Strawberry Lemon Poppy Seed Cake - cooking recipe

Ingredients

4 medium eggs, separated
150 g caster sugar + 2 tbsp
2 tsp vanilla essence
50 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
70 g cornflour
1 None lemon, zested and juiced
3 tblsp poppy seeds
8 leaves gelatine
675 g strawberries, 325g halved
100 g icing sugar
600 g low fat cream cheese
700 g whipping cream
100 ml lemon juice

Preparation

Heat oven to 350\u00b0F. Beat the egg whites with 3 tbsp cold water until stiff. While still beating, slowly add 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. Stir in the egg yolks one at a time, then fold in the flour, baking powder and 1/3 cup cornstarch.
Gently stir in lemon zest and 2 tbsp poppy seeds, then transfer to a parchment paper lined 10 inch cake pan and bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack for about 3 hours.
Mix together 2 tbsp cold water and 2 tbsp cornstarch. Bring the juice of 1 lemon and 2 tbsp sugar to a boil, add the cornstarch mixture and stir for about 1 minute until thickened.
Dissolve gelatin according to package instructions. Place the whole strawberries in a blender along with the lemon mixture, powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and puree until smooth. Stir in the cream cheese and gelatin until fully incorporated. Beat 1 2/3 cups whipping cream until stiff and fold in to the mixture.
Take the cake from the pan, remove the parchment paper and cut cake into 3 layers. Build the cake by layering cake, 1/2 lb cut strawberries, half the strawberry cream, another layer of cake, the remaining half of the strawberry cream and the final layer of cake. Refrigerate for 3 hours
Mix 1/4 cup cream and 1/2 cup lemon juice until smooth. Whip 1 cup cream until stiff and stir in the lemon juice mixture. Spread all over the cake, refrigerate for another 20 minutes then serve topped with the remaining halved strawberries and 1 tbsp poppy seeds.