Cream & Lemon Curd Layered Sponge with Berries & Meringue

These type of cream and sponge cakes might look familiar since I've done a few of them in the past. But you better get used to it. I am particularly fond of eating these types of cakes, and it turns out my in-laws are as well. I brought my Vanilla Bean Sponge and Salted Caramel Apple cake to afternoon tea and it went down so well that my father-in-law requested a very similar sort of cake for his birthday. Except he loves fresh berries, so I made sure to get my hands on some punnets of blueberries and raspberries even though they're not in season yet.

(Excuse the slightly fuzzy photos, I was rushing to take these as the sun was setting.) Originally this was just going to be a two layered sponge with cream in the middle, and maybe some lemon icing on top. Then somehow the idea sat in my brain for a bit and blossomed into this four-layer sponge cake, with alternate layers of cream and lemon curd filling and topped with a lemony glaze, fresh berries and crunchy little mini meringues.

The mini meringues were a last minute addition. I had egg whites leftover from the lemon curd and I prefer it when recipes don't leave you with random egg whites or yolks leftover so I decided to use them up with some piped mini meringues for extra texture and decoration. I'm so glad that I did, they were probably the best part of the cake, the crunchy bits worked well with the softer textures of the rest of the cake. You end up with a fair few leftover meringue cookies but no one is going to complain about that, trust me.

Sometimes nothing beats a plain old vanilla sponge with cream. The berries and lemon curd add some tang and colour, and the cream ensures it's light and fluffy. My one regret was that I had to assemble the layers of this cake the night before I served it to save time, and by the next day the cream layers were a little deflated so the cake wasn't quite as gloriously tall and pretty as it was in the photos. My advice would definitely be to try and serve your cake on the day you assemble it. It will also ensure your meringues stay crunchy and there's no juice that escapes from your berries. I swear looking at this cake almost makes it feel like Spring here!

Cream & Lemon Curd Layered Sponge with Berries & Meringue

(serves 8-10, sponge recipe from Gourmet Traveller)

Note: If you are new to sponge cakes make sure you click through to the Gourmet Traveller link above for extra tips. This sponge cake relies solely on the whipped eggs for leavening and it is important you follow all the steps carefully.

For the lemon curd:
100g (1/2 cup) sugar
1/4 cup (60ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
3 large egg yolks (save the egg whites for the mini meringues)
60g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cubed

Stir the sugar, lemon juice and zest in a small saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Beat the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl and gradually add the hot lemon mixture. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve. Return to the heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan of simmering water. Cook, stirring continuously, until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. Do not allow the mixture to boil. Remove from the heat and add the butter cubes, one at a time, stirring until fully combined. Cover surface of mixture with clingfilm and refrigerate to allow it to set, at least 30 mins.

For the meringues:

3 egg whites, at room temperature

A pinch of salt

165g (about 3/4 cup) caster/superfine sugar

Preheat oven to 120°C and measure all your ingredients. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Place egg whites and salt in a large, clean mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. With the mixer on low, add sugar 1 tbsp at a time then whisk until thick and glossy (at least 2-3 mins). Pinch a small amount of mixture between your thumb and forefinger. If mixture is smooth then the sugar has dissolved, if it is still grainy, beat for a minute or so more and check again. Beat until sugar has dissolved. Place mixture in a large piping bag with a star tip and pipe small rosettes on the prepared baking trays. Place in oven and reduce oven temp to 90°C. Leave the oven on for 60-75 mins or until the meringues are crisp, then turn off oven and allow the meringues to cool completely in the oven (2-3 hours). Store in an airtight container until ready to serve cake.

For the sponge cake:

60g (about 4.5 tbsp) butter, melted and cooled plus extra for greasing tins

180g (about 1.5 cups) plain/all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

6 eggs, at room temperature

165g (about 3/4 cup) caster/superfine sugar

1 vanilla bean, scraped seeds only

Preheat oven to 180°C (350° F) (you may need to adjust to 170°C (340° F) for fan-forced). Brush two 18cm (or 20cm but layers will be thinner) round cake tins with melted butter, line base and sides with baking paper, grease paper with a little extra butter and then dust lightly with flour. Triple-sift flour and set aside. Whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla seeds in an electric mixer until thick, pale and tripled in volume (about 7-8 minutes). Sift over flour in two batches, folding each batch in with a large metal spoon or spatula. Fold in melted butter. Carefully pour into prepared tin and bake until light golden and centre springs back when pressed lightly with your fingertip (about 25 minutes). Pull cake gently away from sides of tin with your fingers or carefully loosen with a knife. Turn onto a wire rack, remove baking paper, turn back over swiftly and cool completely. Best eaten on the day of baking, but you can store it in an airtight container overnight and assemble the rest of the cake the next day.

To assemble cake:

600ml thickened/heavy cream, cold

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup icing/powdered sugar, sifted

Glaze: 1 cup icing sugar, sifted, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1-2 tbsp milk

Fresh berries to serve

Place cream and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and start to beat on medium speed with an electric mixer. Gradually add icing sugar and then beat on high until soft peaks form. Take care not to overmix. Carefully cut your two sponge cakes in half using a long serrated knife. Place one layer of sponge on your serving plate/stand and spread half the cream on top. Sandwich with another layer of sponge and then spread the lemon curd on top (you may need to whisk it gently to ensure it is smooth). Top with another sponge, followed by the rest of the cream (you can always adjust the amount of cream you prefer, you don't need to use all of it). Top with the final layer of sponge. Mix glaze ingredients in a bowl, only add enough milk to ensure it is a thick paste. Pour enough glaze to just cover the top the of cake and then decorate with berries and mini meringues. If you are not serving straight away then don't place the meringues and berries on the cake until you are ready to serve. P.S. Video of me assembling it here.