Citrus cake, inspired by travels to morocco and decorated with a citrus tree

Last year my grandma and i travelled around morrocco and saw oranges growing everywhere.

The markets there were full of the oranges and their blossoms, for orange blossom water.

Our driver stopped and picked up a huge sack of them to share around on the coach. I ate so many on that trip, I definitely had my full intake of vitamin c.

This cake is a Lemon and orange cake with citrus curd and frosted in torched lemon meringue.

A citrus lovers cake, full of zingy lemon and orange flavours.

I added some candied peel that i had left over from Christmas into the sponge and used it to decorate the tree. Its called Italian mixed peel, like this.

I love citrus flavours, so this time of year i am in my element.

I had loads of lemons that needed using, but rather than a plain lemon cake, I decided to add some orange too.

The frosting is made by whisking egg whites, sugar and lemon juice over a pan of boiling water until stiff meringue in made.

I was going to use my usual mascarpone and cream, but i feel like i do that frosting all the time.

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I have had this decoration idea in my head since last march, but only now was reminded of it.

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You don’t have to torch the meringue, as it is already cooked when it is whipped over the hot water.

Above it what it looked like with out the blow torch and with two smaller trees.

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Citrus cake

Notes

The peel i used is this one

I used three shallow baking tins that are approx 7 to 8 inches.

If you have not made a water meringue before then It will feel a bit odd to add liquid into it, But go with it.

I adapted a recipe years ago and swapped the 1/4 cup water from that recipe with lemon juice and loved the sweet tangy flavour.

To see a traditional version i have found a recipe for it here, However i think i had originally seen it on the bake off or in a Mary Berry book.

Tree instructions and template

To make the tree you will need;

• 70g chocolate, i used a mix of white and milk as i wanted paler branches but you can use dark or what ever you prefer.
• Fresh leafy thyme
• Candied peel
• Sheet of edible wafer paper
• Green edible lustre dust

Equipment

• Piping bag
• Paint brush
• Scissors

The night before, or a few hours in advance, paint the edible paper with green lustre dust mixed with water and leave to dry on a cooling rack.

The paper will be very flexible and look weird when wet but will dry hard again.

Once Dry cut out lots of little leaves, If you want you could skip this step and just use fresh thyme leaves. Use soft leafy thyme.

Trim the candied peel into circles, (It is usually in small square chunks so just trim the edges off).

resize the template to the size you want, and print and place underneath a sheet of baking paper. (alternatively free style it)

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over boiling water and add into a piping bag.

let it cool for one minute then pipe the tree.

Place on the leaves and peel to look like citrus fruit around all the branches.

As the chocolate starts cool you will be able to stick in the leaves at a more 3d angle.

Once assembled, chill in the fridge for 5 to 10 minutes, then carefully peel off of the paper.

Place onto cake, and gently press so it is attached to the cake.

Add some thyme, edible paper leaves and some more candied peel around it.

Finally add some thyme around the cake and add some leaves onto the meringue trees you piped earlier if you did that.

Template

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Love citrus? check out my zesty carrot cake or my clementine and whisky marmalade.