Mallorcan Lemon Cake

Just as no two people are the same, every baker is different from the next. While one likes to bake fancy layer cakes and decorate them artistically, the other prefers to bake simple cakes without much fuzz. Usually, I clearly tend towards the latter. Instead of standing in the kitchen for hours, I prefer to bake simple but good cakes and spend a lot of time eating them in the garden with my husband, a cup of tea and a begging dog under the table. So I rarely have the desire to produce lavishly decorated cakes.

The fact is that in addition to my unwillingness to bake fancy layered cakes, I have always felt a certain reluctance to eat them. Because fancy cakes are often just too sweet, too greasy and too uninteresting in terms of taste. That’s why, when in doubt, I always prefer a simple fruit tart instead.

We had a lot of birthday parties coming up recently. My mother-in-law turned 90 and a good friend wanted to celebrate his birthday in our garden. That’s when a normally unknown desire to bake a fancy cake came over me. With fluffy biscuit dough, buttercream and pretty decoration. But, of course, made with the most natural ingredients  and with a wonderful taste. For reasons known to you (if not known, read here) I have opted for a lemon-flavored cake. Because cream and lemon go very well together and give a rather heavy layer cake an elegant lightness.

My idea was to use a Mallorcan almond cake recipe as the basis. It’s gluten-free and consists of nothing but natural ingredients. For vegans, I’ve put an alternative dough at the bottom of the recipe. For the buttercream I mix a homemade lemon pudding with butter. This can also be vegan … or not.

PS: If you are still not into baking fancy cakes but feel like baking a simple Mallorcan almond cake without the fuzz, you can bake the dough in one portion in a 26 cm springform pan for about 40–50 minutes. Let cool and throw a few berries on top for serving – done!

And now my question for you: which group do you normally belong to? To the fancy cake bakers or the simple cake ones? I look forward to your comment under this post!

MALLORCAN LEMON CAKE

Servings 1 springform pan of 20 cm

Prep Time 1 hour hr

baking time and cooling time 2 hours hrs

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 9 eggs
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 180 ml maple syrup
• 1.5 tsp lemon oil
• 380 g ground almonds
• 3 tsp tartar baking powder

For the buttercream:

• 400 ml coconut milk
• 100 ml almond milk alternatively: coconut milk
• 5 tbsp maple syrup grade A or C
• 1 zest of untreated lemon grated
• 1/2 tsp lemon oil
• 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 25 g cornstarch
• 500 g soft butter normal or vegetable
• 3 tbsp erythritol powdered sugar finely grind erythritol in a food processor

To decorate:

• blossoms
• lemon slices
• lavender or rosemary
• berries

Alternative - Vegan spelt dough:

• 300 g spelt flour type 1050
• 90 g ground almonds
• 3 tsp tartar baking powder
• 2/3 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp lemon oil
• 4 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 150 ml maple syrup grade A or C
• 120 g coconut oil melted
• 300 g apple pulp

Equipment

• 20 cm springform pan

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 180 ° C top and bottom heat.
• Separate the eggs and mix the egg whites with the salt and beat until stiff.
• Mix the egg yolks with the maple syrup and lemon oil until smooth. Stir in the ground almonds and baking powder. Finally fold in the beaten egg white.
• Place a sheet of baking paper in a 20 cm springform pan. Grease the edges of the pan with coconut oil. Pour in a third of the dough and bake for about 20 minutes until a toothpick poked into the dough comes out clean. Bake the second and third portion of the dough in the same way.
• For the buttercream, heat coconut and almond milk together with maple syrup, grated lemon zest, lemon oil and lemon juice in a saucepan. Mix the corn starch with 3 tablespoons of water. As soon as the mixture begins to simmer in the saucepan, reduce the heat and stir in the cornstarch using a whisk. Simmer briefly while stirring, then let cool down completely. Stir well with a whisk from time to time.
• Let the butter soften at room temperature. The pudding and butter should become the same temperature. Cut the butter into pieces and add to the pudding. Whisk until smooth with a mixer. Finally stir in the erythritol powdered sugar. Keep in a cool place until the cream has set a little and can be processed further.

  NOTICE: It may happen that the buttercream curdles. Then heat 3 tablespoons of it in a saucepan until it has liquefied. Then mix with the rest of the cream.
• To finish the cake, place the first (completely cooled) base on a cake plate. Spread evenly with about 1/4 of the cream. Put on the second base and also coat 1/4 of the cream. Put on the third base and spread 1/4 of the cream on the surface. Use the last quarter to coat the sides. Refrigerate the cake until the cream has hardened.
• Finally, decorate the top of the cake with flowers, lavender, lemon slices and berries.

Wellcuisine-Tipp

For a different look, the sides can also remain cream-free. Then divide the cream into thirds and spread it only between the cake bases and on the top of the cake.

Wellcuisine Stefanie Reeb