raspberry and lemon custard cake with torched meringue - xmas week 2020

raspberry and lemon custard cake with torched meringue - xmas week 2020

• 16 Dec 2020

Welcome to Day 3 of Xmas Week 2020. I saw a photo of a raspberry salted lemon pudding cake with torched italian meringue on instagram and it looked so spectacular I searched and searched until I found the recipe. It required a dozen eggs so I took the concept and reworked it to create this recipe for you.

It was one of those recipes which was a challenge from beginning to end. I had barely enough batter to fill the tin; then the meringue topping collapsed in the heat. Despite all this it tasted delicious so I tweaked the recipe and made a second version and this one worked out perfectly. Just look at all that fluffy Italian meringue!

Here’s the recipe for you which makes a large loaf cake. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Raspberry & Lemon Custard Cake with Torched Meringue, inspired by this recipe 

Lemon Custard
2 tbs custard powder
¼ cup (55g) caster sugar
300 mls milk
20 grams unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
Pinch salt

Cake
150g unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup caster sugar
2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
3 eggs
1 cup self-raising flour

¼ cup plain flour
Pinch salt

150g raspberries, fresh or frozen

Italian Meringue
100g caster sugar

100 mls cold water
pinch cream of tartar
2 egg whites

Fresh berries, to serve
 
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper.

To make the custard, combine custard powder and sugar in a small saucepan; gradually stir in the milk. Stir over heat until the mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat; stir in the butter, vanilla, the lemon rind and the pinch of salt. Press plastic wrap over surface; cool.

To make the cake batter, place the butter, sugar and lemon rind in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until pale and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well, until combined. Sift the flours and salt together into a small bowl then add the flour to the butter mix and mix until just combined. Gently fold through the raspberries. If using frozen berries I stud the cake batter randomly with the still frozen berries.

Whisk the cooled custard until smooth. Spread the cake mixture into the prepared pan and then top with the custard. Level the top then bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, to make the Italian meringue, place the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Bring to the boil and cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the syrup reaches 115°C on a sugar thermometer.

Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in the clean bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whisk on high speed until soft peaks form. When the syrup reaches 121°C remove from the heat and with the mixer still whisking, gradually pour the hot syrup into the meringue. Whisk until the meringue is cool, about 10-15 minutes or until the meringue is cool and glossy. Spoon over the cake and torch the meringue until golden, using a blowtorch.

If you don’t have a blowtorch, set your oven to grill. Place the cake topped with the meringue on a baking tray and place under the grill for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until the meringue is golden.

Ideally serve straight away but the cake will hold overnight in an airtight container in the fridge.

See you all tomorrow with more baking for Xmas Week 2020.

Bye for now,

Jillian