Cheats Lemon Gateau Recipe

If you’re looking to impress your guests with a homemade dessert yet are still a little unsure of your baking prowess, we have the perfect solution. This is a seriously delicious, tangy yet creamy lemon gateau that will have your guests drooling and begging you for more.

So why the ‘cheats’? Originally by the legend that is Delia Smith, this incredibly easy recipe needs no baking at all. Instead of the usual faffing around with cake tins and waiting, hoping your sponge will rise, this recipe uses nifty trifle sponges. Along with just five other simple ingredients, you will bring to your table a tastebud tingling delight, without a cooker in sight.

Ingredients

12 trifle sponges
4oz unsalted butter
2 large lemons
6oz caster sugar
4 eggs – separated
1/2 pint double cream

Method

1. Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. An electric hand whisk will be your best friend here!
2. In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks together with a fork and then gradually beat into butter and sugar mixture a little at a time.
3. Finely grate lemons and add rind to mixture, followed by the juice
4. Whisk egg whites into soft peaks. Then using a metal spoon, fold into the mixture. Don’t worry of it curdles, that’s ok!

To assemble the cake

Split sponges in half lengthways and place a layer in the base of an 8inch cake tin, followed by a layer of the mixture. Repeat again and complete with a layer of sponge then cover with foil and weight down with a small plate. Leave in fridge overnight.

To serve

Loosen cake with a knife and turn out onto a serving plate. Whip the cream and cover cake entirely and decorate with lemon slices.

Eat and enjoy!

So there you have it. The easiest cake you will never bake.
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