A magnificent tower of light saffron buttercake rich with clotted cream, then layered with lemon curd then finally topped with clotted cream frosting and more swirls of lemon. The perfect summer party cake.
for the cake:
75ml lemon juice
a large pinch saffron
100g unsalted butter, softened
50ml corn or sunflower oil
250g caster sugar
50g cornflour
4 large eggs, separated
150g clotted cream
275g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
for the icing:
50g clotted cream
*225g icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
lemon curd, either a good brand or make your own (see below)
Line the base and sides of two 20cm round deep cake tins with non-stick baking paper. Heat the lemon juice in a pan, add the saffron and leave off the heat to infuse for 10 minutes.
Beat the butter, oil, sugar and cornflour until light and fluffy then beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, followed by the saffron liquid and clotted cream.
Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until stiff then fold half through the butter mixture. Sift the flour and baking powder together and gently fold half through, then repeat with the remaining egg whites and flour.
Divide the mixture between the tins and bake at 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F/gas 4 for 35 minutes.
For the icing
Beat the clotted cream, icing sugar and vanilla with 2 - 3 tbp boiling water until thick and smooth. Horizontally slice each cake in two, then fill and stack with lemon curd. Alternately swirl spoonfuls of the icing over the top of the cake with small teaspoonfuls of lemon curd.
Easy lemon curd
5 large egg yolks
1 large egg
finely grated zest of 3 lemons
125ml lemon juice
150g caster sugar
225g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
Have ready a large sieve placed over a clean mixing bowl. Then in a saucepan whisk the yolks, whole egg, lemon zest and juice with the sugar until evenly combined then add the cubes of butter. Bring to the first plop of a boil, stirring all the time across the base of the pan to check it isn’t sticking. Quickly spoon the mixture into sieve, and press through with the wooden spoon to remove the zest, then cover and leave until cold before using.
*edit 26th July, my mistake!
