The cheat’s way to portion off desserts and make them travel friendly. The zesty lemon and sweet cream cheese icing are balanced by light Madeira cake, making these layered lemon cake jars a delicious harmony of flavours. Take advantage of their portability and pack them for a fun family picnic.
Layered lemon cake jars
Ingredients
- 2 x 300g ready-made Madeira loaf cakes, cut into 1,5cm thick rounds which fit in the desired jars
- 250ml (1 cup) lemon curd
Cream cheese icing
- 125g butter, softened
- 130g (1 cup) icing sugar, sifted
- 500g plain cream cheese
- 10ml (2 tsp) fresh lemon juice
Lemon syrup
- 250ml (1 cup) water
- 200g (1 cup) sugar
- juice and zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
For the icing, cream the butter and sugar together and then lightly whisk in the cream cheese, ensuring you do not overmix as the mixture can easily split. Mix in the lemon juice.
For the lemon syrup, heat the water, sugar, lemon juice and zest together until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
To assemble, place a round of Madeira cake in the bottom of each jar and add a drizzle of the prepared lemon syrup. Pipe a layer of the cream cheese icing on top. Add 10ml (2 tsp) lemon curd and then repeat the entire process, ending with the cream cheese icing layer (there is no need for a second lemon curd layer as it may become too tart).
Garnish with lemon zest and fresh mint and cover with the lids. Serve cold or at room temperature.
