Lemon Cake
Or as the French like to say…. Cake au Citron.
It’s so good. It’s a ray of sunshine in your mouth - and the poached lemon slices are an added bonus (I made extra so I could eat them!). This recipe is a bit more labor intensive than I normally like but it’s actually very easy to throw together. You just need to do the lemons the day before or at the start of the day. The recipe is adapted from the Laduree cookbook. One of my favorite hideaways in Paris when I was living there. You could pop upstairs and have a delicious meal (with some of the most perfect french fries I’ve ever had) and tea - grab a box of macarons and your day would be divine.
Give this cake a try! It has no baking soda / baking powder - instead it has yeast! But used in a non traditional way - mixed into the flour and then mixed into the wet ingredients. The result is something unique and unusual.
Oven at 410 to start - then 350. Loaf pan, regular - 8.5x4.5x2.5
Lemon Slices *do this first
3-4 lemons
1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
Lemon cake batter
5tbsp/75g butter
1 2/3 cup / 210g all-purpose flour
1tsp / 5g active dry yeast
1ea lemon, zested
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 ea eggs
1/2 cup + 1tbsp heavy cream
2 tbsp whiskey or rum
pinch of flaked sea salt
Lemon Syrup
1/2 water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
Glaze
2oz jelly - I used Rosehip
1tblp water
Lemon Slices: using a good pairing knife cut lemons into very thin slices. Bring water and sugar to a simmer and add lemon slices. Poach over low heat - just under boiling - for 20-30 minutes. They will be soft and delicious! Transfer to a container and put in fridge overnight or 12 hours.
Cake: Butter and flour loaf pan. Get your poached lemon slices and set aside about 6 for decorative top. Gather 1/2 cup and cut in half or quarters. Melt butter. Mix together flour and yeast. Put lemon zest and sugar in mixing bowl - mix. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well. Add cream, whiskey and salt. Fold in flour mixture, poached lemon slices and melted butter.
Put batter in pan and put in oven. After about 15 minutes take loaf pan out and slice down the middle through the top crust that has formed. You should do this quickly and about 1 inch deep with a good pairing knife. Don’t worry if the crust isn’t fully formed - it should work! Turn the oven down to 350 and put cake back in. Bake another 45 minutes to an hour. Toothpick or knife inserted in the middle should come out clean.
I baked mine in a glass loaf pan and it seemed as if the edges were burning before the middle was fully baked - it turned out perfect - so don’t fret!
Make the lemon syrup - bring all ingredients to a boil.
Unmold cake onto a plate - pour warm lemon syrup over cake. Do this 2-3 times. I did this by picking up the loaf and putting it on the counter - pouring the syrup back into the sauce pan from the plate and repeating 3 times!
Put cake onto your serving plate - top with reserved poached lemons.
Make the glaze - jelly and water in saucepan - whisk over heat. Take off heat and cool slightly - you want it thick but pourable. Pour over cake - using a brush if you’d like for the sides and scooping up extra from the plate back onto the cake!
ENJOY!!!!!