A couple of months ago my husband and I went to Las Vegas. I left three of my children with a sister in-law who made this for them. When I picked them up the first thing my ten-year-old son said was, “Mom, Stacy has a recipe you need.” Later that night my then seven-year-old daughter said, “Stacy made strawberry shortcake with raspberries and lemons. Can you make that?” and still later my thirteen-year-old said, “We had a really good cake at Stacy’s.” So I had to get the recipe and try it out while I had fresh raspberries. It is scrumptious. Thanks Stacy!
Raspberry-Lemon Meringue Cake
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 cup milk
Finely grated peel of 2 lemons, plus ½ cup fresh lemon juice
2 sticks (8ounces) unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
4 large eggs plus 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
One 11-ounce lemon curd
(or canned lemon pie filling, that’s what I used because my local grocery store doesn’t carry lemon curd)
1 ½ cups fresh raspberries
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with wax paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, stir together the milk, lemon peel and lemon juice.
- Using a handheld mixer, beat the butter with 2 cups confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until fluffy, 2 minutes. Add the whole eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, mix in half of the flour mixture, then the milk mixture, then the remaining flour mixture.
- Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans and bake until springy to the touch, about 25 minutes. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and let cool completely.
- Clean the mixer. Beat the remaining ½ cup confectioners’ sugar and the egg whites. Place over a saucepan of barely simmering water and cook, whisking, until the confectioners’ sugar dissolves and the mixture is hot to the touch, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form and the mixture is cool, 7 to 10 minutes.
- Peel the paper off 1 cake layer and place bottom side down on a cake plate. Spread one-third of the lemon curd on the cake and arrange the berries on top. Drizzle the remaining curd evenly over the berries. Peel the paper off the remaining cake layer and place upside down on the filling. Top the cake with the meringue.
- Preheat the broiler to high. Broil the cake just until the meringue peaks are golden, about 2 minutes.
Enjoy!
