Hi, foodies in the Hive!

Hope you're having a nice day 😁

My oldest niece just turned 30 a few days ago, but she is always a kid to me if I have to make her birthday cake. I ask her how she wants it to be, the flavors, any special detail, and I try to please her. I was happy she didn't say chocolate, so I could post a different recipe on my blog, hehe. She chose lemon, cream, and "something like cookies and/or chocolate". The less precise the instructions, the better for me, so I can play with the possibilities and save everyone from my decorative skills 😂

My son also loves lemon cakes. The first time I made one for him, everyone was delighted, so lemon cakes, which taste similar to lemon pie, are also a common request in my family, at least from my niblings 😁

INGREDIENTS

This cake is not as saturated in liquid as a tres leches, but it's just as milky and fluffy, and it's really well soaked.

I's a cold cake made with a Genoese sponge cake base, soaked in a creamy liquid of milk, lemon and vanilla and filled & topped with sweet whipped cream and Hersheys cookies 'n' creme & cookies 'n' chocolate--OMG, sugar! 🙈

For the sponge cake:

10 eggs (M)
2 cps sugar
2 cups self-rising flour
pinch of salt

To soak:

500 ml condensed milk
200 ml cream
1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemno juice
1 lemon to drizzle
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
pinch of salt

For the filling and topping:

800 ml whipping cream
200 gr Hershey's chocolate & cookie candy bars (I used cookies 'n' crem and cookies 'n' chocolate)
2 teaspoons lemon zest (only for the topping)

THE PROCESS

Start by separating the yolks from the whites.

Start by separating the yolks from the whites. Whip the egg whites until stiff. I helped myself with my mother-in-law's mixer, a relic, hehe, since my mixer, which is also old, broke just when I started to beat.

Once the egg whites have risen, add the sugar and mix well with the mixer. Then add the egg yolks, mix, and finally, the sifted flour.

I prefer to fold the flour in with a pastry spoon.

The batter is ready! Time to grease the pan.

I coat the inside of the baking pan with margarine only. I don't like to use flour; for me, it'd ruin the texture, though I guess most people don't have a problem with that.

This cake was baked in 50 minutes at 280 F° in my little electric oven.

This batter is light and airy, so I always rotate the tray once the batter is in and softly but firmly tap it against the counter to avoid big bubbles inside.

As you can see, the cake unmolds fine.

It's also tall enough, a good size.

Now, we soak the cake 😁

We're needing a good amount of freshly squeezed lemon juice.

In a bowl, mix the lemon juice, condensed milk, vanilla essence, a pinch of salt and the cream.

Now we're ready to cut the sponge cake in half lengthwise and start soaking it. We'll soak one layer first, put the filling on top, and then place the second and last layer, still dry, on top of the filling.

The crumble is perfect for soaking.

Alternate the milk & lemon soak with freshly squeezed drops of lemon juice.

I open holes in the cake to help it soak better and faster. Once the first layer is soaking, we can place the filling.

Time to whip the cream!

By the time I'm ready to whip the cream, it's been in my freezer for a couple of hours.

As the cream was really cold, the mixer did the job easily. In a couple of minutes, the cream was whipped.

With a fork, I managed to make a thick layer of whipped cream for the filling. I used nearly half of the whipped cream for this.

After you have spread the whipped cream on the soaked layer of cake, break the chocolate into little pieces and add them as well. They will add flavor and a crispy twist.