Easter is fast approaching which means it is high time to dust off one’s Easter baking hat. Can you believe it is already mid-April? Christmas honestly doesn’t feel like it was THAT long ago. This year is literally flying by. Right before my very eyes.

So, with Easter Sunday in mind, I have been on the look out for exciting recipes to try. This isn’t traditionally an Easter cake per-say, but I associate the colour yellow with Easter and spring. So when I saw Mary Berry baking this on her latest cooking series, I immediately thought of Easter. It’s fresh and zesty, and I totally Easter-ed it up with white chocolate mini eggs. Yummo.

A four-tier cake recipe can appear to be somewhat daunting to tackle, but I assure you it’s really not too bad. And the result is absolutely worth it. Lemony deliciousness. I could quite honestly gobble the entire thing in one sitting (Bruce Bogtrotter eat-your-heart-out).

Oh – and I hope you appreciate my organisational skills – Easter isn’t for another week! So there is plenty of time to plan and prepare one of these beauties in time for your Easter feast! You’re welcome. Happy baking y’all!

Candied Lemon Zest
Zest of 1 lemon
50g caster sugar

The Cake
1 lemon
275g soft unsalted butter
275g caster sugar
275g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
4 large eggs

The Mascarpone Filling
1 lemon
50g soft unsalted butter
175g icing sugar
250g mascarpone

Lemon Icing
175g icing sugar (use fondant icing of available)
2 tbsp lemon juice

Milky Bar white chocolate mini eggs

1/ Remove the zest of 1 lemon with a peeler, and cut into thin strips.
2/ Place in small saucepan with 25g of the sugar and add enough boiling water to cover the zest. Boil for 1 minute.
3/ Drain, pat dry, then toss zest in remaining 25g sugar before drying out on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper at 110°C for 30 minutes. Leave to one side.

4/ Boil 2 whole lemons for 20 minutes until soft.
5/ Cut lemons in half, and remove seeds.
6/ In a food processor, blitz lemons until reasonably smooth – a few chunks here and there will add texture.
7/ Either in a mixer or with a hand whisk, mix the remaining ingredients together until smooth. Fold in half the lemon paste
8/ Divide batter evenly into two greased and lined 20cm diameter cake tins, and bake in a 180°C (160°C fan) oven for 30 minutes, or until a sharp knife/ skewer comes out clean.
9/ Transfer to wire rack, and leave to cool completely before removing from tins.

10/ For the mascarpone filling, mix together the butter and icing sugar in a food processor until smooth and creamy. Add the mascarpone, blend again and then fold in the remaining lemon paste and mix until fully combined
11/ Cut both cakes in half so that you have four layers. Spread the mascarpone filling evenly between the layers, stacking them on top of each other.

12/ For the lemon icing, mix the icing sugar with 1-2 tbsp lemon juice (from the lemon used to make the candied zest decoration) to make a thick pouring consistency. Pour the icing over the top of the cake allowing it to drizzle down the sides. Decorate with the candied lemon, white chocolate mini eggs, and any other sparkly decorations you have in your cupboard!

You can check out Mary Berry’s original recipe here. 

p.s. Don’t forget to follow #CAKE on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!