Sunday, July 11, 2010

Magazine Monday #62: Roasted Lemon Cake

I rarely go to the liquor store, but other people I know go regularly, and one of those someones brought back a recent copy of Taste Magazine, which is put out by the BC Liquor Stores. This is the first time I've made a recipe from the magazine, and the occasion was Father's Day. Lemons, as it happened, were on sale at the time! The original recipe involved a lavender syrup, but as I didn't have any access to lavender, I skipped it altogether.

Roasted Lemon Cake, adapted Taste Magazine Spring 2010, page 129

4 large lemons, washed well & dried
6 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup ground almonds
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs, beaten

1. Preheat oven to 375C. Grease sides of a 9" round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment.

2. Slice lemons thinly & remove seeds. Place them in a layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper & sprinkle with the 6tbsp of sugar. Roast for about 15 minutes or until lightly caramelized on the edges. Let cool.

3. Arrange 3/4 of the lemon slices on the bottom of the cake pan. Chop the remaining lemons & set aside. Sift flour & baking powder into a bowl & stir in almonds. In a separate bowl, beat butter & sugar together until light & fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well mixed. Fold in flour mixture, and add chopped lemons & accumulated juices. Spread batter over roasted lemons. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until done in the centre. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes at least before turning out of the pan. Serve with whipped cream.


This was a hit with my family. The cake was so moist it was pretty much pudding-like. The lemony flavour was over the top. Unfortunately, the cake was so moist that it was hard to serve nicely because it kept breaking up. Also, the lemons I got were particularly thick-skinned, which was kind of annoying: more skin than fruit really, and it got pretty chewy at times. Still, a really worthwhile and adaptable recipe that I can see going well with other citrus fruits like oranges or even grapefruit.

Enjoy!

9 comments:

Tina said...

Oh wow! I Love lemon. LOVE it...this is definitely something we'll be trying.

I have much to tell you about the bread making but bottom line - it worked...all thanks to you.

I hope my lemon cake comes out as well as yours.

creampuff said...

Wow, this is really intriguing. I love the roasted lemon angle. Nice!

Future Grown-Up said...

this is my idea of citrus heaven. Yummy!

Bob said...

I love the whole lemons in there, must have given it a great flavor.

Judith said...

Since the recipe came from a liquor store book, where is the alcohol in it and what is the alcohol in it? Years ago I made a steamed ginger pudding. The recipe said to grease the bowl then line the bowl with thinly sliced oranges then pour in the ginger pudding batter. It was a good idea but the oranges didn't taste good. Perhaps if they were roasted and caramelized first it would taste better? Might be worth a 2nd try!

Wandering Coyote said...

Mom: oh, there is no booze in this cake! That would be awesome, though...A little bit of lemoncello...? Yeah, even though this came from the liquor store magazine, there isn't any liquor in it. It's just part of a menu they provide, along with wine pairings and stuff like that.

Carla and Michael said...

This sounds delightful. I think this sounds like a cake that I have seen made with lemons and rosemary. Must give these adaptations a try.
Thanks.

Wandering Coyote said...

Carla & Michael:

You know, I'm not sold on rosemary in desserts...I know there is a current trend with using savoury herbs in sweet stuff, but it just doesn't do it for me.

That being said, I did have a lovely sage & vanilla creme brulee once that was totally wicked, so I'm not completely opposed to it! :D

The Food Hunter said...

this will be perfect when our lemon tree ripens this year. thanks

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