Celebrate the season with this summer sponge cake. It’s the perfect addition to any birthday or BBQ. The sponges are made with honey and grated courgette and are brushed with a lime and honey syrup as they come from the oven. Once cool, the cakes are sandwiched with a thick cream cheese frosting and zingy honey lime curd (see separate recipe). I decorated my cake with seasonal berries, edible flowers and a generous drizzle of the curd but you could keep things simple with some grated lime zest or colourful sprinkles.

Serves:     10 –12                          Preparation:  1 hour hands-on plus 30 minutes cooking plus cooling time

Ingredients
Cake mix:
120g + 20g    Honey
50g                Caster sugar
3                    Eggs
150g             Vegetable oil (flavourless)
250g             Courgettes
3                    Limes
250g             Wholemeal flour
1tsp              Baking powder
0.5tsp           Bicarbonate of soda 

Topping and filling:
250g             Cream cheese, very soft
125g             Butter, very soft
80g               Caster sugar
Pinch            Salt
150g            Honey lime curd (see separate recipe)
Berries and flowers to decorate  

Tip:   Choose a flavourless oil such as a light olive oil, or sunflower oil

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan) and line two 20cm diameter tins with baking parchment. 
2. Grate the courgettes and squeeze out excess liquid (250g will become closer to 200g).
3. Whisk 120g honey, 50g caster sugar, eggs and oil until the mixture is frothy and the honey has dissolved (2–3 mins).
4. Stir in the zest of 1 lime and the courgette followed by the sifted flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, adding any sifted flour bran back into the mixture. Stir gently until there are no patches of flour and divide between the tins.
5. Bake for 30 minutes and, while the cakes are baking, make a honey and lime syrup by dissolving 20g of honey in the juice of 2–3 limes (60ml juice). Use a little gentle heat if needed.
6. Once cooked, brush the hot cakes with the syrup and leave in the tins to fully cool.   
7. Make the frosting by whipping together the very soft butter and cream cheese. It’s important that they are at the same temperature to prevent curdling. If you’re unsure, heat them separately in a microwave in 10 second bursts before beating together. Once smooth, whisk in the 80g of caster sugar and salt. Chill the mixture for 30–45 minutes if it is too slack. If chilling for longer, bring it back to room temperature so you can spread it.
8. Once the cakes are completely cool, sandwich them with half of the cream cheese mixture and several generous spoonfuls of lime curd. Spread the remaining frosting on the top and decorate with more lime curd, berries and edible flowers.