Lemon Curd and White Chocolate Truffle Cake

This beautiful Easter cake was the hit of the party.

And she was not shy about being the center of attention.

She fit right in with all the other lovely Easter decorations for dinner last night at my sister's house.

So did my Easter bread with it's lone little Easter egg sticking out in the middle of it. 

But this springtime cake had to wait her turn to receive our raves.    Our main entree of ham with all the fixings came first.   A truly wonderful Easter dinner.

There are lots of Easter desserts to choose from.  I let Lauren and Ari choose the dessert this year and they requested any dessert with lemon curd. Good choice.

This cake was a beauty with lemon curd on top, along with her four layers of lemon white chocolate truffle filling between each cake layer.

Her frosting was simply whipped cream.  She was a melt-in-your-mouth sensation.

I would definitely make her again and let her be the hit of the party. Thank you Recipe Girl for this wonderful Easter dessert.

Cake

2-1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3-1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1-2/3 cup granulated sugar

1-1/4 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

5 large egg whites

Lemon Truffle Filling

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup water

2 large egg yolks, room temperature

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1/3 cup fresh, squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp. grated lemon zest

6 ounces (1 cup) chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips

1 (8 ounces) package cream cheese

Whipped Cream Frosting

1 cup whipping cream

3 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pan.  

1. To prepare Cake:  In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

2.  In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter until fluffy.

3.  Add sugar and continue beating.

4.  Add flour mixture.  Gradually mix in the milk and vanilla, scraping the bowl constantly until mixture is light and fluffy.  

5.  Transfer batter into a large mixing bowl.  Clean the large bowl with electric mixer and beat egg whites until stiff.

6.  Gently but thoroughly fold in egg whites into the cake batter.

7. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.

8.  Bake 35 - 40 minutes until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.  When pans are no longer hot to the touch, carefully remove cake from pans and continue to cool.  When cake is completely cool, split horizontally to make a total of 4 layers.  (Use a serrated knife, gently saw around the center to cut even layers)

1.  Prepare the filling:  In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt.  Whisk in water until smooth.

2.  Cook over medium-high heat until mixture starts to thicken, stirring constantly.  Cook 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.

3.  In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks with a fork.

4.  Slowly stir about 1/4 cup of the hot mixture into the egg yolks, whisking quickly while adding the hot liquid very slowly.  Add another 1/4 cup of the hot mixture very slowly to the eggs until you have warmed up the egg mixture, whisking constantly.

5.  Whisk the egg yolk mixture back to the hot mixture in the saucepan. Cook over low heat until the mixture comes to a slow boil, whisking constantly, then continue to cook for 2 minutes, stirring.

6.  Remove from heat and stir in the butter, lemon juice and zest.  Transfer half of the hot filling to a small bowl and set aside to cool.  

7.  Add the white chocolate to the hot filling in the saucepan and stir until the chocolate is melted.  Set aside.

8.  Beat the cream cheese until fluffy.  Beat in the white chocolate mixture until light and smooth. At this point, you should have a small bowl of lemon curd and a bowl of white chocolate truffle filling.

9.  Spread one third of the white chocolate filling over one layer of the cake.

10.  Top with a second cake layer, then spread with one third more of the filling.

11.  Top with a third cake layer and spread the remaining filling over the top.  Top with the last cake layer and spread the reserved lemon curd on top.

12.  Refrigerate, uncovered until the filling is set (2 to 3 hours)

1.  Make whipped cream frosting:  In a large bowl with electric mixer, whip the cream and sweeten it with the confectioners' sugar.  Frost the sides of the cake with half of the whipped cream frosting.

2.  Put the remaining frosting into a pastry bag and pipe decoratively around the top and bottom edge of the cake. 

3.  Refrigerate up to 8 hours before serving.