Val was kind enough to let me take on this weeks blog post and it is a pretty special one for me. This is my first Mother’s Day as a mom and I still can’t quite believe it. It has been such a wonderful and crazy new step in life and I honestly couldn’t have adapted without the immeasurable help of my own mother.

 

I have always been close with my mother but now I understand her more too. Motherhood isn’t glamorous. True there is nothing better than holding a sleeping baby that snuggles into you and wakes with a smile but that same love bug still spits up all over your clothes at least once a day. Not to mention all that I put my mother through in my long adolescence. It dawned on me when I called her a couple weeks ago needing to talk, I’m a 32 year old who still needs her mom. I started laughing imagining my son calling for help in his 30’s. That’s commitment. This is the long haul and I am finally starting to understand the depth of motherly love.

 

This Mother’s Day I wanted to celebrate with a cake. We aren’t the best bakers in our family so when we get a good recipe we treasure it. My mom made this cake on her last visit. It was one of two layer cakes she made in one week, which gives you the faintest clue of the obsessive and overwhelming love of motherhood. The sponge cake was incredibly light and fluffy and each layer was bright and beautiful so that the affect was like opening a present. The recipe just felt special and seemed the perfect tribute to the day. I hope you enjoy it and happy Mother’s Day to all!

 

Mother’s Day Sponge Cake

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar

6 oz. butter, softened

3 large eggs, brought to almost room temp.

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup self rising flour

1-2 tablespoons vanilla almond milk (you can substitute regular milk if you prefer)

5 tablespoons lemon curd

5 tablespoons strawberry jam

 

Icing:

1/2 pint heavy cream

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease two 8″ non-stick cake pans and bring your eggs out of the refrigerator in advance so they are not so cool when added.

2. Whip your sugar and butter using a stand/hand held mixer until consistency is smooth. Then add in your eggs one at a time until the mixture is glossy and smooth like mousse. Finish by mixing in vanilla.

3. Fold in your flour, stirring gently till just mixed. Finish by adding milk. Start by adding 1 tablespoon of milk and add an addition if needed to make mixture smooth and able to drop easily from the spoon to the cake pan.

4. Divide batter between the two cake pans and bake in the center of the oven for 15 minutes.

5. Once cake has cooked, remove to cool on a wire rack.

6. Meanwhile, mix all icing ingredients in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Whip till soft peaks form and remain when you gently pull away the beaters.

7. To finish the cake, lay your first layer of sponge cake on your serving platter. Top with lemon curd, making sure to spread evenly as a layer. Next add your strawberry jam, again spreading evenly.

8. Place your final sponge layer on and begin icing cake. You will have extra whipped cream icing but its always better to have to much than too little. Enjoy!

 

Note: This cake is best the day it is made, that is when the sponge is freshest and the whipped cream icing the best.