John Whaite's caramelised lemon cake recipe

Directions

1. 1
   Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan and prepare 2 x 20cm loose bottom round cake tins, greased and lined with baking paper.
2. 2
   For the caramelised lemon top, place a small saucepan over a medium/high heat and heat.
3. 3
   Add the 100g of caster sugar and let it melt into a dark caramel, stirring until it melts.
4. 4
   Immediately pour the caramel into one of the prepared cake tins, tilting the tin so the caramel spreads across the bottom.
5. 5
   Overlap the slices of lemon on top of the caramel to cover the entire bottom of the tin and set to one side.
6. 6
   For the cake batter, whisk together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy and the sugar has dissolved into butter (this can be done by hand or using an electric mixer).
7. 7
   Add the lemon zest and eggs and beat until well mixed.
8. 8
   Sift over the flour and fold in until you have a smooth batter.
9. 9
   Divide the mixture into the two tins, being careful not to displace the lemons.
10. 10
    Bake the plain cake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, and the lemon-topped cake for 30-35 minutes .
11. 11
    Immediately invert the lemon-topped cake onto a cooling rack, and let the plain cake cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing.
12. 12
    Once the cake is cool, for the filling beat together the mascarpone, icing sugar and lemon zest until smooth.
13. 13
    Spread the lemon curd over the plain cake, top that with the mascarpone then add the lemon slice cake on top.
14. 14
    Scatter some nibbed sugar over the top if you wish.