Big City, Little Kitchen

Few things say summer more than a lemon meringue pie, in my opinion, and I happen to love cake, so this recipe seemed like a perfect hybrid. And so, on the first truly hot weekend of the summer, I took to the kitchen, accompanied by Nigella Lawson’s Feast. Fighting my natural instinct to tamper, I made this recipe exactly as directed, and couldn’t be happier with the outcome: lemony, dense cake; sweet and light meringue; gooey lemon curd; and pillowy whipped cream, layered into one perfect confection. After a day in the fridge, once the curd and cream have melded with the cake, it’s even better.

• 1 stick plus 1 tb soft, unsalted butter
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tsp sugar
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tb cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• zest of 1 lemon
• 4 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp milk
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 2/3 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tb lemon curd (recipe to follow)

Preheat oven to 400. Butter 2 8-inch cake pans.

Mix egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, butter, flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and lemon zest in food processor; add lemon juice and milk, mix again (here is the one point at which I deviated from the recipe: as my food processor is tiny, I put the ingredients in a bowl and mixed with a hand mixture). Spread equal amounts of cake batter into the two cake pans.

Whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar into peaks, then gradually mix in cup of sugar. Spread equal amounts of meringue onto tops of cake batter in pans. With spatula, smooth the top of one cake; using a spoon, create peaks on the other, and sprinkle with 1 tsp of sugar. Bake for 20 minutes.

Cakes are done when cake tester comes out clean. Let cool completely, in pans. Unmold the flat-topped cake onto a plate or cake stand, meringue-side down. Whip the cream and set aside. Top the plated cake with the lemon curd, then the cream (not necessarily using it all; if the layer is too thick, it will simply ooze out of the sides), then unmold the second cake and place it on top, meringue-side up. Take a moment to enjoy how beautiful it is, then eat.

Lemon curd:

• zest and juice of 2 lemons
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 stick butter

Beat together the zest, juice, eggs, yolks, and sugar.

Melt the butter over low heat, then stir in the above mixture; stir constantly until thickened (5 to 7 minutes). Let cool, then spread over cake.