This lemon & apple curd cake is a basic sponge sandwich but with the addition of fruit curd. It’s filled with white chocolate and lemon & apple curd buttercream and topped with lemon icing. It’s a lovely fresh and lightly fruity cake which is perfect for Easter, but just as good at any other time of year.
Finally, I’ve found a club which has a passion for cakes to rival my own. It’s the Clandestine Cake Club (CCC) and I shall soon be attending my very first meeting. As I’m slightly nervous about a group of potentially expert bakers trying one of my cakes, I wanted to have a practice run first. Fruit is the theme for the CCC meeting but as it’s Easter now, I made this lemon & apple curd cake.
I was inspired by the cake on the cover of Issue 1 of the Co-op Food magazine which used lemon curd to sandwich the cakes together. With my new found passion for fruit curds, I wanted to make up my very own Easter curd cake. For this one I was going to use my apple and lemon curd and a goose egg. But, oh what a calamity!
Lemon & Apple Curd Cake
When I tried to turn the cakes out of their moulds, disaster struck. It’s not happened to me since I started using silicone moulds, but one of the cakes, not only stuck to the mould when I tried to turn it out, but it fell apart too. As is often the case, I was a little too impatient and didn’t leave my cakes in the moulds to cool for a bit before turning out. I’d have averted disaster if I’d done this.
I was devastated. I had so looked forward to something that was meant to look like this:
Instead, mine looked like this (or at least what was left of it after I’d tucked in).
I can’t tell you how good the bits of broken cake were though. They tasted absolutely scrummy, especially when eaten warm. When the cake fell apart on me, I tried one piece and then another and then another. It was soooooo good.
The sponge was deliciously moist with the right kind of dense consistency, although CT said it was obviously not dense enough. It was hard to pick out a specific flavour, lemon was present, but not overly so. In any case it was delicious.
Optional Easter Cake
Whilst the cakes were in the oven, I was making the filling. The filling became the topping though, as I ended up with only one sponge. I was going to make a lemon icing to go over the top of the cake, but that obviously didn’t happen. However, if you make this lemon & apple curd cake, I urge you to do so.
As it was an Easter cake, I decorated it with white chocolate chicks and a few flowers from the garden. The chicks are optional, but if you don’t want to make them or any other white chocolate decorations, just use 50g of white chocolate instead of 75g.
Lemon & Apple Curd Cake: Top Tips
- If you’re not lucky enough to be able to use a goose egg, don’t panic. You can use duck eggs or hens eggs instead. 1 goose egg = 2 duck eggs = 3 medium hens eggs. See my post on eggs to find out more.
- Feel free to substitute your favourite fruit curd for the lemon and apple curd. Lemon curd would work for sure, but so would many others I reckon.
- Make sure you allow the cakes to cool in their moulds or tins for at least ten minutes before turning out.
Update 13 May 2012
Despite, the errr, mishap, this was a truly delicious cake, so it didn’t deter me from making it again.
My second attempt was with passionfruit curd and no baking disaster occurred. Phew! Here’s my passionfruit curd sponge cake, which was good enough to get into the first Clandestine Cake Club Cookbook. Hooray!
I also now have a simpler, but still delicious, recipe for a lemon curd cake.
What To Do If Your Cake Falls Apart
If your cake completely crumbles when you turn it out of its tin, there may be no other option than to start again. However, if it’s only partially broken, you should be able to stick it back together again by covering it with buttercream or similar. The chances are that nobody will notice if you don’t say anything.
But don’t throw that broken cake away. If you don’t want to just scoff it straight down, there are a number of options.
- Place bits in bowls and top with berries and cream to make a quick and delicious dessert.
- Make cake truffles.
- Sprinkle the crumbs over ice cream or toast the crumbs first and then sprinkle over ice cream.
- Wow everyone with a trifle.
