When I eat a lemon cake, I want it to be singing with the flavour of the fruit. I want a proper citrus explosion in my mouth. To do this, I team my lemon sponge cake with a lemon soaking syrup, lemon curd and vanilla buttercream.

Equipment you will need : two 15cm round cake tins (each at least 7.5cm deep); medium saucepan; whisk; rubber spatula.

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan.

• Grease and line your two cake tins and set them aside.

• In a saucepan, gently melt the butter over a low heat to avoid it bubbling. Once melted, remove the pan from the heat, add in the caster sugar with the vanilla and use a whisk to combine until fully incorporated and a thick paste has formed.

• Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl or jug, then add to the butter and sugar and mix until fully incorporated.

• Swap your whisk for a spatula and fold in the flour until a smooth batter has formed. Add the lemon zest and stir briefly to distribute it evenly.

• Weigh out half of the batter (approx. 470g) into each lined tin and level the surface.

• Bake for 40–45 minutes until the sponges are cooked all the way through.

• Take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tins for about 5 minutes.

• Pop the cakes out of the tins by pushing up from the bottom with your hand, remove the baking paper and leave on a wire rack until cooled completely.

• Wrap the sponges in clingfilm or place them in an airtight container overnight until you are ready to fill and decorate them.
  
  For the coffee sponge cake:
  
  I’d be hard pushed to pick my favourite flavour for a cake, but coffee is right up there. Done properly, coffee cake is the perfect balance of sweetness and earthiness, a flavour that is enhanced with chocolate or coffee buttercream, and even the addition of some nuts.
  
  Method:

• Follow the lemon cake recipe above, omitting the lemon zest but adding 60ml espresso to the melted butter and sugar.

• If you wish to add nuts, you can fold in 100 g roughly chopped pecans or walnuts after you've folded in the flour.

Adapted from: ‘Georgia’s Cakes: A step-by-step masterclass to make every cake a showstopper’ (Pavilion Books).

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Find Georgia's ultimate sponge cake recipe (vanilla version) here.