Chocolate Cake With Lemon Curd Filling Recipes

WHITE LAYER CAKE WITH LEMON CURD FILLING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-by-2-inch round cake pans; line bottoms with parchment paper rounds. Butter parchment, and dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside.
• Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with milk and beginning and ending with flour; beat until just combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; set aside.
• In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low speed until foamy. With mixer running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes. Do not overbeat. Gently fold a third of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in remaining whites.
• Divide batter evenly between prepared pans, smoothing with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until cakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto rack; peel off parchment. Reinvert cakes, and let them cool completely, top sides up.
• Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cake layers to make level. Place one layer on a serving plate, cut side up. Using a pastry bag fitted with a coupler, pipe frosting around the perimeter. This dam will prevent the lemon curd filling from seeping out. Fill cake with lemon curd. Place other cake layer on top, cut side down. Spread entire cake with frosting, swirling to cover.

CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH LEMON CURD FILLING

Steps:

• Pre-heat the oven to 160ºC/140ºC fan.
• Line 2 8inch tins with greaseproof paper.
• Grate the milk chocolate (110g).
• Put all of the ingredients into a large bowl (200g self-raising flour, 40g cocoa powder, 230g caster sugar, 4 large eggs, 240g soft margarine, ¼ tsp vanilla extract, 2 tsp milk and the grated chocolate) mix on a low speed until fully combined.
• Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins. Make sure you spread the mixture out so it is even.
• Put the tins in the oven and cook for 50 minutes. After 50 minutes put a skewer in the middle and check if it comes out clean. If not, pop back in the oven for 10 more minutes and look again.
• When cooked, remove the cakes from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the cakes from their tins and carefully peel off the greaseproof paper and pop them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• Once cooled, use a knife to carve off the top of the bottom cake (so it's flat and the top part of the cake will sit on it nicely).
• Spread the lemon curd evenly on top of the bottom part of the cake.
• Carefully place the top part of the cake on top.
• To melt your chocolate coating, break the chocolate into squares and put into a glass bowl.
• Place over a pan of barely simmering water.
• You need to melt the chocolate very slowly, only stirring now and again or it will go hard. Be patient, it's worth it!
• One melted spread over the cake.
• Leave to cool. Store in an airtight container.

LEMON-LATTICE WHITE CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• For lemon curd:
• Combine lemon juice and cornstarch in heavy medium saucepan, stirring until cornstarch dissolves. Whisk in remaining ingredients. Cook over medium heat until mixture is thick and smooth and just begins to boil, stirring constantly, about 7 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on surface of curd to prevent skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled, about 6 hours. (Can be prepared days ahead.)
• For frosting:
• Combine 1/2 cup cream and chocolate in heavy small saucepan. Stir over low heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Transfer to large bowl. Whisk in remaining 1 3/4 cups cream and vanilla. Refrigerate until well chilled, about 6 hours. (Can be prepared up to 1 day ahead.)
• For cake:
• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottoms with waxed paper. Butter paper. Dust pans with flour; tap out excess. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together into medium bowl. Repeat sifting.
• Stir chocolate and 1/2 cup cream in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Mix in remaining 1/2 cup cream, milk and vanilla.
• Using electric mixer, beat butter and 1 cup sugar in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in yolks. Stir dry ingredients into butter mixture alternately with white chocolate mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Using electric mix fitted with clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in medium bowl to soft peaks. Gradually beat in remaining 1 cup sugar. Continue beating until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into cake batter in 2 additions. Divide batter among prepared cake pans. Bake until tester inserted in center comes out clean and cakes are beginning to pull away from sides of pans, about 24 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto racks, peel off waxed paper and cool completely. (Can be prepared 4 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.
• Using electric mixer, beat frosting in another large bowl until stiff peaks form. Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread 2/3 cup lemon curd evenly atop cake layer. Spread 3/4 cup frosting atop curd. Top with second cake layer. Spread cake with 2/3 cup curd, then with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with third cake layer. Frost top and sides of entire cake evenly with 3 cups frosting.
• Place remaining lemon curd in pastry bag fitted with no. 2 star tip. Pipe circle of curd around top of cake, 1/2 inch from edge. Pipe evenly spaced diagonal lines inside circle, creating lattice pattern. (Reserve remaining curd for another use.) Spoon remaining frosting into clean pastry bag fitted with no. 2 star tip. Pipe ruffled border around top and bottom edges of cake. (Can be prepared up to 6 hours ahead. Refrigerate.) Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving.

LEMON LAYER CAKE WITH LEMON CURD

Steps:

• Beat sugar and butter for curd in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and yolks slowly until well combined. Beat for 1 minute more; stir in lemon juice. The mixture will look curdled; do not panic.
• Pour mixture into a saucepan and cook over low heat until it becomes smooth, about 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly without letting it boil, until it thickens enough to leave a path on the back of a spoon when you drag a finger through it and reaches 170 degrees F (77 degrees C), about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest.
• Let cool to room temperature, 20 to 30 minutes. Press plastic wrap on the surface to prevent a skin from forming and chill in the refrigerator.
• While filling cools, place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter and flour two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans.
• Sift cake flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Pulse 1/4 cup sugar and lemon zest together in a food processor until well combined.
• Beat butter and lemon sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining sugar and beat until smooth, about 1 1/2 minutes. Beat in 1/4 of the milk until just blended. Add flour mixture alternately with remaining milk on low speed in 3 batches, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed; beat until just blended.
• Beat egg whites in another bowl on medium speed just until foamy. Add cream of tartar. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until stiff peaks form. Add 1/4 of the egg whites to the cake batter and gently fold in. Continue to gently fold in egg whites, being careful not to deflate the mixture. Divide batter between the prepared pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake layer comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Flip right side-up and let cool on a wire rack, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• Cut cooled layers in half and layer with curd.
• Beat butter and lemon zest for frosting in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar and beat. Add lemon juice and beat for 1 minute. Frost the assembled cake as desired.

YELLOW CAKE WITH LEMON FILLING

Steps:

• Arrange two racks in the center of oven, and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottoms of two 8-by-2-inch buttered cake pans with buttered parchment paper. Dust the bottoms and sides of pans with flour, and tap out any excess. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
• In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream butter at medium speed until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually add sugar, and continue until lightened, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides once or twice. Gradually add eggs, beating after each addition until batter is no longer slick, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides, about 5 minutes.
• Slowly add the flour mixture on low speed, alternating with buttermilk, a little of each at a time, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat in vanilla.
• Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake for 25 minutes; rotate the pans in the oven if needed for even browning. Continue baking until a cake tester inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean, 10 to 20 minutes more. Transfer to wire racks to cool, 15 minutes. Remove cakes from pans; set cakes, top side down, on wire racks, and allow to cool completely, about 1 hour.
• To assemble, remove parchment paper from each cake. Reserve the one with flattest bottom surface to use as the top layer of the assembled cake. Place the other cake, top side down, on the serving platter as the first layer. Spread a 1/2-inch-thick layer of lemon filling to within 1/2 inch of the edge. Place remaining cake, top side down, on top, and press down slightly. If the kitchen is warm and filling seems runny, transfer the cake to the refrigerator to firm up the filling. Frost cake with chocolate frosting, and then chill until frosting sets, about 10 minutes; serve.

LEMON CURD FILLING

Steps:

• In a non-reactive saucepan, whisk yolk and sugar until well combined.
• Add remaining ingredients except lemon zest.
• Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly (Do not whisk), until thickened and you see the first bubble.
• DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL.
• Pour through strainer, stir in zest.
• chill in refrigerator with plastic wrap pressed on top of curd to prevent skin forming.