Sweet, sour and savoury almond & lemon cake
Serves 10-12 | Preparation and baking time 60 min
This unconventional cake tastes like salty caramel, fruit chutney or sweetened bread.
Serves 10-12 | Preparation and baking time 60 min
This unconventional cake tastes like salty caramel, fruit chutney or sweetened bread.
Ingredients / Cake Crust
✧ 4 free range eggs
✧ 190 g/6.7 oz/0.42 lb canned lemons or 2 steamed (~30 min) whole lemons for a less salty bitter lemon cake
✧ 460 g/1 lb sweetened apple sauce (or apple jam – if so, reduce the amount of sugar)
✧ 150 g/5.3 oz/0.33 lb almond butter (canned, roasted almond paste)
✧ 300 g/10.6 oz/0.66 lb (~330 ml/1.4 cups) caster sugar
✧ 150 g/5.3 oz/0.33 lb (~150 ml/0.6 cups) crème fraîche/sour cream
✧ 150 ml/0.6 cups sunflower oil
✧ 260 g/9.2 oz/0.6 lb (~500 ml/2.1 cups) plain flour/apf
Ingredients / Icing
✧ 150 g/5.3 oz/0.33 lb (~150 m/0.6 cups) crème fraîche/sour cream
✧ 3 tablespoons sunflower oil
✧ 400 ml/1.7 cups icing sugar
✧ 3 teaspoons vanilla sugar
✧ 100 g/0.22 lb/3.5 oz cape gooseberries/physalis berries (save a few for garnish)
✧ a tiny dollop of red and yellow food coloring (optional)
✧ 2 tablespoons plain flour/apf
✧ 1 egg yolk
The Rest of the Ingredients
✧ 2 tablespoons soft butter and a handful of breadcrumbs to line the baking tray/tin
✧ 50 ml/0.2 cups lemon juice (squeezed or bottled)
✧ 100 ml/0.4 cups (~83 g/3 oz) caster sugar
✧ 100 ml/0.4 cups water
✧ 100 g/0.22 lb/3.5 oz nonpareils/hundreds and thousands
Instructions
- Line an edged baking tray with soft butter and breadcrumbs.
- Set the oven to 175°C/350°F/gas mark 4, no fan.
- Rinse the canned lemons for several minutes under running water to discard excess salt; drain well.
- For the crust, mix the eggs, canned lemons, apple sauce, almond butter, caster sugar, crème fraîche (150 g) and sunflower oil in a blender/mixer until smooth. If you use steamed lemons, halve them and discard the seeds before mixing.
- Mix the baking powder and flour and add into the mixture.
- Pour the batter evenly into the baking tray/tin and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes (until set, light brown and slightly detached from the edges).
- Mix 50 ml lemon juice and 100 ml water and dilute 100 ml of caster sugar in the liquid.
- Using a tablespoon, moisten the warm cake crust with the lemon juice mix.
- For the icing, mix the crème fraîche, sunflower oil, icing sugar, vanilla sugar, gooseberries and food coloring in a blender/mixer.
- Pour the icing mixture into a skillet/frying pan and turn on medium heat.
- Whisk 2 tablespoons of plain flour (preferably through a sieve) and an egg yolk into the mixture and blend carefully until the mixture thickens. Take aside and let cool.
- Spread the icing on top and sprinkle the nonpareils.
- Garnish with cape gooseberries.
Last edited:
. It was too savo(u)ry and unconventional for my palate. The physalis icing tasted nice - it might work well as a substitute for butter-cheese frosting on a carrot cake.