Lime Curd and Loganberry Topped Sponge

Making celebration cakes for my family is a challenge. Unfortunately food allergies and intolerances plague my nearest and dearest; I have to avoid cooking with wheat, almonds and strawberries, dairy foods, oats, yeast, apples and pears. An age old sponge cake recipe stars as the base of this cake. It has quite a history.

In my very early housekeeping days a woman’s kitchen prowess was judged on the height of her sponge cake! Impossible to cut, impossible to serve and dry to eat unless slathered in cream and fruit, mile high sponge cakes spurned many ridiculous recipes. Passed onto me by a neighbour in the seventies,  this recipe will make a ridiculously high cake if you bake the mixture in 2 x 20cm tins, sandwich them with 300mls whipped cream and fresh strawberries then add a further 300mls of cream and more fruit to the top. This was once Leah’s birthday cake of choice.

I still bake this sponge recipe, but now I choose to bake it in a single 28cm tin.  It’s a great base for dairy free Lime Curd topped with  Loganberry Jelly, a glamorous celebration cake.

FOOLPROOF SPONGE

4 eggs at room temperature

¾ cup castor sugar

2 tablespoons gluten free custard powder

7/8 cup maize flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

½ teaspoon bicarbonate soda

Grease, flour ( I use cornflour, but be sure to tap the tip to remove clinging clumps) and line with baking paper a 28cm deep springform cake tin. Preheat oven to 180C
Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then beat in the yolks. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy. Sift the remaining ingredients and fold into the egg mixture a third at a time. Bake in the middle of the oven 15 – 20 minutes, until they spring back when touched in the centre. Remove the sides of the springform pan and allow to cool.
The cakes will rise enormously but settle back a little when removed from the oven.

DAIRY FREE LIME CURD

2 tablespoons of lime zest

½ cup lime juice

2 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

200g castor sugar

2 teaspoons maize flour

2 heaped tablespoons thick coconut cream

Mix all the ingredients, except the coconut cream together in a heat proof bowl. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water  (the water should not touch the bottom of the bowl) and continuously stir the curd ingredients until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and stir in the coconut cream. Cover closely with plastic film, chill until ready to use.

BERRY JELLY

1 kg frozen blackberries or loganberries

1 cup castor sugar

3 leaves of titanium gelatine

Tip the berries into a sieve over a large bowl and allow to thaw thoroughly. In the fridge overnight works well. Soak the gelatine sheets in a bowl of cold water. Measure 1 cup of the berry juice, discard the remainder.  Warm the juice in a small pan, add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Bring to the boil, remove from the heat. Add the gelatine sheets to the hot syrup one at a time.  Stir to dissolve. Pour into a wide shallow dish to set.

TO CONSTRUCT THE CAKE

Construct the cake as close to serving time as possible.  Put the cake onto the serving dish. Using a fork gently break up the jelly being careful not to pulp the berries. Spread the curd over the top surface of the cake. Spoon the berry jelly over the curd . Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve.

About ladyredspecs

I live in sunny Brisbane, Australia. My love of good food drives me as a cook, a reader, a traveller, an artist and but mostly as an eater. I cooked professionally for many years but have no formal training. Simply guided by a love of eating good food, respect for ingredients and an abhorrence of artificial additives, I cook instinctively applying the technical know how acquired by experience. I hope you enjoy what I share Sandra AKA ladyredspecs

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