Meyer Lemon Cake by DK on Feb 7, 2011
As I mentioned already in my previous post, I have been trying out various desserts and savory snacks for entertaining. The month of December and January have been v fruitful for my bookmarks folder since I actually managed to deplete a considerable number (at last!!!). Amongst that list was this Meyer Lemon Cake from Saveur.com. I had been eying it for long but as I have already mentioned, there are no takers for desserts in my house. Hence kept pushing it in the back burner. So, with the times looking good for desserts now, this was probably the first cake I made. I just have to say this - Even WE LOVED it! Its THAT good. I faced few hiccups while making this but it did nothing to dampen the taste. It was a total hit to the extent that I did not have to resort to the usual "Find-neighbors-and-friends-to-distribute".
I ate at least 1 and a half slice all by myself with my other half gobbling up two whole pieces! That's a LOT to those who know us. Its a MUST try recipe, especially if you are planning on a spicy main course. This cake sorts of refreshes your whole mouth giving it a fresh feeling.I made few changes to the recipe to suit our preferences and availability. I reduced the amount of butter a bit replacing it with oil. The whole eggs were replaced with egg whites. I also found that I only had 1 tbsp of lemon extract left while the recipe required 2tbsp. So I used additional of 2 tbsp of lemon zest to substitute the lemon extract.
Meyer lemons are a hybrid of regular lemons and Mandarin orange. Meyer lemon is much less tart than regular lemons and has a light sweetness that probably comes from the Mandarin Orange . Its flavor is much more floral and less astringent. You can substitute the Meyer lemon for regular lemons in most recipes, as long as you keep in mind that the Meyer lemon is less tart, slightly sweeter, and has a more floral and complex flavor. If using regular lemons in this recipe, you probably would have to increase the sugar a little bit to counter the acidity of regular lemons. I have not tried it yet hence I am not sure of the amount although since you probably are using the juice only for the glaze, you can do a taste test before pouring it out on the cake.
- Cook time:
- Prep time:
- Serves: 8+ people
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp melted butter
- 2 tbsp. fine dry wholegrain flax bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup whole blanched almonds
- 1-1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 3/4 tsp. fine salt
- 1- 1/3 cups plus 2 tbsp. sugar
- 4 egg whites
- 1/2 cup 2% fat milk, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp. lemon extract
- 4 tbsp. Meyer lemon zest
- Juice of 2 meyer lemons
Tips
If you want to Bake using Microwave pls refer to these articles
1) How to Bake in Microwave
2) How to Bake in Microwave Convection Oven
For making Substitutions please refer my handy chart
1) Baking substitutions
2) Egg Substitutions
Method
1.
Heat oven to 350°.
My Notes:
The recipe suggests using a loaf pan 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" x 2 3/4" . It also insists using light-colored metal loaf pan since dark-colored loaf pan will cause the cake to overbrown. They also mention that glass or Pyrex loaf pans are not excellent conductors of heat as well as metal. Since I did not have a metal loaf pan (I only have glass) I went for a round cake pan. Instead of butter I greased it with PAM oil spray and then dusted it with the bread crumbs.
Invert and tap out excess crumbs; set aside.
2.
In a food processor, grind the almonds until very fine, about 1 minute; set aside. In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
3.
Put the butter and oil into a large bowl and add 1 cup of the sugar. Mix with an electric mixer on low speed until combined, about 1 minute.
4.
Add the egg whites beating just long enough to incorporate.
5.
Add the flour mixture and milk mixture in 3 batches,beginning and ending with the flour.
6.
Beat until mixed after each addition, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, about 3 minutes total.
7.
Mix in the lemon extract. With the spatula, fold in the lemon zest and ground almonds.
8.
Pour the batter into prepared pan
9.
and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean and dry, about 65 minutes.
My Notes:
My Oven usually gets hot faster and quicker. So I normally do not use the prescribed Oven temp. in a given recipe. I always reduce about 20 deg and check about 15 min before the allotted cooking time. Inspite of doing this, I found that my cake was browned at the bottom, on the sides and it was done at the 32 minute mark. The top alas was almost cream/white colored and not browned. I did not want to bake further since my cake was done. I think it might be cos I used a deep pan. I wondered if it might affect the taste but to my pleasant surprise it did not. The Cake was mind blowing delicious.
Transfer the pan to a cooling rack.
10.
Prepare the glaze: Combine remaining sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring, until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. (Do not boil.)
11.
Brush the glaze over the hot cake.
12.
