Chocolate Cake With Lemon Curd Filling Recipes

LEMON CURD AND CHOCOLATE GANACHE TART

Steps:

• Grate the lemon zest first, using a fresh, clean lemon. Only grate only the yellow part, avoiding the white pith which can be bitter. Then squeeze the lemons through a strainer for their juice.
• Mix the egg yolks with the sugar in a small heavy bottomed pot. Whisk in the lemon juice.
• Cook on medium heat until the mixture begins to thicken, stirring constantly. Do not boil or the eggs may scramble.
• Turn off the heat and whisk in the butter pieces. When all the butter is incorporated, whisk in the lemon zest.
• Allow to cool in the refrigerator. Yield is approximately 2 cups.
• Heat the cream in a heavy bottomed pot, just until it gets very hot; do not boil.
• Put the chocolate in a heat safe bowl and pour the hot cream over it. Wait a few minutes and then whisk until all the chocolate is melted.
• Yield is approximately 2 cups.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Fit bowl with metal blade. Add flour, sugar and butter to bowl (add salt if butter is unsalted).
• Put on the lid and process in short bursts, about 10 times to break up the butter into the flour.
• Mix the egg yolk and water in a small bowl and with the processor on, pour the egg/water mix through the tube in the lid into the bowl. Keep mixing until the dough forms into a ball inside the bowl. Remove and form into a small cake.
• Cut the butter into the flour and sugar, working it through by hand until it becomes like coarse meal or breadcrumbs. Mix in the egg/water mixture with a fork until it's incorporated and the dough comes together in a soft ball.
• Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Once it is rolled out, put it in a 10" tart pan with removable bottom and press the dough into the edges, pulling off any excess.
• Because the filling for this recipe is not cooked in the tart shell, the crust needs to be baked by itself. To keep the center of the crust from puffing up and cracking during baking, you'll want to weigh it down.
• Cut a piece of parchment paper or foil to fit the bottom of the tart pan (see tip below).
• Pierce the bottom of the dough with a fork and put the paper on top.
• Weigh down with pie weights or beans.
• Bake for 8 minutes or until the edges of the crust begin to color. Remove from oven, and carefully remove the paper and beans. Put the tart back in the oven and bake until crisp and golden, about another 8 minutes. Remove and let cool. Fill.
• 1 baked tart crust
• 1 chocolate ganache recipe
• 1 lemon curd recipe
• Once the crust is baked, allow it to cool.
• Mix up the ganache and while it is still soft, pour it into the crust and place it in the refrigerator to firm up, about 20 minutes. Then spread the lemon curd on top.
• Optional garnishes; chocolate rose leaves, candied citrus peels or slices, chocolate curls.

LEMON-FILLED COCONUT CAKE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition. , Transfer to three greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely., For filling, in a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and water until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer or until thickened and bubbly. Remove from the heat., Stir a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat; gently stir in lemon juice and butter. Cool to room temperature without stirring., Place one cake on serving plate; spread with half of the filling. Repeat layers. Top with remaining cake. , For frosting, in a large heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, egg whites, water and cream of tartar. With a portable mixer, beat on low speed for 1 minute. Continue beating on low over low heat until frosting reaches 160°, about 10 minutes. , Transfer to a large bowl; add vanilla. Beat on high until stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes. Frost top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with coconut. Store in the refrigerator.

WHITE LAYER CAKE WITH LEMON CURD FILLING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-by-2-inch round cake pans; line bottoms with parchment paper rounds. Butter parchment, and dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside.
• Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with milk and beginning and ending with flour; beat until just combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; set aside.
• In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low speed until foamy. With mixer running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes. Do not overbeat. Gently fold a third of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in remaining whites.
• Divide batter evenly between prepared pans, smoothing with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until cakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto rack; peel off parchment. Reinvert cakes, and let them cool completely, top sides up.
• Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cake layers to make level. Place one layer on a serving plate, cut side up. Using a pastry bag fitted with a coupler, pipe frosting around the perimeter. This dam will prevent the lemon curd filling from seeping out. Fill cake with lemon curd. Place other cake layer on top, cut side down. Spread entire cake with frosting, swirling to cover.

LEMON COFFEE CAKE

Steps:

• To make homemade lemon curd, in a saucepan melt the butter. Remove from the heat, add sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest, and whisk to combine. Add eggs and whisk well. Place over medium heat and cook for 5-6 minutes until all sugar dissolves and the mixture is thick enough to hold the marks from a whisk. Cool completely.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 8 x 8 x 2-inch square baking pan (or 9 x 9-inch pan) with parchment paper leaving an overhang on the sides, spray with non-stick spray and set aside.
• First, make the crumb topping. In a bowl stir together flour, sugar, brown sugar, and salt. Then add melted butter and stir with a fork until pea-size crumbs form. Set in the fridge until ready to use.
• To make the cake beat softened butter for a minute, then add sugar and beat until creamy. Add lemon zest, vanilla, and eggs and mix to combine.
• Add sour cream and mix well, then mix in flour, baking powder, and salt. Spread half of the batter in the prepared pan.
• Spread 1 cup of lemon curd over the batter but don't go all the way to the edges (or it will burn during baking).
• Spoon the remaining batter on top.
• Beat cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, and egg until smooth. Spread cream cheese mixture over the batter.
• Sprinkle with a crumb topping and bake for about 45-55 minutes or until the center has set. If it browns too much tent the top with aluminum foil.
• Cool for 30 minutes in the pan, then pull the paper and lift the cake and transfer to a rack to cool completely.
• Dust with powdered sugar before serving if desired.

