Lemon Delight is a typical cake from Sorrento cuisine, which you can find everywhere in Naples especially on Amalfi Coast. It is a fresh and tasty cake where the lemon is the main ingredient.
Although I always try to eat healthy food, I think it’s okay to indulge in a few treats every now and then. Lemon Delight is not a fit dessert, in fact, it is very high in calories. Yet on some occasions, when I decide to make an exception to the rule, I choose this cake that is one of my favourites. I promise that in the future I will try to recreate and share a lighter version so that I can prepare and eat it more often and without regrets 😀
This dessert consists of a sponge cake soaked in a limoncello bath, filled with lemon custard cream and covered with fresh lemon-flavoured cream. The preparation is long but simple. Lemon delights are usually single-serving and have a distinctive spherical shape. If you prefer, you can divide the dough into many single portions or make one big cake like the one I make.
Let’s see what the ingredients are and how to make our delicious Lemon Delight.
Recipe for Lemon Delight Cake
Ingredients for the sponge cake:
- 5 eggs
- 250 g sugar
- 100 g flour
- 100 g potato starch
- 16 g baking powder
Ingredients for the lemon custard cream for filling our cake:
- zest of 2 lemons
- 4 yolks
- 170 g sugar
- 500 ml milk
- 200 ml cream
- 60 g potato starch
- 2 vials of lemon essence
- 2 tablespoons of limoncello
Ingredients for the limoncello bath
- 200 ml water
- 4 tablespoons of limoncello
- 3 tablespoons of sugar
- juice of 1 lemon
Ingredients for the lemon delight topping cream:
- 250 g cream (already sweetened, otherwise add sugar to taste)
- 150 ml limoncello
- 1 zest lemon
- 100 g lemon custard cream (the one prepared for filling).
Procedure:
Even though there are a lot of ingredients and it may seem difficult to make, I assure you that making an excellent lemon delight is easier than you think. I will explain step by step how to prepare it. You will see that you too will succeed in surprising your guests!
1) Infuse the cream
The first step in making our Lemon Delight Cake is to let the cream steep so that the lemon releases its flavour. The lemon-flavoured cream will be used for the cake topping. Simply pour the cream into a bowl, add the lemon zest and leave to stand in the fridge. It is best to do this the night before the cake is to be made.
2)Preparing the sponge cake for our lemon delight
First, separate the egg whites from the yolks. Whip the egg whites until stiff and slowly add the sugar until the mixture is white and frothy. Now you can add the egg yolks, flour, potato starch and baking powder (previously sieved). Mix carefully from the bottom up. Grease and flour a 20 cm baking tin and bake in a static oven at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave to cool.
3) Preparation of the lemon custard cream for filling our sponge cake
To make this delicious cream, combine the egg yolks with the sugar, lemon zest and potato starch and pour into a small saucepan. Add the milk and mix well to avoid lumps. Only when you have obtained a homogeneous and lump-free mixture, bring the saucepan on the fire. Stir the cream over medium-low heat until it thickens. Now let your cream cool down well. Whip the cream with two small lemon and limoncello essences and mix everything with the cold cream. Your cream is now ready for the filling, remember to set aside 100 g for the preparation of the topping cream.
4) Preparing the limoncello bath
Simply combine water, limoncello, sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Let it cool and it’s ready!
5) Preparation of the cream topping for the Lemon Delight
For the cream topping, whip the cream that you left to flavour the night before in the fridge with the lemon zest. Add the whipped cream to the limoncello and 100 g of the previously prepared lemon custard cream.
How to assemble the cake
Once cooled, divide the sponge cake into two discs and soak it in a limoncello bath. This will make it soft and not dry. Now fill with lemon custard cream and close the two discs. Now you just have to cover everything with a layer of cream topping. Decorate to taste with lemon leaves and lemon peel. And now your Delight is ready. All you have to do is leave it to rest in the fridge and then serve it to your guests!
If you liked the recipe leave me a comment!
A big hug, Tonia.
