Sweet Farewells & Fresh Starts- Lemon Rosemary Cake with Lemon Curd & Berries
It can be hard to say goodbye, but when you know there is a brand new start coming, this cake is the perfect sweet farewell. It combines fresh rosemary from the garden to remember the good times, tart lemon curd and lemon juice to honor fresh beginnings, and delicious berries to call sweet moments into our lives. By focusing on our intentions as we add each ingredient to the mix, you can be sure that the love will be tasted by everyone.
Rosemary lemon cake, adapted from this recipe: https://parsleyandicing.com/lemon-rosemary-olive-oil-cake/?swcfpc=1
187g/ 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
225g/ 1 cup sugar
96g/ ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons milk
zest of 2 lemons
juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped finely
Lemon Curd:
4 lemons
2 large eggs
2 egg yolks
225g/ 1 cup sugar
90g/ 6 tbsp butter at room temperature
Buttercream Frosting:
250g butter/ 2 sticks of butter
500g/ 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp vanilla
¼ salt
1 tbsp cream
For decoaring:
Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries. Really whatever berry you wish to use although I like the flavor combo with the strawberry and raspberry.
Daisies or other flowers. If you want them to be edible you can use violets or other edible flowers. Otherwise you need to remove them before eating. I can’t believe I have to write that, but here we are….
Instructions
Preheat oven to 176C (350F). Butter & cover in parchment a 22CM (9″) springform pan.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer using a whisk attachment, beat the sugar, eggs, and lemon zest until thick, fluffy, and pale (it should stream a thick ribbon) about 3-4 minutes. Add the chopped rosemary. Slowly add the olive oil with the mixer still running on high. Beat until combined, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add the milk and lemon juice alternatively with the dry ingredients & scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Pour the batter into the cake pan. Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake (a few crumbs are okay). When finished, leave to cool at least 10 minutes before removing springform, and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Make the lemon curd:
While the cake is baking, make the lemon curd.
Wash & zest 3 of the lemons and set zest aside for later.
Squeeze the lemon juice over a fine mesh sieve to remove seeds. All 4 lemons should yield around approximately 125ml/ 1/2 cup.
Create a double boiler by adding water to a larger pan and placing a smaller metal or glass bowl, or smaller pan overtop. Don’t allow the top bowl to touch the water. Remove the top bowl and turn on the stove to heat the water to a simmer.
In the top bowl, whip the eggs, lemon juice, and sugar until well mixed.
Cut the butter into 12 pieces and add to the mixture, but don’t mix them in.
Place the top bowl over the pan with water and stir gently with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon making sure to scrape the bottom and sides. Don’t stir too vigorously or it won’t thicken properly.
Occasionally lift the spatula and run your finger down the mixture as it thickens. When the trail doesn’t fill and stay clean the curd is done. It’s around 74c/ 165f temperature-wise.
Sieve the curd through a fine mesh sieve to filter out any lumps, then add the citrus zest and gently stir to combine.
Place the curd in the fridge to cool up to 3 hours or overnight.
Make the buttercream:
Using a paddle attachment, whip the butter until it is soft and fluffy.
Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time or less if your bowl is smaller. Otherwise it gets everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. We’re talking Elsa made a mess in your kitchen.
Add the vanilla and salt and mix.
Switch to the whisk attachment and whip the buttercream on med-high until it is white in color, maybe around 8-10 minutes.
Add the cream and whip until combined.
Assemble the cake
Using a large serated knife cut the cake into 2 layers.
Note: If the cake is a bit dry, you can brush it with lemon simple syrup. Make the syrup but combining equal parts sugar, water and lemon juice over medium heat until the sugar is melted.
Put your buttercream into a piping bag with a circular tip. If you don’t have a piping tip, you can use a plastic food bag and just cut the tip off but you won’t get as pretty a shape.
Pipe dots or a circle around the edge of the bottom layer of the cake. What you are doing is making a sort of dam to prevent the lemon curd from running outside the cake and to create a structure for the top layer to sit on.
Using a spoon, spread 2/3rds of the lemon curd in the middle of the cake and spread evenly around.
Gently pick up the top layer of the cake and turn it upside-down so that the middle is now on top and place evenly on the bottom layer of the cake. If you used the simple syrup, do this again.
Using the piping bag, create a dam around the top layer and gently spread the remaining lemon curd gently onto the top. If you want more buttercream, you can pipe more designs on top of the lemon curd. Just be aware that if the curd is not set, it will spread a little so be careful.
Slice the strawberries in half and place them gently on top of the cake and decorate with flowers.
The beauty of this cake is how amazing it looks and is deceptively simple to create. When you bake with love and intentions it really makes a difference everyone will taste and enjoy.