COCONUT-RUM CAKE WITH LEMON CURD AND WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and lightly flour three 9-inch metal cake pans.
• Sift cake flour, baking powder, and salt for cake into a bowl and set aside. Whisk eggs, coconut milk, heavy cream, and vanilla extract together in a small bowl until well combined.
• Cream sugar and butter together in a large bowl until light and fluffy, scraping down as needed. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until incorporated. Add 1/2 of the milk mixture and mix on low until evenly incorporated. Repeat, ending with remaining flour mixture, scraping down the bowl after each addition and mixing at medium speed until well incorporated, about 1 minute. Evenly split batter among the prepared cake pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and cakes are starting to pull away from the sides of the pans, 30 to 40 minutes. Allow to cool in the pans for 5 to 10 minutes; invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• While cakes cool, make lemon curd. Mix sugar and cornstarch well in a small bowl and set aside. Whisk whole eggs and egg yolks together in a small bowl and set aside.
• Heat lemon juice and zest in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until hot. Add sugar and cornstarch mixture all at once. Bring back to a simmer, stirring constantly. Whisk some of the hot lemon mixture into the eggs to temper them. Pour back into the saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Remove curd from heat and add butter. Mix until smooth. Strain curd if necessary and place in a small bowl. Press plastic wrap against the surface and chill, at least 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make pastry cream. Mix sugar and cornstarch together in a small bowl. Whisk egg and egg yolk together in a small bowl until well mixed.
• Heat coconut milk in a small saucepan until simmering. Add sugar-cornstarch mixture and whisk until smooth and sugar is melted. Whisk some of the hot milk into the eggs to temper them. Pour back into the saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Remove pastry cream from heat and stir in butter and coconut rum; mix until smooth. Strain if necessary, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cold, about 20 minutes.
• For the simple syrup, bring sugar, water, and rum to a boil in a medium saucepan. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool, 15 to 20 minutes.
• For the ganache, combine heavy cream, butter, corn syrup, and rum in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Pour hot cream mixture over chocolate and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Mix until smooth. Allow to cool to lukewarm, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Trim tops of cake layers to be flat, if needed. Place 1 cooled cake layer onto a serving plate. Brush with 1/2 of the simple syrup. Cover with 1/2 of the pastry cream. Drop spoonfuls of lemon curd on top and smooth out carefully. Repeat with a second layer and remaining syrup, pastry cream, and curd. Carefully place the third cake layer on top. Frost the entire cake with ganache and sprinkle toasted coconut over the sides and top.

LEMON LAYER CAKE WITH LEMON CURD

Steps:

• Beat sugar and butter for curd in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and yolks slowly until well combined. Beat for 1 minute more; stir in lemon juice. The mixture will look curdled; do not panic.
• Pour mixture into a saucepan and cook over low heat until it becomes smooth, about 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly without letting it boil, until it thickens enough to leave a path on the back of a spoon when you drag a finger through it and reaches 170 degrees F (77 degrees C), about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest.
• Let cool to room temperature, 20 to 30 minutes. Press plastic wrap on the surface to prevent a skin from forming and chill in the refrigerator.
• While filling cools, place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter and flour two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans.
• Sift cake flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Pulse 1/4 cup sugar and lemon zest together in a food processor until well combined.
• Beat butter and lemon sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining sugar and beat until smooth, about 1 1/2 minutes. Beat in 1/4 of the milk until just blended. Add flour mixture alternately with remaining milk on low speed in 3 batches, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed; beat until just blended.
• Beat egg whites in another bowl on medium speed just until foamy. Add cream of tartar. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until stiff peaks form. Add 1/4 of the egg whites to the cake batter and gently fold in. Continue to gently fold in egg whites, being careful not to deflate the mixture. Divide batter between the prepared pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake layer comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Flip right side-up and let cool on a wire rack, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• Cut cooled layers in half and layer with curd.
• Beat butter and lemon zest for frosting in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar and beat. Add lemon juice and beat for 1 minute. Frost the assembled cake as desired.

