Lemon Curd with Sponge Cake and Berries

Lemon Curd with Sponge Cake and Berries
Serves 8

Serve with Whip Cream and 3 cups of seasonal berries, tossed with 1 teaspoon sugar. Leftover lemon curd keeps, refrigerated, for a week to 10 days. It’s great with cookies, or on toast.

What you need:
Lemon Curd
1¼ cup sugar
5 eggs
1 cup lemon juice
1½ cups unsalted butter, melted

Sponge Cake
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, for the cake pan
¾ cup sugar
4 eggs
6 tablespoons canola oil
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour, divided
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1½ teaspoons baking powder

What to do:
1. Make the lemon curd: In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs. Add 2 inches water to the bottom of a double boiler over medium heat. In the top of the double boiler, stir together the lemon juice and butter. Add the egg mixture and cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the curd thickens and a candy thermometer placed in the pot reads 170 degrees F. Remove from the heat and use a spatula or large spoon to press the curd through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. Cover the surface of the lemon curd with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until completely cool.

2. Make the sponge cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch cake pan, then sprinkle with 1 teaspoon flour, tapping the sides of the pan, and turning it, to evenly distribute the flour.

3. In small bowl, whisk together 6 tablespoons sugar and the eggs until smooth. Add 2 inches of water to the bottom half of a double boiler over medium heat. In the top half of the double boiler, add the sugar and egg mixture and whisk constantly 5 to 7 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved and the batter thickens. Remove the top half of the double boiler from the heat, whisk in the oil and vanilla, and transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

4. In a separate small bowl, sift together the remaining flour, salt, cornstarch and baking powder. Fold these dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients until well combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan and bake 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely at room temperature for 1 hour.

Serve each slice of cake with ¼ cup each of the lemon curd and whipped cream. Divide the berries equally among the servings.