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!
