Celebration lemon cake

This lemon cake is so easy to make and for a special spring or summer celebration, it will make a wonderful table centerpiece. Perfect for high tea and shown off to best effect on a ceramic stand for all to admire.

Ingredients

Serves 10–12

For the cake:

14 oz butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

2 cups caster sugar

6 large free-range eggs

7 oz white spelt flour

8.8 oz ground almonds

Zest of 2 lemons

3 tsp baking powder

3 tbsp lemon curd

4 macaroons and spring flowers, to decorate

For the butter icing:

7 oz butter, softened

14 oz icing sugar, sifted

1 tbsp vanilla essence

Few drops lemon food coloring

The Homes & Gardens method

1. Preheat the oven to 355°F, gas mark 4. Grease the base and sides of four 8 in round cake tins (two sets of this set of two deep tins from Amazon will give you lots of flexibility for future bakes) and line the bottoms with baking parchment. If you don't have enough for this, make the cake in two batches. (To do this, make up the mixture, divide it into two, and add the baking powder just before you bake each batch.)
2. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy using an electric hand whisk or wooden spoon.
3. Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time. Gently fold in the flour, followed by the ground almonds, lemon zest and baking powder.
4. Divide the mixture between the tins and tap the sides to release any air bubbles. Bake for 25–40 minutes, until golden and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack, and leave to cool.
5. For the icing, beat the butter into a large bowl, then add the icing sugar, a little at a time. Add the vanilla essence and a few drops of milk if the mixture is too stiff. Beat in the food coloring.
6. Spread one sponge with a third of the lemon curd and top with another sponge. Repeat until you have a stack of four sponges. Spread the icing over the cake. Decorate with the macaroons and edible flowers and keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

Love citrus flavors? This lemon cheesecake tart is another easy bake we're big fans of.