Almond and Chocolate Pound Cake with Lemon Curd filling

Hello.

Okay, I know now that at 37 weeks along, I'm supposed to be relaxing at home, put my feet up and lay sprawled on the couch in front of the TV with a tub of chocolate brownie ice-cream..

But!
Unfortunately that is too uncomfortable to do at this stage and I don't think I'm capable of handling that kind of lifestyle for long. So up I went to make myself a little useful and head off to the supermarket. Bought ingredients and did some retail 'baking gadgets' therapy =)

And here's what I turn up with!



Recipe for the pound cake can be found here!
I decided to give the original pound cake a try and used almond essence instead.
Verdict: Don't quite like the taste. I think 5mls of almond essence is too much. Try reducing it to half next time. OR better yet, switch to vanilla altogether.

I melted some choc chips, took out some of the batter and mix. I find the chocolate part is yummy with less almond-y taste. Luckily I made some lemon curd for the filling and these cuppies turned out DELICIOUS!



Not that these little cuppies needed the moist centre, but the lemony tang twist in the middle takes these little ones up another level =) *yum*

Here's the recipe:

Lemon Curd (original recipe from here)

Ingredients (- indicates halved)
3 large eggs - 2 small eggs
2-3 lemons, juiced out to make up to (80mls) fresh lemon juice - 2 tbsp + 2 tsp juice
150 g sugar - 75 g
56 g unsalted butter, room temp, cut to small pieces - 28 g
1 tbsp lemon zest - 1 tsp

How to make
Whisk constantly eggs, lemon juice and sugar on a double boiler til a consistency of sour cream or hollandaise sauce is reached. Check temperature so it comes up to 71C. Remove from heat and put through a fine sieve if lumps appear. Drop butter pieces one at a time whisking through with each addition til butter melts in the mixture. Add lemon zest.

Lay a piece of cling wrap on top of lemon curd surface to prevent skin forming and place it in the fridge to cool. Mixture will thicken more while cooling.

Note: I have halved the recipe and it made up close to half a cup of lemon curd. Just enough for me to fill 12 standard size cuppies!

SMBC (Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting)

Ingredients
2 egg whites
1/2 c sugar
113 g butter (divided to 1 tbsp each or 14 g segments)
1 tsp vanilla extract
yellow coloring

How to make:
Whisk egg whites and sugar on a double boiler to reach a safe temperature of 160C, whisking constantly.
Remove and place in mixing bowl and whisk away on high speed til stiff peaks form but not dry.
Switch to paddle attachment.
Add 1 tbsp (14g) butter one at a time, whisking til well combined.
Increase to medium-high speed til you get a fluffy consistency.
Lower speed and add vanilla extract and yellow coloring.



Can you decide which design you'd like?



Sorry but can't resists!
Here's our little beast Koda.
Just moments before the flower vase toppled over her!