Lemon and blackberry stripe cake
Ingredients
For the candied lemons
- 1 lemon, cut into 3mm slices
- 50g golden caster sugar
For the sponge
- 8 medium free-range eggs, separated
- 130g golden caster sugar
- Finely grated zest 2 lemons, plus 1 tbsp juice
- 70g plain flour
- Icing sugar to dust
For the buttercream
- 100g blackberries, plus extra to decorate
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 2 medium free-range egg whites
- 135g golden caster sugar
- 200g unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature, plus extra to grease
Specialist kit
- 42cm x 30cm shallow baking tray
- Stand mixer
Method
- Heat the oven to 100°C fan/gas ½. To make the candied lemons, put the sugar and 30ml water in a small frying pan. Bring to the boil and allow to simmer for a minute or two, until syrupy. Add the lemon slices in one layer across the base of the pan. Simmer for 10 minutes, turning halfway, until tender, then lift onto a lined baking tray. Bake for 2 hours, turning halfway, to stiffen a little. Set aside to cool.
Increase the oven temperature to 180°C fan/gas 6. Grease and line a shallow 42cm x 30cm baking tray with butter and baking paper. Put the egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whisk on a medium-high speed for about 3 minutes, until thick and pale. Sift in the flour and add a pinch of salt and the lemon zest. Gently fold together until just combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with clean beaters until they form stiff peaks. Mix a spoonful of the egg whites into the cake batter until combined, then gently fold in the rest. Scrape into the prepared baking tray and spread evenly to create a smooth, level top. Bake for 14-15 minutes, until golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
