This zesty recipe incorporates a blend of lemons, lemon thyme and ricotta cheese to make a fabulous cake worthy of any dinner party or afternoon tea. This cake featured in the second series of Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard on Channel 4.
17 ingredients8 steps
Vegetarian
Ingredients
MetricImperial
For the Cake
175gUnsalted butter (softened)
175gBillington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
4Lemon zest (of 4 lemons)
3Lemon juice (of 3 lemons)
3Eggs
250gRicotta
100gAllinson's Self-Raising White Flour
25gGround Almonds
1 tspBaking powder
2 tbspLemon thyme
150gBillington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
150mlWater
For the Decoration
150gBillington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
150mlWater
50gDark chocolate (melted)
1 tbspOlive oil
0.5 tspNielsen-Massey Lemon Extract
Nutritional information per 138g serving
Energy 465cal
Fat 22g
of which Saturates 12g
Carbohydrates 59g
of which Sugars 51g
Protein 6.2g
Salt 0.31g
Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, gas mark 4).
Step 2
Cream the butter and sugar together in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy then add in the lightly beaten egg yolks gradually, beating well after each addition.
Step 3
Drain off any liquid that is in the ricotta and stir the cheese into the batter.
Step 4
Put the egg whites in a separate bowl and beat until they form medium peaks.
Step 5
Stir the lemon juice, chopped thyme and zest into the batter then fold in the flour, almonds and baking powder.
Step 6
Add 2 tablespoons of the beaten whites to loosen the batter and then fold in the rest. Scrape into a buttered 20cm spring-form cake tin. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 40 minutes.
Step 7
Insert a skewer into the middle of the cake, if the cake is cooked throughout it should come out clean. Leave to cool in the tin, place in the fridge to set for at least 1 hour.
Step 8
For decoration, confit some lemon slices in thick syrup (150g caster sugar &150ml water) for 15 minutes on a slow heat. Decorate the top of the cake with the slices, a little lemon thyme and a drizzle of white chocolate mixed with virgin olive oil and half a tea spoon of lemon extract.
If you love lemon, try making a swiss meringue and top it with lemon curd.
2 Baker Ratings
I made this cake but did not make the icing. The cake was delicious like across between baked cheesecake and a sponge.
