Strawberry and Lemon Curd Cake

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Sift the flour onto the granulated sugar and salt, then stir in the almonds. Whisk the eggs lightly with a third of the yogurt and the vanilla and almond extracts. Using a food processor, or hand-held electric beater, cream the butter until pale and fluffy. Gently beat in the remaining yogurt and, with the machine on a very low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the eggs. Beat on a medium speed for 12 minutes.

Butter and line a 9 in springform cake pan (it should be 3 in deep) and spoon in the batter. Bake for 50 minutes; a skewer pushed into the centre should come out clean. Leave to cool slightly, then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely. The sponge is very delicate, so carefully, with a broad, sharp knife, cut it horizontally into three layers.

 

Wash and hull the strawberries and cut into halves and quarters (reserve good-looking small berries for decoration). Sprinkle the cut strawberries with the superfine sugar, zest, and juice; stir and leave to macerate for 15 minutes. Beat the mascarpone to loosen it a bit. In a separate bowl, whip the cream until it holds its shape well. Combine the cream, mascarpone, lemon curd, and confectioners’ sugar to taste.

Spread the bottom layer of cake with half the cream, then half the strawberries. Repeat with the next layer. Put the top layer on. Arrange a small pile of perfect strawberries in the middle and sift over a light dusting of confectioners’ sugar. Keep in the refrigerator until 20 to 30 minutes before serving. It’s best eaten on the day it’s made.

 

Recipe from Plenty by Diana Henry/Mitchell Beazley, 2010.