lemon curd cake

so i made an AWESOME lemon curd cake- it was SO GOOD: i think it was moist & tasty because of the lemon curd that is actually incorporated into the batter:

Lemon Curd Cake:
(from Emily Luchetti's Four-Star Desserts)

Curd Ingredients:
4 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Cake Ingredients:
2 cups sifted cake flour
2 1/4 cup granulated sugar (divided into 3/4 cup & 1 1/2 cup)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp (=half stick=2 oz) unsalted butter, softened at room temp.
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
6 large egg whites

To make the lemon curd:
Fill a medium pot 1/3 full of water and bring to a very low boil. In a medium heatproof bowl whisk together egg yolks, egg, 1/2 cup sugar. Whisk in 1/2 cup lemon juice. Set the bowl over the pot of water making sure water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thick, about 10 minutes. Strain the curd into a bowl. Place plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the curd (to prevent a skin from forming). Chill curd until cold (but it's okay to chill it until it's cooled down to room temperature).

To make the cake:
Preheat oven to 325. °Butter and flour a 9-inch round x 3-inch high cake pan. Sift together cake flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, mix together butter, lemon juice, zest, and cooled lemon curd. Stir in dry ingredients. Using the whisk attachment, in the bowl of a stand mixer beat the egg whites on medium speed until frothy. Increase speed to high and gradually add the 1 1/2 cup sugar. Whip until soft peaks form. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into batter. Spread batter into you prepared cake pan.
Bake at 325° until cake tester comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes.
Cool on rack and then remove cake from pan.
Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

it got rave reviews at work (i brought it in for a co-worker's b-day) and it TOTALLY beat out the other lady's homemade ice-cream cake (i felt a little bad because i could tell she was a little off-put because people seemed to appreciate my cake little more. she's a wicked nice lady so i didn't want her feeling to be hurt so i had a piece of her cake too and went on & on about it- she puffed up a little after that so i think she'll be ok) there was a lack of communication so my co-worker got 2 wonderful homemade cakes & they were both devoured. i managed to steal a little sliver of the lemon cake to bring home to brandon because i know he'll love it.