Easy to make,this cake won’t be acidic, but you will taste lemon flavour for sure ! Perfect for kids and adults, this lemon cake is always a hit. This cake is the definition of simplicity, yummy and tasty. Feel free to tag me on instagram at @theparisbest_baking so I can repost your post. I would be so glad to see your creation and read your feedback about the recipe.
This recipe is for 6 people
Time required : 1 h
Baking + cooking time : 50 min + 2h
Resting time (recommended): 1 night
INGREDIENTS
Comfit lemon:
500 g organic lemon
1000g water (=1L)
250g sugar
1 star anise
1 vanilla pod
10 peppercorns
Cake:
375 g flour
¾ tsp baking powder
3 lemon zests
400g sugar
300g eggs (=6eggs)
190g crème fraîche
30g white rum
1g fleur de sel
135g cold melted butter
150g comfit lemon
Lemon syrup:
50g water
50g sugar
1 lemon zests
50g lemon juice
DIRECTIONS
Comfit lemon :
Cut both ends of the lemons
Peel off the skin with 1 cm of flesh, from top to bottom, in large shavings.
Blanch the peels three times in a rowp : plunge them into a large amount of boiling water, boil them for 2 min , then rinse them in cold water. Repeat the operation twice, then drain the fruits.
Prepare a syrup: put the sugar, water, star anise, peppercorns and the pulp of the split and scraped vanilla pod in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add the zest and let it cook over low heat, very low simmering, for 2 hours until the syrup has thickened.
Drain and let macerate overnight before, the next day, draining them on paper towels for half a day.
Cake :
In a big mixing bowl, grate lemons and mix the zests with the sugar. The goal being to impregnate sugar crystals of lemon so the cake tastes real lemon. Do not hesitate to mix it for 3 min with your hands.
Add a pinch of fleur de sel.
Add the eggs to the sugar and the zests mixture. Mix it with an electric mixer until it triples in volume (around 5 to 8 min). The final texture should look like a mousse (very light and airy).
Pour the crème fraîche in the eggs mix. The cream will bring acidity to the mixture. You can also add the white rum. The rum is a good way to enhance the flavour of lemon.
While beating with the electric mixer, pour the cold melted butter slowly into the mix.
When the mix is homogenous, add the flour and the baking powder in 2 times. Use a rubber spatula to incorporate the powder delicately. Tip : always mix slowly from the bottom to the top in circular motions. This way, you will avoid the eggs “mousse” flopping.
Butter your mold before pouring in half of your batter. I suggest you use a loaf pan (at least 25cm x 11cm). But you can use any type of mould you like. But be careful, the baking time won’t be the same depending on the mould you’ll pick.
After filling your mold halfway, cut your comfit lemon into small cubes (1cm x 1cm) and sprinkle them to cover the whole surface of the cake.
Fill the loaf pan with the remaining batter. Do not fill to the brim ! Leave a margin of 1 to 2 cm
Bake the cake for 50min to 1h at 180°C/350°F. Check the cake starting from 40min.
Tip : after 20 min baking, brush a spatula with oil and make an incision in the middle and all along your cake. This will help your cake to become puffy.
Remove the cake from the oven when the inside of your cake is well cooked. To check if your cake is cooked, stick a knife in the middle, if the knife comes out dry, your cake is ready. To avoid the cake from burning on the upside, cover the cake with tinfoil during the last baking minutes.
Make a syrup to soak the cake after baking. In a saucepan, put the sugar and lemon zests. Pour the lemon juice in the pan and the water.
Boil the syrup for 3min and let it cool.
When the syrup is cold and after the cake is baked, wait 20min and soak the cake with the syrup using a brush. Soak all the sides of the cake except the bottom. Repeat this step 3 times waiting 5 minutes between each step. You can use an oven rack to elevate your cake and pour the syrup on it.
Let the cake cold completely, ideally wait until the next day to serve it.
The next day, coat your cake with lemon/apple/pear/orange jam to give it texture with a glossy look. This will also avoid your cake becoming dry.
You can add comfit lemon slices on top of you cake to give it more texture and flavour.
Enjoy your cake !
Wanna watch the recipe ? Take a look at the process
Now that you know how to make this delicious cake, please tag me on Instagram to show me your creation (@theparisbest_baking). I would be so glad to give you my feedback and repost your post!
I hope you enjoyed this recipe!
See you soon on The Paris-Best
Lea from The Paris-Best
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