Lemon meringue cake

Around this time of year the lemons become abundant at my parents' house.  We spend a couple weeks gathering lemons, giving satchels away to neighbors, friends and family, asking everyone on our street to pick as many as they want from the trees.  The giveaways often result in lemon bars brought to our door made from these lemons, or lemon curd, my favorite.  I squeeze pitchers full and save in individual portions for lemonade or flavoring.

Some tips : 
1) This cake does take several steps, so be prepared for a couple days of prep.
2) Make the lemon curd ahead of time, it can keep for a couple weeks in a jar in the refrigerator.
3) Make the meringue also ahead of time, these keep for weeks in the fridge.
4) Brush the cake layers with a wash, I used 1/4 cup water with 3 tablespoons lemon syrup

I made the lemon curd from lemons from the grocer's and it's also delicious. Here's the recipe : 

3 lemons, juice extracted
grated lemon rind from 1/2 a lemon
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup butter

In a bowl, mix and infuse sugar with lemon rind. Warm lemon juice in a saucepan over low heat.  Whisk sugar and eggs together in a bowl.  Whisk into lightly simmering lemon juice.  Keep whisking until  thickened, then add chunks of butter and whisk until melted.  Allow to cool, better overnight.

Here's the cream cheese frosting : 

Whipped cream frosting

1 cup whipping cream

18 oz softened cream cheesse
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup (up to 1 cup if you like it sweeter) confectioners sugar

Whip the cream in a bowl until you have soft peaks.  Add the softened cream cheese until well blended, then the sugar and vanilla.  Refrigerate until you are ready to pipe on the cake.

For the meringue : 

4 egg whites (about 120 g)

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup granulated sugar

Whip egg whites and cream of tartar in a bowl until you get soft peaks.  Add sugar a cupful at a time whipping until you get a thickened meringue.  Pipe rosette forms onto a non-stick baking sheet (or line with parchment paper) and bake at 200° F / 90° C for at least an hour 20 minutes, or until the meringue peels off easily and is hardened.

And finally, here's the chiffon cake recipe : 

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter

1 cup milk

5 eggs, separated

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350° F / 180° C. Line two 9" round cake pans with parchment paper.  In a bowl, beat egg whites until you get stiff peaks. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar until you get a light yellow color.  Add egg yolks, milk, vanilla.  Sift in flour, baking powder and salt.  Fold in egg whites a spatula at a time. Pour into 2 pans and bake for about 40-50 minutes or until the middle has risen and is cooked. Check with a toothpick that should come out clean. Set aside to cool. Slice the disks in half to get 4 disks in all.

For the assembly :

Place a cake disk on a serving dish, spoon a couple tablespoons of lemon curd in the middle, then pipe cream along the edges.  Cover with the second cake disk and repeat until you finish with the 4th cake layer and top with more curd and cream and decorate with meringue or cookies or flowers.
Happy baking to you all !