Citrus Cake with Cream Filling
Cakes like this make me suspicious. The recipe sold itself as essentially a one step, one bowl cake plus icing. And it really is just that. Which is what makes me suspicious. Most of the time when you’re looking at a cake recipe the instructions are very specific about what goes in when and how long you’re supposed to stir things. There are techniques like creaming or reverse creaming, if you think you’re really fancy. People have opinions on temperatures and different sizes of eggs. It really becomes a thing and there have been times in the past when a little voice in the back of my head would ask, “Is this all really necessary?”
And then this one comes along to answer that voice with a simple but emphatic, apparently not.
The instructions here are basically put everything in a bowl, stir it together and put it in a couple of prepared pans. The only real trick is you want your butter as soft as possible. That’s it though. With instructions easy enough for a child you end up with a cake that’s fragrant, sturdy and doesn’t even know what dry means. It was a revelation. It does have what I’ve come to consider a European crumb meaning it is more dense and less sweet than your average American birthday cake. What that gives you though is the perfect base for fillings and toppings. The cake recipe is from Yasmin Khan and the instructions below reflect that. I diverted for the filling and the icing because I think every cake should be a version of a Victoria Sponge and I really like a simple lemon glaze so use it every chance I get (although to be fair I did add some cream cheese and it was a winner.) Next time I think I’m even going to add a layer of orange curd to up the Victoria Sponginess. I think it would also be interesting just straight up being a replacement for the sponge in that cake. Oh, dear. All of my worlds coming together. Is this the singularity?
I kept this one in the fridge because we are in the middle of a heatwave but it definitely has more flavor if you let it come up to room temp before serving. Nothing beats the orange fragrance. It is so transporting and belongs perfectly on a summer table with a side of sunshine and a big, floppy hat.