LEMON CUPCAKES WITH LEMON CURD FILLING

Steps:

• Pre heat your oven to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and line a muffin tin with 12 yellow cupcake cases (if you can't find yellow ones any colour will do)
• Mix together the butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy, ideally using an electric whick
• Add the eggs one at a time and whisk them in throughly, then gently whisk in the self raising flour
• Separate the batter between the cupcake cases
• Bake them for 20-25 minutes until they are golden brown and a skewer inserted comes out clean, leave them on a cooling rack to fully cool
• Use a cupcake corer or a knife to make a hole in the middle of each cupcake
• Fill the holes with lemon curd. You can do this using a spoon or put the lemon curd into a small piping bag, snip the end off and pipe it in
• To make the buttercream mix together the icing sugar and butter using an electric hand whisk or food mixer until they start to come together, then add the lemon extract and mix until smooth. If it is too stiff, add a splash of milk
• Put the buttercream into a large piping bag fitted with a Wilton 2D nozzle, or other nozzle of your choice and pipe it onto the cupcakes
• Decorate with jelly lemon slices and yellow hundred and thousands, or any sprinkles of your choice
• Store in an airtight container in a cool place, eat leftovers within 3 days

LEMON CURD FILLING

Steps:

• Whisk together egg yolks, granulated sugar, lemon zest and juice and cornstarch in a small heavy saucepan until combined. Cook mixture over medium, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture is thick and coats the back of spoon, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in cold butter until melted and smooth.
• Pour mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a medium bowl; discard any lumps. Place bowl with strained lemon curd in a large bowl filled with ice water. Let stand, stirring often, until mixture is cool, about 20 minutes. Remove medium bowl from ice bath, and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on lemon curd (to prevent a film from forming).
• Cover and chill until curd is firm, at least 4 hours or up to 3 days.

CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH LEMON CURD FILLING

Steps:

• Pre-heat the oven to 160ºC/140ºC fan.
• Line 2 8inch tins with greaseproof paper.
• Grate the milk chocolate (110g).
• Put all of the ingredients into a large bowl (200g self-raising flour, 40g cocoa powder, 230g caster sugar, 4 large eggs, 240g soft margarine, ¼ tsp vanilla extract, 2 tsp milk and the grated chocolate) mix on a low speed until fully combined.
• Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins. Make sure you spread the mixture out so it is even.
• Put the tins in the oven and cook for 50 minutes. After 50 minutes put a skewer in the middle and check if it comes out clean. If not, pop back in the oven for 10 more minutes and look again.
• When cooked, remove the cakes from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the cakes from their tins and carefully peel off the greaseproof paper and pop them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• Once cooled, use a knife to carve off the top of the bottom cake (so it's flat and the top part of the cake will sit on it nicely).
• Spread the lemon curd evenly on top of the bottom part of the cake.
• Carefully place the top part of the cake on top.
• To melt your chocolate coating, break the chocolate into squares and put into a glass bowl.
• Place over a pan of barely simmering water.
• You need to melt the chocolate very slowly, only stirring now and again or it will go hard. Be patient, it's worth it!
• One melted spread over the cake.
• Leave to cool. Store in an airtight container.

LEMON-LATTICE WHITE CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• For lemon curd:
• Combine lemon juice and cornstarch in heavy medium saucepan, stirring until cornstarch dissolves. Whisk in remaining ingredients. Cook over medium heat until mixture is thick and smooth and just begins to boil, stirring constantly, about 7 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on surface of curd to prevent skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled, about 6 hours. (Can be prepared days ahead.)
• For frosting:
• Combine 1/2 cup cream and chocolate in heavy small saucepan. Stir over low heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Transfer to large bowl. Whisk in remaining 1 3/4 cups cream and vanilla. Refrigerate until well chilled, about 6 hours. (Can be prepared up to 1 day ahead.)
• For cake:
• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottoms with waxed paper. Butter paper. Dust pans with flour; tap out excess. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together into medium bowl. Repeat sifting.
• Stir chocolate and 1/2 cup cream in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Mix in remaining 1/2 cup cream, milk and vanilla.
• Using electric mixer, beat butter and 1 cup sugar in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in yolks. Stir dry ingredients into butter mixture alternately with white chocolate mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Using electric mix fitted with clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in medium bowl to soft peaks. Gradually beat in remaining 1 cup sugar. Continue beating until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into cake batter in 2 additions. Divide batter among prepared cake pans. Bake until tester inserted in center comes out clean and cakes are beginning to pull away from sides of pans, about 24 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto racks, peel off waxed paper and cool completely. (Can be prepared 4 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.
• Using electric mixer, beat frosting in another large bowl until stiff peaks form. Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread 2/3 cup lemon curd evenly atop cake layer. Spread 3/4 cup frosting atop curd. Top with second cake layer. Spread cake with 2/3 cup curd, then with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with third cake layer. Frost top and sides of entire cake evenly with 3 cups frosting.
• Place remaining lemon curd in pastry bag fitted with no. 2 star tip. Pipe circle of curd around top of cake, 1/2 inch from edge. Pipe evenly spaced diagonal lines inside circle, creating lattice pattern. (Reserve remaining curd for another use.) Spoon remaining frosting into clean pastry bag fitted with no. 2 star tip. Pipe ruffled border around top and bottom edges of cake. (Can be prepared up to 6 hours ahead. Refrigerate.) Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving.