all the tangy zing you need.
Victoria Sponge Cake with Lemon Curd
Ingredients
- knob of butter, melted
- 1 cup (8oz) butter, softened
- 1 cup (8oz) sugar
- 4 large free-range eggs
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 cup (8oz) all-purpose flour, sifted (you may need a bit extra)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Lemon curd, for the filling
- Powdered sugar, to dust
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Gently heat the knob of butter in a pan and brush two 8 inch cake tins with the melted butter. Line the bottom of the two cake tins with a circle of greaseproof paper.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy, using an electric whisk or a wooden spoon. Beat well to ensure you get lots of air into the mixture.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time. You want to avoid the mixture curdling, so that it stays airy. If it does curdle, add a tbsp of flour. Add the lemon zest and stir gently to combine.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients using a large metal spoon (this will cut into the mixture better than a wooden spoon). Be careful not to over-mix it. Pour the mixture equally between the two cake tins and level.
- Place in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the cakes are well-risen, spring back when pressed gently with a finger and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes, then remove from the tin and peel off the paper. Place onto a wire rack and let cool completely, about an hour.
- Spread a thick layer of lemon curd on top of one of the cakes and sandwich the other on top. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.
Category: recipe | Tags: british food, cake, dessert, lemon love, sweet treats 19 comments »
January 23rd, 2012 at 7:07 am
oh. YUM! I nearly amputated (sp?) my finger zesting lemons this weekend, but I may be willing to give it another go!
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January 23rd, 2012 at 11:06 am
Thank you for the Victoria Sponge cake recipe! I have tried to make my mother’s recipe, the one I used to make in England, with absolutely no success. Now I am a happy ex-pat!
Felicity
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January 23rd, 2012 at 1:33 pm
Funny, a friend gave me a jar of lemon curd at the weekend and I was going to put it in a victoria sponge! Great minds think alike ;)
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Angharad Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Great minds indeed! It works really well next to that gentle sponge a Victoria makes. The curd is so thick and bright and tangy – perfect combo!
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January 23rd, 2012 at 1:53 pm
Wait so you didn’t eat all of it with a spoon? Because I most certainly did. Some got mixed with blackberries, but still consumed with a spoon.
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Angharad Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 2:04 pm
If I used a spoon to eat my cake, does that count?
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January 23rd, 2012 at 2:13 pm
And I thought that your recipe for lemon curd couldn’t get any better…
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January 23rd, 2012 at 2:44 pm
I am totally loving all the lemon love up in herrrree.
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January 23rd, 2012 at 3:33 pm
How much is a knob? and this look absolutely delicious.
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Angharad Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 4:56 pm
About 1/2 a tablespoon? It’s an approximate measurement – just enough so that when melted you can brush both cake tins.
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January 24th, 2012 at 8:44 am
this sounds SO delicious! i love lemon curd.
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January 24th, 2012 at 11:16 am
[...] cooker reuben dip, Victoria sponge cake with lemon curd, raw Tuscan kale salad, old fashioned baked beans, slow cooker French onion soup, lentil fritters [...]
January 24th, 2012 at 2:55 pm
This has just sky rocketed to the top of my to make list!!! Victoria sponge crossed with lemon curd? That is a match made in heaven.
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January 27th, 2012 at 4:57 pm
[...] for England who happens to be lovely, British and a wonderful cook. This week I was taken with her Victoria Sponge Cake with Lemon Curd. We’ve run our own recipe for Andy’s Nanny’s Victoria Sponge (a classic that I [...]
January 29th, 2012 at 9:07 am
[...] recipe is from Eating for England. Advertisement GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Origin", "other"); [...]
December 16th, 2012 at 12:04 pm
Love this recipe! I made it yesterday to take to a friends house for a Chirstmas caroling party. Everyone loved it! I just recently moved back from Northamptonshire,UK, and fell in love with making cakes. Thank you for sharing. WIll keep this recipe close. :)
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Angharad Reply:
December 16th, 2012 at 6:09 pm
Thanks so much, Krista! Really glad you liked the recipe and enjoyed the cake!
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January 16th, 2013 at 3:22 pm
Hello! Just love your blog! One question about the butter quantity.. Recipe says 1 cup of butter which I took to mean 2 sticks. Is that correct or not?
Thank you!!
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Angharad Reply:
January 17th, 2013 at 5:00 pm
One stick of butter is equal to 1/2 a cup. So for 1 cup of butter you would indeed need two sticks! What a riddle!
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