(The excess liquid may pool along the sides of the pan; it will absorb completely as it sits.) Once the cake has absorbed all the liquid, turn it out of the pan and allow it to cool on a rack.
Once it's cool, wrap the cake with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 24 hours before serving.
My Notes: The glaze was well absorbed and the taste hits you like breath of fresh air. It reminded me of the cool drink Fanta (or was it Mirinda?!) which I used to enjoy back in India. I sliced the top (the sadly unbrowned part of the cake) to level it since it was a little domed in appearance. Then I placed it brown side on top and served it.
Though the recipe insisted on a 24 hr sitting time, I simply could not keep my hands off and sliced it within 3 hours of baking. It tasted immensely delicious and I find that after the sitting time, the lemony taste mellowed a bit having been absorbed throughout the cake. But nevertheless its still lemony and spongy.
Filed Under these categories
- 226 American
- 51 Cakes
- 227 Desserts/Sweets
- 77 Healthy Baking
- 705 Kid Friendly
Recipe Reference
recipe adapted from saveur.com
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1 Member Reviews
By Sandhya on Feb 9, 2011
21 Comments
By poorva on Mar 5, 2015
Hi dk.. Love this site.n love your thought process and your desire to feed your family yummy but healthy n fresh food. For this cake,we do not get Meyer lemons in India. Since I don't know how strong it tastes, I m wondering if it can be made with oranges? If so, can u pls tell me the quantity of the glaze ( I have no clue how much juice we get from 2 Meyer lemons. Thanks
By sana on Jan 23, 2013
I made the cake today for my anniversary. It is awesome, but I don't know what to do with the whole cake as we are only two and my husband barely eats sweet. My cake is drier, how do I take care of that? Should I make more syrup and pour it over the cake? Thanks!
By NVK on Aug 16, 2012
Hi, thanks for the awesome recipe! However, my batter split when I added the lemon zest and the cake didn't rise and was hard. I was really disappointed. Can you tell me why this happened? Any thing I should take care of next time when I try this cake?
By Smriti on Dec 25, 2011
Hello DK, Finally did I try this wonderful citrus cake on christmas, and the cake didnt raise to its expected level. :( I thought maybe its a bit under-baked, so kept it more 15mins more, and to my dismay it turned hard! also it sticks when i tasted it.. :cry: Could you help me to understand what could have possibly been wrong..
By tina on May 25, 2011
:) can we have an egless version of this please
I have given egg sub chart in my Tips section. Pls refer to make this eggless :)
By Eunice on Apr 6, 2011
This is awesome! I'm giving this recipe two thumbs-up! I just love how you added meyer lemon on your cake. I'm quite excited to try the recipe for myself! Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe!
By CurryLeaf on Feb 10, 2011
AWESOME :-P Can imagine the lemony aroma.I have never tried meyer lemons
By Apu on Feb 8, 2011
Adore citrus bakes!! The cake looks super!!
By sonia on Feb 8, 2011
Awesome lemon cake...looking so fresh that its difficult to resist !
By latha on Feb 8, 2011
Hi, what is Lemon extract...?
It is an concentrated oil taken from lemon peels
By anamika on Feb 8, 2011
gorgeous! this loooks like a must make! fallen for this fellas looks alone! :wink: unfortunately, i cant eat eggs! cna u help make this eggless...? i dare not try, given this reuired 4 eggwhites
4 egg whites is only 2 whole eggs that you can easily replace using the sub table I have provided. You can use milk/oil to replace
By Priya on Feb 8, 2011
Citrus flavoured cake looks super spongy and yuùmm!
By Vimitha on Feb 8, 2011
Looks soft and yummy... Wanna grab a slice... :)
By Rajani on Feb 7, 2011
looks delicious. would love a slice.
By Radhika on Feb 7, 2011
OMG, love the lemon in the cake.
By Uma on Feb 7, 2011
looks amazing. lovely cake.
By Ronda on Feb 7, 2011
I have been eying the same recipe! I just have not had the right crowd to feed it to. This is now on the short list for my birthday cake.
By Nishi on Feb 7, 2011
The cake looks so zesty and scrumptious divya. Lovely recipe :)
By Tweets that mention Best Meyer Lemon Cake Recipe | Chef In You -- Topsy.com on Feb 7, 2011
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by D_K, D_K. D_K said: If you love the freshness of lemon, then this cake is for you! Especially the taste of Meyer Lemon is mind blowing... http://fb.me/KmHyIfcg [...]
By Siri on Feb 7, 2011
That looks absolutely delicious :-D. I could eat the whole cake myself. :wink:
Siri
By Poorva on Jan 15, 2016