How I love the month of March when spring arrives in all its golden yellow glory. This light, delicate recipe for Daffodil Cake is the perfect harbinger of spring with swirls of yellow and white in every slice. Decorate it with edible spring flowers (not daffodils though ~ they’re not edible!) for a perfect seasonal cake as an Easter Cake alternative to Easter Simnel Cake.
Recipe
Ingredients
Oil and flour
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cream of tartar
110g/4 oz caster sugar
1 orange (zest and juice)
50g/2 oz plain flour (sifted)
1 tsp baking powder
Lemon Curd for filling
Icing sugar to decorate
Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas 5/375F. Lightly oil a 20 cm/8 inch cake ring tin and dust with flour (or you can use a round or square cake tin and line with baking paper).
Separate the egg whites and yolks into two large bowls. Beat the egg whites, vanilla extract and cream of tartar in one mixing bowl until they are stiff. Gradually add in 50g/2oz of the caster sugar and continue beating until soft peaks form.
In another mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks with orange zest and juice. Add the remaining sugar and beat until the mixture has thickened. Sift the flour and baking powder together and add to it the egg yolk mixture.
Spoon the egg yolk mixture and egg white mixture alternately into the cake tin. Stir the mixture with a fork to give a marbled effect.
Bake for about 30 minutes (allow 5-10 minutes more if using a round cake tin). Remove the cake from the oven. Invert the cake tin over a cooling rack and let it cool for 20-30 minutes. Remove the cake from the tin carefully. Once fully cool, cut the cake in half and spread lemon curd in the centre. Place the other half on top and dust with icing sugar.
I used a decorative cake tin so the cake came out with a pattern for more effect. The clocks will go forward at the end of March, which means we lose an hour’s sleep but gain an hour of daylight and start to enjoy those longer lighter evenings. A slice of Daffodil cake and you’ll soon have a spring in your step!
You can read more about Grandma Abson’s life, her passion for baking and recipes HERE and head over to Instagram @grandmaabson to see Meryl baking with her grandchildren.
