Lemon and ginger cake
- Bhuvan Ravishankar
- Aug 10, 2020
- 3 min read
A light cake comprising of a lemon-ginger sponge, lemon curd, caramel whipped ganache.
It was interesting to use Australian native finger limes, a very cool way of presenting a citrus element.
Callebaut Gold couverture, a sweet caramel chocolate goes very well with the subtle spice from the ginger, tanginess from the lemons.
INGREDIENTS FOR THE LEMON-GINGER SPONGE
FOR THE LEMON CURD
FOR THE CARAMEL WHIPPED GANACHE
METHOD:
FOR THE LEMON GINGER SPONGE
1. Pre heat the oven to 175 degrees centigrade, line a 8 inch cake tin with grease proof paper and place aside.
2. In a seperate bowl, combine the flour, corn flour, lemon zest and diced candied ginger.
3. Combine the eggs and the sugar in a mixing bowl and whip until light and fluffy.
4. Once the egg-sugar mix has been aerated, fold in the dry ingredients in three intervals. Take care not to over mix it, as the aeration might collapse if mixed vigorously.
5. Lastly add the warm(not hot) melted butter to the above mix and gently combine.
6. Pour the cake batter into the lined cake tin, bake it for about 15-16 minutes. Place aside.
You can prepare the sponge a day in advance too.
FOR THE LEMON CURD
1. Combine half the sugar with the lemon juice and bring it to a boil. Reserve the rest of the sugar, it will be used with the eggs.
2. Once the lemon juice and sugar mix has been heated, in a seperate bowl combine the rest of the sugar into the eggs. The reason is you never mix the eggs and sugar and leave it aside, this causes something called as a sugar burn. You will notice that the eggs tend to get a bit hard/lumpy and discoloured.
3. Gradually in a steady stream pour the hot lemon juice over the eggs and sugar, mixing evenly with a whisk.
4. Once all the lemon juice has been combined, strain this mix back into the saucepan.
5. On a slow flame, gradually start cooking the mix whisking it evenly from all sides of the saucepan.
6. You will notice that the curd starts to thicken and bubbles tend to start appearing, this will eventually get larger, lower the flame and continue cooking for about a minute.
7. Transfer the curd in a bowl, allow this to cool to about 30 degrees centigrade.
8. Once you feel that the curd has cooled down, using an immersion blender blend the cold diced butter into the curd adding a few pieces at a go, do not combine all the butter at once.
The reason for bringing the curd to 30 degrees centigrade is that if the mix is too hot the butter will melt and not form a homogenous emulsion.
9. Transfer the curd into a dry container, cover the surface with cling wrap to prevent a skin forming while it cools. Store it in the refrigerator until use.
FOR THE CARAMEL WHIPPED GANACHE 1. Heat the smaller quantity of cream with liquid glucose. Do not heat the larger quantity of cream.
2. Pour the glucose-cream into the chocolate and mix well with a spatula.
3. Once you see that all the chocolate has melted, add the cold cream into this.
4. Transfer the mix into a dry bowl, cover the surface with a cling wrap to prevent a skin forming on its surface. Store it in the refrigerator until use.
FOR THE ASSEMBLY
1.Slice the cake horizontally creating two equal parts, you may want dredge one of the cake layers with a small quantity of sugar syrup-lemon juice.
2. Cut a portion of the second sponge using a round cutter to create a cavity which holds the lemon curd within the cake. Do not throw away the centre part you cut, dice them, lightly toast them. I have used them as a garnish :)
3. Add a spoonful on lemon curd to sandwich the two layers of sponge.
4. Cover the cavity of the sponge with the lemon curd and even it out.
5. Whip the chilled ganache until light but slightly firm. Transfer the whipped ganche into a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle.
6. Pipe abstract designs on the cake covering all corners of the cake, leaving about a centimetre from all sides.
7. Garnish with finger lime segments, candied ginger, toasted sponge crumbs and fresh mint leaves.
Enjoy 😋
Comments