Lemon Mirror Glaze cake

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 340F. Line 8in cake pan with parchment paper and brush melted butter on the paper. The parchment paper makes it easier to remove without breaking the cake!
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
3. Mix in the vegetable oil. Then add the lemon extract.
4. Combine the flour and baking powder very well mixed, else the sponge will have uneven holes. Mix the flour into the batter and pour into the prepared tin. Smooth the surface.
5. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Do the first check at 35min by gently shaking the pan, it should not wiggle in the center. Also press down lightly on the middle and it should rebound. Leave to cool before adding the lemon curd layer.
6. Making the Lemon curd:
7. For the lemon curd, make while the cake is baking, as it needs to chill! Whisk together all the ingredients in a saucepan. Heat gently, stirring every now and then, until thickened. Thickening will occur suddenly. Set aside to cool completely. Put in the refrigerator to cool faster.
8. Slice the cake in half horizontally. I use two large cake knives to assist lifting off the top half. Spoon on the lemon curd on lower half, spreading to the edges and reasonably flat. I think a bit of curd spilling out adds good color. Place the upper half on top! Keep cake on a preparation plate at this point.
9. Making the mirror glaze:
10. This is essentially a curd. Whisk together lemon juice, sugar, butter, cornstarch, & egg yolks. Heat gently, stirring continuously, until thickened. Thickening will occur suddenly. Turn off the heat.
11. Quickly pour gelatin into a teacup and add 2 tbs cold water, stir. As soon as wet, spoon into the curd. Stir vigorously to spread the gelatin.
12. Pour the glaze through a sieve. This is important to remove any solid bits.
13. Stir the glaze occasionally until it cools down a bit. Place the glaze bowl into another bowl of ice cubes to hurry it.
14. When glaze has started to thicken just a bit, pour over the cake. Capture excess and re-pour as needed. Don’t wait too long to pour as the glaze will thicken beyond making a nice coating! Here is a video of my mirror glaze: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5ns7gDJXoA