A tantalising glimpse of my behind...

...the scenes cake.
Perhaps that's a rather odd title for a cake, but, to some at least, it may sound a bit more appealing than plain old "lemon cake with lemon cheesecake icing".

 

Behind-the-scenes cake

 

Allow me to explain why I'm calling it "behind-the-scenes cake"....

A good quote that I came across recently reads as follows:

"The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel"

It is certainly true that, in the world of social media, we like to put our best foot forward, to project success, and to share our "highlight reel" with the world. When we blog, tweet or update our status, on some level, we're really engaging in a form of self-promotion, from the "#humble brag" to out-and-out, unashamed gloating. Am I wrong? For my part, I've censored any perceived "#baking fails", and generally only blogged about "successful" items I've baked (i.e. things that I think look pretty, professional and inviting), but times they are a-changin'. In the past, I might have omitted the above cake on the basis that it's quite ugly, but now, here I am exposing it to you. You'll just have to trust me when I tell you that it does taste delicious - really moist and tangy, and the mascarpone, cheesecake filling with lemon pulp is lovely. I used a Mary Berry recipe which was featured in a BBC masterclass. You can find it here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/whole_lemon_cake_with_40866

The recipe says to use four free-range eggs, but it doesn't specify whether to use small, medium or large eggs. With my new-found confidence in tweaking recipes and making bold, big-girl baking decisions for myself (see blog below), I decided to throw in an extra egg (I used five medium eggs). This seemed to work well. I also substituted butter for margarine. Is there no stopping me now? 

To make the cake look more pretty, professional and inviting, I would recommend sifting the fondant icing sugar before adding the lemon juice. This will result in a smoother, glossy finish without unsightly lumps. 

 

 As you can see from this cross-section, my sponge layers aren't very even, as a I made a bit of a hash of slicing each sponge in half. I think I'll use a serrated knife next time.

Anyway, I hope you haven't objected to me exposing my lumpy, behind-the-scenes bits with you. Let's hope it doesn't count as over-sharing.