Description
A vibrant three-layer citrus sponge cake featuring distinct lemon, lime, and orange sections. Filled with tangy lemon custard and topped with a velvety orange cream frosting, this dessert offers a perfect melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 5 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup shortening
- 2 cups white sugar
- 5 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 tablespoon lime zest
- Yellow, orange, and green food coloring
- 1 1/2 cups lemon custard filling
- 2 cups orange cream frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and grease and flour three 9-inch cake pans.
- Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
- In a large bowl, cream together shortening and white sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla extract.
- Alternately add the flour mixture and milk to the creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour, and mix until just combined.
- Divide the batter equally into three separate bowls.
- Stir lemon zest and yellow coloring into the first bowl, orange zest and orange coloring into the second, and lime zest and green coloring into the third.
- Pour each batter into a prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool in pans for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To assemble, layer the lime cake, lemon custard, orange cake, lemon custard, and finally the lemon cake.
- Frost the top and sides with orange cream frosting and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.
Notes
For the brightest flavor, ensure you only zest the colored part of the citrus skin to avoid bitterness. If you are baking in a humid environment, you may need to refrigerate the layers for 30 minutes before frosting to ensure the lemon custard remains stable during assembly.
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Mediterranean Fusion