When Life Give You Lemons...

...make a lemon cake with cream cheese frosting!

This is a favourite for my family and regularly makes an appearance at our summer barbecues. My mom especially loves it because she says it gets her behind the ears. The moistness of the cake and the creaminess of the frosting blends together perfectly. It's just yummy! I make mine in my electric mixer but it can easily be done without one.

Ingredients:

110g/ 4oz Unsalted butter

380g/ 13oz Caster sugar

320g/ 11oz Plain flour

4 tsp Baking powder

320ml/ 11 fl oz Buttermilk (any milk is fine)

Zest of 2 lemons

3 Large eggs

Raspberry Jam

900g/ 2lb Icing sugar

Zest of 1.5 lemons

150g/ 5.5oz Unsalted butter

375g/ 13oz Cream cheese

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees (Gas Mark 5) and line three 20cm/8 inch cake tins. If you only have to cake tins, don't worry. Keep reading and I'll reveal all.

2. In an electric mixer, or in a bowl if you don't have one, whisk the butter, sugar, flour and baking powder until it resembles sand. When using a hand whisk, use a slight mashing motion to create the same effect. It will take a little time but stick with it.

3. Using a large jug or a separate bowl whisk together the milk, lemon zest and eggs. Pour half the liquid into the crumby mixture and mix together until the batter is smooth. Add the remaining liquid and continue mixing.

4. If you have three cake tins, divide the batter evenly between them. For those of you that only have two tins, substitute the third tin for a bowl (apologies for all the separate bowls and extra washing up, I'll make it up to you I promise). Bake the sponge for 30 minutes, or until they are golden brown. When you remove them from the oven and place the cakes on a wire rack to cool. If you've got the final sponge mixture waiting in a bowl, quickly place a new piece of parchment paper in the bottom and pour in the mixture.

5. To make the icing, cream together the icing sugar, lemon zest and butter until well combined with no lumps. Add the cream cheese and best until smooth. 

6. When the sponge feels cool, start assembling the layers. Place the first sponge on a plate or cake card and spread over a layer of icing followed by a layer of jam. Repeat with the second sponge and place the third on top. Spread the remainder of the icing on the outside of the cake, keeping it as even as possible. As a bit of decoration, you could place a few raspberries on the top. The latest lemon cake I made, I used some soft golden balls around the edges to add a bit of glam.

Whatever reason you make it for, trust me it'll be big hit! Enjoy!