Other Fruity Cakes You Might Like
- Black forest gâteau (gluten-free)
- Blueberry, rose & white chocolate cake
- Chocolate cake with mint strawberry cream (gluten-free)
- Eton mess chocolate cake
- Raspberry cream sponge cake with lemon verbena
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this lemon & apple curd cake, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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If you’d like more layer cake recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Lemon & Apple Curd Cake – The Recipe
Lemon & Apple Curd Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 225 g unsalted butter
- 225 g golden caster sugar (I used cardamom sugar)
- 1 lemon organic or unwaxed
- 2 heaped tbsp apple & lemon curd
- 3 eggs (I used one goose egg)
- 125 g wholemeal flour
- 100 g plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 1 heaped tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp sour milk (can use kefir, buttermilk or watered down yoghurt)
Filling
- 75 g white chocolate
- 75 g unsalted butter
- 125 g golden icing sugar
- 2 tbsp apple & lemon curd
Icing
- 75 g golden icing sugar
- lemon juice
Instructions
Cakes
- Cream the butter with the sugar until pale and fluffy.
- Grate in the zest of a lemon. Beat in the apple and lemon curd, followed by the eggs.
- Sift in the flours and baking powder, then carefully stir until just mixed. then stir in the milk and 1 tbsp lemon juice.
- Spoon the mixture into two 22 cm round silicone cake moulds or lined tins and bake at 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4) for 25 minutes. Leave to cool for ten minutes then carefully turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
Filling
- Whilst the cakes are in the oven, get on with making the filling.Melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water. Spoon about a third into little chick moulds (or other decorative moulds) and place in the fridge to set.
- Cream the butter with the icing sugar until very pale. Beat in the remaining chocolate followed by the apple and lemon curd and a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice.
- Spread this over one of the cakes and place the other on top.
Icing
- Mix the icing sugar with enough lemon juice to make a slightly runny icing. Pour this over the top of the cake, then decorate with the white chocolate chicks and edible flowers – or as you wish.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Sharing
Laura of How to Cook Good Food has chosen lemons this month for the One Ingredient challenge. As I used lemons to make the fruit curd which I then added to the sponge cake, I’m sharing it there.
Galina Varese says
Your version looks much prettier than the Co=Op one. I am not the biggest fan of silicone moulds. If I use the loaf mould, it tends to sag in the middle, and looks more like a barrel than a loaf. I think the silicone works better in smaller size moulds, like cupcakes.
Choclette says
What a lovely thing to say Galina, thank you. you are right about the loaf mould’s they always sag. If I have now learnt to put it inside a regular tin. But my other cake moulds are brilliant. I’ve used them for many years and have no complaints.
Working london mummy says
What a pain but you still had a delicious result! Thanks for entering it to one ingredient. X
Choclette says
Thanks Nazima 🙂
Baking Addict says
I remember the weekend we both baked cake failures! It’s the taste that counts! Your curd sounds delicious and I love the decoration on the cake. Enjoy your second CCC – cant wait to hear all about it!
Choclette says
Oh dear Ros, you mean it’s happened before? 😉
Jacqueline says
Oh darn, what a nuisance! It still looks great. I have no idea what I am making for the next Cake Club. It took me four bakes to decide last time. I think I will have to up my game. I do love how you decorated your cake 🙂
Choclette says
Thanks Jac. Yes, I’m not sure yet what to bake for tomorrow’s CCC – I only had my first one two weeks ago. Luckily the 2nd attempt at this for CCC worked out really well – phew!
Choclette says
Oh Laura, that’s even worse than mine. That was good of you to make a second lot though. Yes, I went last month for the first time and go again this bank holiday Monday – really looking forward to it. Will be doing a post about it soon.
Lauralovescakes says
Ahhhh the cake disaster…the exact same thing happened to me before my first CCC…the cake stuck to my spherical cake tin and I had to make it twice…the first one still tasted delicious though! I like the sound of a lemon and apple curd cake…have you been to the CCC yet? 🙂
Choclette says
Thank you for your very kind words Kit. I should have made something out of the cake, but I didn’t – I just ate it!
thelittleloaf says
Here’s to cake that tastes delicious, even if it doesn’t turn out perfectly! I often read blogs where people get distressed about their cakes or admit to throwing them away and starting again – it’s so nice to read an honest account of a cake disaster – throwing it together with some icing and making the most of a bad situation is what any good, normal home cook should do! Sounds like a lovely recipe btw 🙂
Choclette says
Well yes, you’re quite right. The cake could have tasted horrible, but it didn’t thank goodness. I made it again using a different fruit curd for CCC and it was absolutely fine. I really hate waste and something has to be really really bad before I’d ever think of throwing it away.
