A DELICIOUS ACCIDENT - Genoise with Lemon Curd and Meringue

    

     At first I was angry; mad at myself for being such a klutz and dropping the grocery bag with two dozen, newly purchased eggs.  My initial reaction was to make scrambled eggs for myself, but I had already eaten and I broke enough eggs to feed many more than just me.  Instead, I quickly began separating the yolks from the whites and started thinking lemon curd and angel food cake.  But in the days following I decided I'd rather spread the creamy lemon curd I had made between layers of genoise and use the rescued egg whites, not for an angel food cake, but to whip up some billowy meringue.
    Usually, it takes a birthday and a celebration to have a cake such as this in our house.  Let's just say we're celebrating making it through the month of January in Minnesota.

                                         This is the tasty results of my mishap.

                                                         Lemon Curd
                                           from Martha Stewart's Pies and Tarts

• 6 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
1.  To make the lemon curd, strain the beaten egg yolks through a sieve into a medium-size heavy saucepan.  Add the sugar and lemon juice, stir to combine, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 10 to 12 minutes, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.  Remove from the heat and stir until the mixture cools just slightly.  Stir in the butter, a piece at a time, until fully incorporated.  Add the rind.  Let cool completely.

                                                      Genoise

• 6 whole large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 scant cup of flour
1.  Preheat oven to 350˚F.  Butter the bottom of three 8-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with a round of wax paper.
2.  Combine eggs and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on high speed until the mixture doubles and is very thick and light in color.
3.  You will now fold, by hand using a rubber spatula, the flour into the egg mixture.  Slowly sift the flour into the eggs and fold gently, making sure you get all the way to the bottom of the bowl and all of the flour is incorporated into the eggs.  This is important.
4.  Divide the batter evenly into the 3 cake pans.  Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake approximately 20 to 25 minutes until golden and firm when touched. 
5.  Remove cakes from the oven and cool.  Run a thin knife around the edge of each cake and very gently work the cakes out of the pans.  Set aside.
Assembling the cake:  Place one cake layer onto a plate.  Spread half of the lemon curd evenly over the top.  Repeat with another cake layer and the remaining lemon curd.  Top with the third cake layer.  Spread generously with the Swiss Meringue (recipe here) and using a kitchen torch, brown to your heart's delight !

  * If you do not have a torch you can brown the meringue in your oven at 375˚F.  Keep a close watch until it is tipped with gold.  Be sure that the cake is on an oven-proof plate!