Ingredients:

For a 10” lemon cake:

6 large eggs, room temperature

1 2/3 cup sugar

1 stick (4 Oz) butter, melted and cooled

Zest and juice from a large lemon (or two small)

1 tsp lemon extract

3 cups flour, sifted

3 tsps baking powder

Pinch of salt

Directions:

Generously grease and flour a 10” springform cake pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk.

Beat on medium speed for a minimum of 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Add melted and cooled butter.

Mix on low speed for one minute.

Add lemon juice, zest and lemon extract.

Continue to mix for an additional minute.

Remove bowl from stand mixer, wiping off whisk.

Gently fold sifted flour, a little at a time, until fully incorporated.

Do not overwork the batter.

Pour batter in prepared pan.

Evenly spread batter to sides of pan.

This step will help achieve a cake with even height.

Bake in preheated oven for about 50 minutes or until golden and when a toothpick inserted in the middle of cake comes out clean.

Remove cake from oven and allow to cool before removing it from pan.

For the custard:

1 quart half and half (whole milk can be substituted)

4 eggs

¾ cup sugar

1 ¼ cup flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp lemon extract

Directions:

1. Pour the half and half into a small pan and place on low heat until warm.

2. Meanwhile, place the eggs, sugar, vanilla and lemon extract in a separate pan. Wisk until well-blended. Add sifted flour and continue to whisk until creamy and smooth.

3. Add 1/3 of the warm milk to the egg mixture while stirring constantly until fully mixed. Repeat this step 2 more times so that all the milk is incorporated.

4. Place pan back on burner on low heat, stirring the entire time to avoid sticking and formation of lumps.

5. Bring to a gentle boil (about 5-7 minutes) and cook two more minutes, until the cream thickens to a pudding consistency.

6. Remove pan from stove and pour the cream into a glass bowl. Immediately cover with plastic wrap (sticking to the top of the cream) to avoid the formation of a “dry skin”.

7. Refrigerate until needed.

Additional ingredients to assemble cake:

8 Oz container whipped topping (like Cool Whip), defrosted

1 quart fresh strawberries (or other berries of your choice)

Juice from 1/2 lemon

1 TBSP sugar

2 packages Italian Ladyfingers, aka Savoiardi

Limoncello liqueur, as needed

Ribbon

Assembly:

Wash, dry and slice strawberries in 4 pieces each.

Mix strawberry slices with lemon juice and sugar.

Set aside.

Mix cold custard with whipped topping until fully blended.

Place some of the custard mix into a piping bag and set aside to decorate top.

Slice lemon cake horizontally in two equal circles.

Place top circle upside-down on a 12” round tray.

Drizzle limoncello over cake layer according to your taste.

Generously spread enough custard mix to cover entire cake layer.

Top with half of the strawberry slices, placing them at random to add color once cake is sliced.

Drizzle some limoncello on the other cake circle.

Place on top of berries/custard layer making sure that the bottom crust layer of cake is now the top.

This is done to achieve a flat top, which is easier to decorate.

Spread a thin layer of custard to top and sides of cake.

Gently attach each ladyfinger around the cake.

The custard will act as glue.

When finished, tie a clean ribbon of your choice around the cake.

Place the remaining strawberries, drained of any juice, in the center of the cake top.

Pipe roses around the strawberries with the reserved custard.

Make a ribbon in front of the cake to finish the look.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

TIPS:

I recommend baking the lemon cake and making the custard the day before assembling the Charlotte Cake. In fact, refrigerated cake is easier to slice in half than a freshly baked cake.

You can substitute the whipped topping with freshly made whipped cream.

You can substitute strawberries with any other berry or combination of.

If a ladyfinger doesn’t stick to the side of the cake, just spread a little custard on the inside of the cookie and try again.