Kit @ i-lostinausten says
So sorry but the 2nd layer cake looks lovely & well presented! All bakers make this kind of disaster once in a while so do I, I must admit. But at least you can make something else out of it as suggested Dom! Believe me some of my disaster can’t even be eaten, lumpy & not cook! But I try to be positive & take it as lesson. Wish you a nice day, Choclette! 🙂
Dom at Belleau Kitchen says
Oh dear! But the single layer looks pretty and ad long as the cake tastes good… you could have made cake pops or tea cup cakes! Or just stuffed your face like I would have!!
Choclette says
Thanks Dom. I could of course have made cake truffles or something else equally delicious, but I’m obviously someone after your own heart because I pretty much did scoff the lot 😉
Gloria says
sorry happens dear, I have had some disasters too!
but after all look really delicious!!
love the garnish too!
Choclette says
Thank you Gloria, that’s very kind of you. I think all cooks have disasters from time to time, it’s just rather annoying when they occur.
Janice says
Oh what a pity. I hope you are not going to give up on it – worth another try?
Choclette says
Janice, I didn’t give up and the one I took to CCC worked absolutely fine – phew!
simply.food says
Most signature dishes are disasters recovered. It looks great and I am sure tasted awesome.
Choclette says
Hehe, great way of looking at it, thank you 🙂
Green Dragonette says
Good on you for sharing this ‘disaster’ though I wish my cooking disasters turned out so well as yours as that cake looked delicious!
Choclette says
Well the one half of it was fine, but it did seem rather a waste of the other half, which I just scoffed!
Caroline says
It sounds like a delicious flavour combination and the cake looks delicious – dense enough to be moist and flavoursome but not heavy. Like Laura I’m not a fan of silicon bakeware, but perhaps haven’t given it enough chance yet. I think I had a bad experience with some badly designed moulds and gave up. I do still have some though. I hate it when things go wrong. Well, if I know that I’ve made a mistake that’s caused a disaster that’s sort of acceptable because I know what to change/put right next time (ahem, baking powder…) but when it’s unexpected or inexplicable disasters are very irritating. I do believe in sharing them though, and at least in your case you still had one layer intact and it was a delicious cake anyway!
countrywoodsmoke says
That looks so beautiful, the perfect cake in my opinion should be just on the verge of crumbling anyway, so this is perfect 🙂
Cheers
Marcus
Choclette says
Thanks for visiting and commenting and saying such nice things. Agree with you about crumbly, but then there is, err bits!
laura@howtocookgoodfood says
I have to tell you I have never been a fan of silicone moulds and I am sorry to hear about your mishap with them too, especially with such a fantastic sounding cake. I love the way you though around the problem and came up with a very good solution!
The icing sounds so good, including curd & white chocolate, must have been really citrus with the added lemon juice too.
A perfect entry for #oneingredient. Thanks for taking part! xx
Choclette says
You are not alone Laura, it seems the baking camp is divided between silicone fans and non silicone fans – I am in the former. Luckily, they haven’t let me down too often. Lemon is such a good ingredient, great one to pick and the icing was very good.
Choclette says
Indeed Alida, thank you for your wise & kind words 🙂
Alida says
Never mind about the cake. Unfortunately this is part of baking life. We all make cakes which do not turn out as hoped every so often but we learn from this each time.
I absolutely love the other cake you made though. It is really well decorated and surely very yummy X
Choclette says
Helen you seem very human to me! I always run a butter paper over the bottom of my moulds just to make sure and I’ve never had a problem before – don’t understand it at all. I haven’t tried any shaped moulds yet but I really ought to get some.
Fuss Free Helen says
I am heartened by other peoples disasters as it makes me feel more human, so many thanks for sharing. I line the bottom of my silicone moulds too, although I find that small cakes are less prone to stickage. For something shaped I am too scarerd to bake without cake release spray incase it completel breaks up.
Choclette says
Thank you Jennifer, that’s very kind.
Jennifer says
This is so pretty – much more so than the Co-op cake. Lovely.