Lemon Strawberry Cream Puff Cake

For the lemon curd:
In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk together, then whisk in the sugar until combined.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the lemon juice and zest until hot, but not boiling.

Slowly pour the hot lemon juice into the egg mixture, whisking constantly while pouring. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is thick enough to cling to the back of the spoon, about 3 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter until combined. Stir in the cream, vanilla and salt. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a small bowl. Cover the lemon curd with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd and refrigerate until ready to use.

For the cream puff:
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Lightly grease the sides and bottom of a 9 1/2 inch springform pan and set aside. In a medium saucepan, bring the butter, water and sugar to a boil. Add the flour all at once and stir the mixture quickly until it starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and keep stirring until the mixture is smooth, then allow it to cool for 5 minutes.

Using a handheld electric mixer, add the eggs one at a time into the mixture and beat until it is smooth and shiny. Spread the mixture in the bottom, and about an inch up the sides of the prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until it is golden brown and crisp to the touch.

Take it out of the oven and poke it all over, 10-12 times, with a toothpick (there shouldn’t be a lot of sticky batter on the toothpick after poking the puff, if there is bake it a little longer). Then turn the oven off, put the cake back in the oven and prop the door open with a wooden spoon. Allow it to dry in the propped open oven for about 30-45 minutes. Then take it out to cool completely. I removed it from the pan at this point and carefully transferred it to a cooling rack.

For the berries:
Toss the strawberries together with the sugar in a bowl and place in the refrigerator until needed.

For the cream filling:
In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the cream cheese until it is smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar, and whip the mixture until it is light and fluffy. Add in the heavy cream, lemon zest and vanilla and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. At this point, if you’re not ready to assemble the cake you can keep the prepared cream in a covered bowl in the refrigerator.

Assemble the cake. Spread the lemon curd over the bottom of the cream puff shell. Then spread the cream filling over top of the lemon curd, and pile the strawberries on top of the cream filling. Slice and serve!

Lemon curd recipe from Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book and the cream puff cake is slightly adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe.