This gluten-free cake is light and tangy thanks to whipping up the egg whites, a lemon curd filling and bursts of berry freshness throughout. It's from Little & Friday Every Meal (Penguin, 2016).  The cafe has grown a delicious reputation over the last few years.

160 g softened butter

3/4 c icing sugar

4 eggs, separated

1 tsp baking powder

2 c ground almonds

4 Tbsp lemon juice

zest from 4 lemons

pinch salt

1 c frozen berries (eg raspberries, blueberries)

1/2 c lemon curd

1/2 c mascarpone or whipped cream 

icing sugar to dust

side topping, optional: flaked almonds or coconut

Preheat oven to 160C. Line a 20 cm round cake tin with baking paper.

Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Whisk in egg yolks one at a time.

Sift in the baking powder and ground almonds and mix together with the lemon juice and zest.

In another bowl whisk the egg whites and salt until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold in the egg white a 1/3 at a time into the batter.

Spread half the batter into your cake tin and sprinkle half the berries on top. Cover with the rest of the batter and sprinkle with remaining berries.

Bake for 20 minutes then turn cake around, lower temperature to 160C and bake for a further 15-20 minutes until cooked through.

Cool in the tin on a wire rack, then turn out to cool completely.

Use a serrated knife to cut cake in half horizontally.

Place the bottom half on your serving plate and cover with half the lemon curd and cream. Put the top half on top. Spread the sides with the rest of the lemon curd and cover with flaked almonds or coconut if you like. Dust the top with icing sugar.