You turn 30 in COVID-19 lockdown only once. But this doesn’t mean that you don’t have to do something special. Yesterday, I received so much love, support and wishes from so many people today like never before. I’m so grateful! Of course, I will throw a massive party once this is all over. So stay tuned.
As I use to to do every year, I decided to stick with the tradition and give myself a nice treat. Taking inspiration from the Torta 25 baked for my 25th bday 5 years ago – gosh, time flies – I decided to go for something special this year as well. And the final result was even better!
So, here we go with my Torta 30: a nice Victoria Sandwich/sponge cake with lemon cream & strawberries filling covered by lemon curd. Perfect for these first Spring days!
So let’s get to work!
Ingredients
For the Victoria Sandwich (baking tin 20 cm)
50 gr sunflower oil
125 gr nosugar unroasted almond milk
8 gr vanilla sugar
90 gr sugar
170 gr baking flour
10 gr baking powder
70 gr egg whites (about 2 eggs)
1 lemon zest
pinch of salt
For the lemon cream:
2 egg yolks
40 gr corn starch
60 gr sugar
5 gr vanilla sugar
250 ml almond milk (or regular milk)
1 lemon
For the lemon curd
2 egg yolks (you can use the egg whites to make some nice meringues)
40 gr lemon juice
40 gr sugar
40 gr butter
In addition, you need:
250 gr whipped cream
400 gr strawberries
3 tsp strawberry jam
nougatine (brown nougat made from caramelized sugar)
sugar & chocolate decorations
Procedure
For the Victoria Sandwich
In a bowl, mix the oil, the almond mild, sugars, lemon zest and salt with a hand whisk. Then, add flour and baking powder and stir with the hand whisk. Whisk the egg whites until spongy and then Incorporate them in the batter using a spatula.
Spread the batter on a 20cm baking pan (remember to spray with non-stick cooking product and cover the bottom with greaseproof paper). Cook in preheated oven 180°C for 30-35 minutes (check with a wooden stick – if it comes out of the cake clean, it’s ready). Let cool down before then cutting the cake horizontally into two parts.
For the lemon cream
Heat up the almond milk with the lemon zests until almost boiling. In the meantime, mix the egg yolks, corn starch and sugars, and then add it to the almond milk. Keep cooking at moderate heat and stir until the cream thickens. Add the lemon juice at the end and stir for one minute. Once ready, pour the cream in a bowl and cover immediately with transparent film. Store in the fridge to cool down until it’s time for assembling the cake.
For the lemon curd
Mix the egg yolks, lemon juice and sugar, and cook the mixture in low heat, while stirring. Once nicely yellow and creamy, remove the mixture from the stove and add the butter. Stir until the butter is completely melted. Once ready, pour the cream in a bowl and cover immediately with transparent film.
Assembling the cake
Cut the cake horizontally in two parts. Soften the strawberry jam in the microwave and add 1 or 2 tbs of water if needed. Brush the liquid jam on the top of the lower cake layer. Then, spread the lemon cream on top and add the diced strawberries (keep 8 nice, big strawberries for the final decoration). Add the other part of the cake and cover the whole cake with a thin layer of whipped cream. Store the cake in the fridge for the night.
Decoration time!
Spread the nougatine on the side of the cake. Cut the 8 strawberries in half and position them around the diameter of the cake. Then, spread the lemon curd and distribute it uniformly on the surface of the cake. The cake can be ready and nice this way already!
If you want to add some chocolate or sugar decorations (like the small white chocolate hearts), please go ahead.
In my case, I had quite some sponge cake left because I had to remove the pointy top of the cake to make it flat and easy to decorate. Hence, I added an additional disk layer of cake and covered it with the “30” number made of chocolate decorations. I covered the small disk of cake with lemon curd leftover and some nougatine.
Store the cake in the fridge until serving time! Enjoy!
Aroma di cannella 