Easy Lemon Sponge Cake with Labour of Love’s Limoncello Lemon Curd

My last recipe post for bao buns got a lot of love, so I thought I would share another recipe today for a deliciously easy lemon sponge cake that I made recently! This yummy cake is actually my entry for the Great Willen Cake Off (more on that later!) but as with most people, I think this lockdown is inspiring me to get creative in my own kitchen. I enjoy cooking, but I find baking a little stressful if I’m honest – this recipe, however, is very straightforward and features my favourite flavour – lemons!

The Great Willen Cake Off

If you want to jump straight to the recipe, click here, but first, I wanted to share the details of The Great Willen Cake Off.

Willen Hospice is a very important charity, providing end of life care to people in Milton Keynes. The lockdown and ongoing pandemic is impacting the charity sector hugely, with many fundraising events being cancelled. However, Willen Hospice are still delivering their essential services to families in Milton Keynes.

The Great Willen Cake Off is to help raise money for the Hospice and it’s a really fun way to support them from home! It’s just £2 to enter (and you can set up a JustGiving page to encourage more donations!) and you can do it totally from home.

You have until Monday 20th April, so there’s still time to be involved. It’s being judged by local baking blogger, Alix, from My Kitchen Drawer, who is also sharing her baking tips and tricks over on Instagram.

The recipes from the Bake Off will be compiled into an ebook which will be available to download for a £5 donation – what a lovely idea!

Click here to find out more details and register.

Easy Lemon Sponge Cake Recipe

This is a very simple sponge recipe that uses equal parts flour, sugar and butter – the easiest way to make a cake! I’ve used a gorgeously sharp lemon curd by Labour of Love Preserves in the filling for this cake. Homemade in Aspley Guise by the lovely Jane, this delicious curd is made with eggs from her chickens, so it can’t get more locally produced than this! Drop Jane a message on Instagram if you want to order a jar.

I know flour and eggs are very difficult to get hold of right now, but it is possible – check out my lockdown shopping guide which lists various places that you can find these ingredients. Try Nonna’s in Woburn Sands, or The Greyhound pub in Haversham. If you can’t get hold of self-raising flour, you can add baking powder to plain flour.

Make the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 170C. Grease two 8 inch cake tins with a little butter and line with baking parchment.
2. Put the butter, sugar, eggs, lemon zest and flour into a large bowl and mix until combined. I used a food processor to mix mine to save time!
3. Divid the cake batter between the tins and spread evenly.
4. Place the cakes on the same shelf in the middle of the oven and bake for 25 minutes until they are well risen and bounce back when you touch them. Turn out onto wire racks and leave to cool completely.

Make the icing

1. Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl and add the butter and the lemon juice. Mix until smooth and creamy. Again, you can use a food processor or hand whisk to do this.
2. Once the cakes are cooled, spread the icing onto the cake and top with lemon curd. Sandwich the other sponge on top and decorate as you wish! I topped mine with a little more icing, lemon curd and some fresh raspberries.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe and I would love to see your recreations of it at home. And do let me know if you decide to take part in the Great Willen Cake Off!

What is your favourite thing to bake at home? Let me know if you give this easy lemon sponge cake a go!

Other posts you might also like:

• How to make Bao with Sriracha Fried Chicken
• Lockdown Life: Things you can do at Home in Milton Keynes
• Independent Takeaway & Delivery Options in Milton Keynes

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