This lemon cake packs a powerful citrus punch, wasting none of the lemons that go into it. Yielding a marvellously moist, and quite sizeable, sponge, there’s plenty to go around. This is a slight twist on Mary Berry’s whole lemon cake, altered to the student budget!

To make this two layer sponge cake, you will need:

Sponge

• 2 small lemons
• 275g butter or baking spread
• 275g caster sugar
• 275g self-raising flour
• 1 level tsp baking powder
• 4 free-range eggs

Decoration and Filling

• 150g icing sugar
• 25g butter
• Zest of 2 lemons
• Juice of one lemon

Optional Extras

• Lemon curd

Method

Cake

1. Place the two lemons in a saucepan of water. Bring the water to the boil and then simmer the lemons for 20 minutes, until they are soft all the way through. When soft, drain the lemons and run them under cold water so you can handle them. You will find it very hard to bake if you manage to burn both of your hands…
2. Cut the lemons into quarters, and try to remove as many pips as you can. Place in a blender and blitz to a relatively smooth pulp, then set aside in a bowl to cool.
3. Preheat your oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 (160C fan), and grease two 8 inch sandwich tins.
4. Put all of your dry ingredients into a big bowl, then add the butter and the eggs. Beat with an electric whisk until you have a light and fluffy cake mix. Resist the urge to lick the bowl – that can be done after the next step.
5. Add the lemon pulp, and give the mixture another quick beating
6. Divide the cake mix between your prepared tins, and bake for half an hour until you can insert a skewer and it comes out clean.
7. Leave to cool completely before icing.

Lemon Buttercream Icing

1. Sift 50g of the icing sugar into a bowl, then add the butter.
2. Cream the two together until the mix is smooth and light.
3. Add the zest of one lemon and stir it in.

Assembly

1. Place one of your two sponged on a plate or cake board, and spread over a thick, even layer of buttercream.
2. Then, spread over a generous layer of lemon curd.
3. Place the over sponge on top.
4. Make lemon flavoured royal icing, by mixing 100g of icing sugar with lemon juice – add it slowly, stirring as you go. The consistency needs to be smooth, but thick.
5. Spread the royal icing over the top, decorating with lemon zest and lemon curd as you please.

This lemon cake is very versatile, so you can add more as much or as little of this superior citrus fruit as you please. Enjoy on a picnic, with friends, or by yourself alone with an essay…

Katie Dawtry