All About Magazine

1 Preheat your oven to 175°C/ gas mark 4

2 Line and grease the sandwich tins, then beat the

butter, sugar and zest until pale and fluffy. Lightly

beat the eggs and pour slowly into the butter

whilst still beating. Then add the flour and beat until

incorporated.

3 Transfer the batter to the tins, try and make the

mixture around the edge of the tins higher than the

centre; this will make the cake more level.

4 Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer comes out

clean.

5 Whilst the sponges are baking make the sugar syrup,

bring the lemon juice & sugar to boil in a saucepan

and leave to cool.

6 When the sponges are cooked remove from the

oven and brush with some of the lemon syrup

and leave to cool. Then wrap in clingfilm and store

overnight at room temperature.

7 The next day make the buttercream, place the

raspberry puree in a saucepan and reduce a little,

chill until cool.

8 Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan over a

medium to high heat until the syrup reaches 121°C

– be very careful not to burn yourself.

9 Place the egg whites in a very clean bowl and whip

them at a low speed until frothy.

10 When the syrup has reached 121°C take off the heat

and pour into the egg whites in a steady stream

(keep the whisk running a low speed)

11 Whip the meringue until cool to the touch, then add

the butter a tablespoon at a time, beating after each

addition. When the butter has been added, turn the

speed up until it’s a thick, smooth and spreadable

mixture. At this point whisk in the raspberry puree

and extract.

12 Trim your cakes until flat and roughly the same

height, brush each layer with some of the sugar

syrup. Place the bottom layer on a cake turntable if

you have one, however I used a chopping board.

13 Put some of the buttercream on the bottom layer

and using a palette knife spread evenly to the edge

of the cake, place a few fresh raspberries on top of

the filling. then repeat for the next layer.

15 Put the next cake on top, making sure the flatter side

of the cake is facing up and gently push down to

release any air.

16 To decorate the cake you need to apply two

layers of buttercream. Place a generous amount of

buttercream in the centre of the cake, work from

the centre down the edges. Make sure there are

no gaps then, using a side scraper, (or your palette

knife) angle it at a 45° angle on the cake and rotate

your board as you scrape to make the edge smooth.

Keep doing this until you’re happy and pop in the

fridge for half an hour when you’re finished.

17 Then apply the second coat, using the same

principle as before.

18 Leave your cake to cool in the fridge for half an hour

or until the buttercream has set and then decorate.

I place a cake stencil on top of the cake and sieve

icing sugar over it, carefully removing the stencil

and piping small rosettes of buttercream around the

edges. Pop a fresh raspberry on top of each piping.

If you have any sugar syrup left over you can keep this

in the fridge for a month and use on any other sponges

you might make.

Lemon & raspberry layer cake

Impress your friends with this gorgeous tower of lemon and raspberries

Sponge:

• 200g salted butter • 200g caster sugar • Zest of 2 unwaxed lemons • 4 medium eggs • 200g sifted self-

raising flour

Lemon syrup:

• 150ml lemon juice (roughly 3 lemons) • 150g caster sugar

Raspberry meringue

butter cream:

• 270g caster sugar • 67ml water • 135g egg whites (roughly 3-4 large eggs) • 330g unsalted butter

• 160g raspberries pureed • Raspberry extract (to taste)

Decoration:

• Icing sugar • Fresh raspberries

Ingredients

Method

ALL ABOUT MAGAZINE |

RECIPE 15