One of my best childhood memories is our Sunday afternoon traditions. My mom and I usually made a cake, then the whole family went for a long walk and returned home to have a afternoon coffee and cake, or for the kids it used to be hot chocolate. I am all for traditions and even though times have changed and many traditions got lost, it is nice to keep some or just introduce new ideas and implement them until they seem like a tradition.
Centuries later and I am in a different country with different traditions, and on top of that allergic to milk (there goes the hot chocolate), but I still love some sweets and cakes. Unfortunately most cakes have milk and butter as main ingredients, so here I am inventing my own … This particular one I made yesterday; it is very sweet and scrumptious.
It is easy to make, but looks spectacular. I call it the Naughty Lemon Meringue, its sweet with a slight zest of lemons…
The cake is made up of three different parts, best to start with the lemon filling, then the sponge cake base and last but not least the meringue topping…
Lemon filling
1 washed lemon
1 washed orange
3 spoons of sugar
1 star anise
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
Slice the lemon and half of the orange very thin; you can use a grater/slicer, but I found it tears the fruit apart instead of giving you a clean slice, squeeze the leftover half of the orange to get all the juices and simmer over a very low heat in a non stick pan with all the other ingredients of the lemon filling until the juice becomes thicker and the fruit slices softer.
Whilst it simmers away you can start the base…but keep an eye on the filling and don’t burn it
Sponge cake base
This is my basic sponge cake recipe and I use it for a lot of different cakes, it is easy and you don’t need to separate the eggs like other sponge cake recipes require…
3 eggs
3 spoons of water
125g sugar
125g plain white flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
First beat the eggs, water and sugar to a fluffy consistency and slowly add the flour and baking powder. You need to mix this dough for at least 5-10minutes to get it nice and fluffy… then put in a baking tin lined with baking paper.
IMPORTANT: never grease the tin when doing a sponge cake, it will not bake probably, baking paper on the bottom of the tin will be enough, the edges of this sponge cake can be easily loosened after baking.
Now bake for about 10minutes in the preheated oven on about 200° Celsius. This cake does not have to get brown on the top; just insert a wooden skewer to see if the cake is finished. Don’t overcook it as it will have to go back into the oven once the meringue has been added… Whilst the sponge cake is in the oven, let’s do the meringue…
Meringue topping
IMPORTANT: use clean beaters, you need to wash off the sponge cake dough and use a clean bowl as well,otherwise your eggs will not beat to a fluffy mass…
4 egg whites (use the egg yolk in another recipe, maybe pancakes for breakfast?)
250g caster sugar
1 teaspoon of Vanilla essence
First separate the eggs and beat the egg whites till white peaks form, then slowly spoon by spoon add the sugar and vanilla essence. Beat until the egg white is thick, glossy, all the sugar dissolves and a long trailing peak forms when the beater is lifted from the mixture. Set aside
To finish the cake:
Take your sponge cake out of the oven, spread the lemon and orange mixture on the top. Then
spoon little mountains of egg white on the top, bake for another 10 minutes in 170° till peaks just turn brown. Loosen the cake from the cooled baking tin and arrange on a plate, to decorate use some grated lemon and/or orange skin and serve with strawberries.
Yum- this is by no means healthy, but the perfect naughty treat for ‘once in a while’ or even a special occasion.
Enjoy
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