Meyer Lemon Mousse Layer Cake

You know those picture dictionaries for kids? This cake belongs there. Someone needs to draw a little sketch of a big, hefty slice and place it above the words bright, citrusy and delicious. And if ethereal features on there, that's the perfect spot. 

Though heavily inspired by a recipe from Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz, I switched up some of the components, particularly the sponge cake base, to work with a recipe that I always use and love. 

Ingredients:
Lemon Soaking Syrup:
3/4C water
65g sugar
1/4C Meyer lemon juice

Lemon Mousse:
1/2C Meyer lemon juice
grated zest of 2 Meyer lemons
75g sugar
85g butter
2 large eggs

1C cold whipping cream

Sponge Cake Layers
4 large eggs
350g sugar
grated zest of 2 Meyer lemons
1/2 tsp salt
275g all purpose flour, sifted
2 1/4tsp baking powder
1C water
1C vegetable oil

Begin with the lemon soaking syrup:
Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan and heat over medium flame till the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, pour into a small storage container and let it cool. When it is at room temperature, add the lemon juice, swirl the container to blend everything and chill in the refrigerator till needed.

Move on to the lemon mousse:
Use the same saucepan you made the soaking syrup in, no need to rinse. Pour in the lemon juice and add the chunks of butter.
Place the eggs in a small bowl and whisk till smooth, set aside.
In a food processor, combine the sugar and lemon zest. Pulse till the zest is finely chopped and the sugar becomes a pale sunshine yellow. Add this sugar to the lemon juice and butter in the pot.
Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Stream half the buttery sweet lemon juice over the eggs in the bowl. Whisk vigorously to combine, then pour the egg mixture back into the pan.
Cook over low heat, stirring with a rubber spatula till the mixture thickens. When you draw your spatula across the bottom of the pot, it should leave a clear swipe that fills up again in a few seconds.
Remove from heat and strain through a fine mesh sieve into a small, clean bowl. Transfer to the refrigerator to cool.

Bake the cake layers:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 12X17 inch baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
In a food processor, combine the sugar and lemon zest. Pulse till the zest is finely chopped and the sugar becomes a pale sunshine yellow. Set aside.
Break the eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Add the salt. Whip on medium speed till all the yolks are broken up.
Turn the speed up to high and start adding the lemon-sugar in a steady stream. Whip till the eggs are thick, foamy and fall in luscious ribbons when you dip your spatula in.
Meanwhile, sift together the flour and baking powder. When the eggs are at the right stage, add half the flour and mix on low speed for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl down as needed.
Turn the mixer up to medium and pour in the water and oil while the mixer is running. Stop, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and whip on low for 30 seconds.
Add the remaining flour and combine on low speed till no flour pockets or lumps remain. This should take about 40 seconds. Remove the whisk and gently fold the batter a few times with a rubber spatula.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin, level it smooth with the spatula and bake for around 15 minutes or till it springs back when pressed gently.
Remove from the oven and let it cool in the baking tray for a few hours.

Finish the lemon mousse and assemble the cake:
Pour the whipping cream into a clean bowl and use a hand held mixer to whip the cream into soft, billowy peaks. Gently fold the cold lemon curd into the cream till it is evenly combined.
Spread one third of the lemon mousse into an 8 inch square glass pan.
Trim the cooled sponge cake so you have two 8 inch squares. You will have a few large strips of cake leftover that make for a great dinner!
Place one piece of the cake over the lemon mousse in the glass pan. Spoon half the lemon soaking syrup over the cake, making sure it is evenly dampened.
Spread another third of the lemon mousse over the cake layer. Smooth it out carefully with a small offset spatula.
Place the second cake layer on top, moisten evenly with the rest of the soaking syrup.
Spoon the remaining lemon mousse over and spread it neatly with the offset spatula. Wipe the sides with a paper towel to clean up the pan and chill for 30 minutes till the top surface is just set.
Wrap securely with plastic wrap and chill for 24 hours before serving.

Chocolate-dipped Coconut Macaroons

When you need a treat that's quick to put together with minimal, unfussy ingredients, that pairs equally well with a glass of wine or a bottle of milk, these macaroons are the answer. This is the ultimate dump and stir dessert with glorious results. Chewy, sweet coconut nibbles made extra delicious with chocolate.

You can use either dark, milk or white chocolate to dip the macaroons in. You can pretty up the coconut batter with a few tiny drops of food coloring. You can shape it however you want. Really, you just can't go wrong with this one.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup egg whites
1/4 t salt

1 T honey

1/2t vanilla extract

250g / 1.25C sugar

175g / 2.5C shredded unsweetened coconut
35g / 0.25C all purpose flour

50g dark, milk or white chocolate, chopped

Measure out the egg whites, salt, honey and vanilla extract into a medium sized saucepan.
Place the pan on the weighing scale and measure out the sugar, coconut and flour directly into the pan.
Stir it all together with a rubber spatula. The mixture will be thick and barely come together.
Place the pan on a medium flame and cook, stirring occasionally, till the sugar melts, bubbles a bit around the sides and eventually dries out a little on the bottom of the pan. When you see a thin film of batter sticking to parts of the pan, it's ready.
Turn off the flame and scrape the coconut batter from the pan into a small bowl.
Preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking tray with Silpat or parchment paper.
Use a small ice cream scoop to portion and shape the coconut batter onto the baking tray. You can place them fairly close because they do not expand much at all during baking.
Bake for 10-12 minutes till the tops are deep golden. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
Melt the chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave. Dip the bottoms of the macaroons in the chocolate and place on a parchment lined plate to set.

Book: Ready for Dessert / David Lebovitz

Banana Loaf Cake

This recipe is for those times when you miscalculate the amount of sour cream you need, end up buying a ginormous 3 pound tub, use only an eighth of it and then scramble for ways to finish it all up. But this loaf is so good, so damp and toothsome without being at all gummy and leaden, that a splash pool sized tub of sour cream will always be on your shopping list.

It goes without saying that the bananas must be thickly mottled with mahogany specks and scars for the deepest, most intense banana flavor to shine through in the finished cake.

Ingredients
170g/ 1.5 sticks butter
209g/ 1C sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 t  ground cinnamon
1/4 t salt

240g/ 1C sour cream
216g peeled banana chunks (2 large bananas)

278g/ 2 1/4C flour
1 T baking powder
1 t baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9x5 inch rectangle loaf tin with a strip of parchment paper on the bottom and set aside.

Place the butter, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a stand mixer and beat on medium speed till butter is pale and fluffy. This will take about 10-15 minutes. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula often.

Add the eggs, one a time, beating for a full 2 minutes after each addition.

Meanwhile, place the sour cream and banana in a deep bowl and blend till smooth using a hand held immersion blender. You can also use a food processor.

Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda into a bowl and set aside.

When the eggs are fully incorporated into the butter mixture, add a third of the flour and mix on low till just combined.

Spoon in half the sour cream-banana mixture and mix on low for a minute. Add another third of the flour, mix on low, follow with the remaining sour cream mixture and paddle on low till just combined. Add the remaining flour and beat on low speed just till all the flour is combined and no large visible dry streaks remain. Remove the paddle attachment and use your spatula to fold the batter a couple times.

Scrape the batter into the prepared tin and bake till golden brown on top and the cake is set. This takes about 30-35 minutes.

Book: Secrets of Baking / Sherry Yard