Lemon Cake with Almond Flour
As I write, California is experiencing terrible fires. Here are some ways to help:
The United Way is helping people affected by the Camp Fire.
The American Red Cross is also accepting donations.
The North Valley Community Foundation is accepting donations.
To help animals impacted by the fires, the Conscious Cat has some great links.
Spunky’s Rescue Ranch, in Malibu, California, burned to the ground. Mary Rickards, the woman who ran the ranch, lost her home. You can donate via paypal to Mdrickards@aol.com or help the ranch via their gofundme.
(Full disclosure: I learned about Spunky’s through an Instagram friend. She did not ask me to share this and doesn’t know I’m doing so.)
—
We purchased our home from a bank and know little about the house’s former inhabitants. We do know were extremely fond of turquoise, a shade they slathered indoors and out. Turquoise is impossible to paint over.
Example. Not our house. Imagine painting over that door.
Our home’s former inhabitants were also fond of fruit trees. Pear, cherry, and Asian pear trees randomly dot the yard. For good measure, they planted a lemon tree smack in the middle of everything.
It’s kind of a mess. (The yard and the tree.)
The lemon tree is a Lisbon, a common California varietal (not that I had a clue until consulting the Internet Arboretum). Until this year, the lemon tree reliably produced a single winter crop, which yours truly dutifully pickled, baked, zested, and squeezed over anything that stood still.
A few months ago, Mr. IK took pity on the poor tree and decided to feed it whatever you feed trees (Insert Throwing Muses joke here.)
The tree, it was very happy with whatever Mr. IK fed it. I mean, it went tree beserk. And now your hostess is awash in lemons.
A lemon glut is what well-meaning and perhaps sanctimonious types call a first-world problem. These types are not wrong. But a person can preserve only so many lemons.
Enter lemon cake.
You’d think there would be a zillion lemon cake recipes in the world. There are not. Trust me on this. Lemon desserts, yes. Billions and billions, as our friend Carl Sagan once said in another context.
But we’re talking lemon cake, as in, the particular sadness of. (I’m sorry, I had to work that in.)
Yours truly was on the hunt for a certain type of a lemon cake. A breakfasty cake.
By “breakfasty” I mean a lemon cake without fussy toppings. A cake that freezes willingly and doesn’t throw a hissy about defrosting. A cake that won’t develop ice crystals or go soggy in the freezer. A cake I can feed to my husband and his caregiver, who shows up three mornings a week at the crack of dawn. A person who does that deserves a decent piece of lemon cake.
Meet the star of our post, a lemon cake with almond flour. The original recipe comes from Shanna Masters, a longtime contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Her recipe for lemon polenta pound cake appears in San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook, volume 1. My take departs significantly from the original, but I believe in giving credit where it is due.
This recipe requires beating both the egg whites and yolks with sugar. Performing said operation requires a stand mixer, handheld electric beaters, or both. Many recipe writers blithely assume all bakers have both. For years I had neither. I’m now using a mixer on its last legs and the beater attachment for my stick blender. So long as you possess one electric appliance capable of beating air into eggs, you can bake this lemon cake. The recipe is takes this into account.
If you cannot afford a stand mixer, stick blenders with beater attachments make excellent stand-ins. Mine cost $50.
Having nattered on crazily and at length, I should tell you lemon pound cake with almond flour keeps amazingly well at room temperature and does indeed freeze well. It may be eaten plain, with confectioner’s sugar, alongside ice cream, or served with lemon curd, creme fraiche, or fruit.
Lemon Pound Cake with Almond Flour
yield: one small cake
Preparation time: about one hour baking time; butter needs to be at room temperature before baking.
1/2 cup/4 ounces/125 g almond flour
1 cup/8 ounces/225 g all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon table salt, divided in 2 1/4 teaspoons
3 large eggs, separated
1 stick/four ounces/125 g unsalted butter, softened
12 ounces/340g white sugar, divided into 1 cup/225g and 1/4 cup/56g
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice from 2-3 fresh lemons
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons whole milk or half-and-half
Instructions
You will need a large bowl and a medium-sized loaf pan to bake this cake. As noted above, you need either a stand mixer or handheld electric beaters, too. The recipe is written for readers with either one or both items. Please read the recipe through to see which baking variation applies. You’ll also need a small bowl for the lemon juice, zest, and milk.
Remove the butter from refrigerator a few hours before baking.
Place oven rack in middle position. Preheat to 350F/180C.
Butter an 8×4 inch/20x10x6cm loaf pan. A comparably sized pan is fine.
Mix the almond flour, all-purpose flour, and one-quarter teaspoon of the salt in the big bowl. Blend with a large fork or whisk. Set aside.
I pour the dairy, lemon juice, and zest into the same small bowl, because it’s added at the same time. It saves washing up. The milk may appear curdled. It’s okay.
Separate the eggs.
If you have a hand mixer and a stand mixer, beat the egg whites with the second quarter teaspoon salt in a large bowl until foamy, a minute or so. Gradually add the cup of sugar, taking care not to spatter the whites. The mixture will turn bright white and triple in size. Blend until bright white and whites hold firm peaks, about five minutes.
If you only have a stand mixer, beat whites using your mixer, with the whisk attachment. Have an immaculately clean large bowl and spatula ready. Using the spatula, scrape the beaten egg whites into your waiting bowl. You don’t need to wash to mixing bowl. Just set it back on the mixer and continue with the recipe.
If you are working with just a hand mixer, move the beaters from the egg whites to a second large clean bowl. Proceed with recipe.
Cream butter in standing or hand mixer/bowl with remaining 1/4 cup sugar until butter is fluffy, three to five minutes.
Add egg yolks, one at a time, blending well, scraping down bowl with spatula if necessary.
Alternately add the lemon juice/dairy mixture with large spoonfuls of the flour mix to the butter mixture. Mix on low until just blended. Fold in egg whites until just blended. Do not overmix.
Tip batter into the baking pan, smooth top, and set pan in oven. Bake for about an hour. Cake is done when tester comes out clean. Cake will appear browned on top, pull slightly from sides and smell lemony.
Cool on rack for about 20 minutes before tipping out of pan. Allow to cool before slicing.
Lemon pound cake keeps, wrapped or in a cake dome, on counter for 4-5 days. Freezes, well-wrapped, up to three months. Excellent with lemon curd, fruit, creme fraiche, or ice cream.
Note: The original recipe called for condensed milk, which I never have around. I used half-and-half, which is half milk, half heavy cream with great success. Regular milk will also work.
I have baked this cake with fine almond flour and coarser almond meal. Both worked well, but I thought the finer almond flour gave a nicer result.
