Thursday 14 June 2012

Lemon and honey cake

Sweet lemon recipes aren't usually my sort of thing.  However when the boughs of our lemon tree were heavy with fruit, I started searching for ideas I might like.  I found a Honey Lemon Cake that appealed with an interesting texture.  I was also aware that the honey and lemon seemed just the thing for the cold that E and I were battling last week. 

It also seemed a nice cake to have in the house when my friend Nicki G came over with her kids.  Those who remember my dislike of the texture of polenta in a chocolate cake may be surprised to hear that this cake had polenta in it, and even more surprised to hear that I loved the texture.  Perhaps it helped that the cake also had ground almonds and dessicated coconut.  I love anything with dessicated coconut.  In fact I think I loved the texture more than the flavour.

It was an unassuming kind of cake - not overly sweet or overly lemony - but was well received.  However the star of the show when Nicki visited was the Chestnut and Pinenut Cake that she baked for the occasion.  It was an impressive creation that I intend to imitate some time.  She left us some and I felt very fancy when Kathleen dropped over for a cuppa on the weekend and I could offer two cakes.

Given that we have a lemon tree, I need recipes for when the tree is bearing fruit.  This cake is one that I will return to.  It was quick, delicious, reasonably healthy and kept well.

I am sending this cake to Laura at How to Cook Good Food who is hosting Ren's Simple and in Season event.

Other recipes from my blog featuring lemons:

Other recipes from around the interwebs that feature lemons:

Lemon and Honey Cake
Adapted from Jugalbandi

Dry ingredients:
3/4 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
1/4 cup coarse cornmeal
1/4 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking powder
lots of grated nutmeg (about 1/3 tsp)

Wet ingredients:
2 eggs, lightly whisked
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup milk (I used soy)
zest of one lemon (ideally about 1.5 tbsps - my lemon yielded a lot less zest)

Coconut, extra for sprinkling

Glaze:
2.5 tbsp lemon juice (I used juice of half a lemon)
1.5 tbsp honey (I used about 2 dessertspoons)

Preheat oven to 200 C or 400F. Grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper.

Mix together dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients separately. Pour the wet into the dry ingredients and mix well. The batter is quite a runny one. Pour into the prepared tin and sprinkle with extra coconut.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. It is ready when it is turning golden brown, has some fine cracks on top and a skewer comes out cleanly.

When cake is hot, mix lemon juice and honey for the glaze. Drizzle over the top of the hot cake. Serve warm or at room temperature. Ours kept for a week.

On the Stereo:
The Colour of White: Missy Higgins

16 comments:

  1. I adore simple and delicious cakes like this! You can't go wrong.

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    1. Thanks Joanne - lemon always seems more simple than delicious to me but I am learning to appreciate it :-)

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  2. wow both those cakes sound absolutely delicious! I love the combination of honey and lemon. So delicate and fabulous! and lucky you that you have a lemon tree! how wonderful! thanks for sharing! have a great day!

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    1. thanks GF happy tummy - we are very lucky to have a lemon tree - they smell so wonderful when you pick them

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  3. Like you I love coconut in cakes but also I have always loved polenta too. I like it in sweet & savoury dishes and I use it to line a baking tray when cooking pizzas. This is just such a good way of using up an abundance of lemons. I am envious of you having a tree of your own too!
    Thanks for entering Simple and in Season,
    Laura@howtocookgoodfood xxx

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    1. Thanks Laura - I love polenta in savoury food and have a favourite cornbread recipe but am still finding my way with it in sweet food

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  4. I imagine this would have a fantastic texture. I like that all of the sweetness comes from the honey, too; not too sweet or too lemony sounds like a perfect outcome to me (both are flavours I like best in moderation). I would take this if I had a cold, or any time I think!

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    1. Thanks Kari - I liked that the sweetness came from honey too - definitely my sort of medicine too :-)

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  5. Oh my gosh, two cakes that I long for in one post, when I'm normally disinterested in cakes in general! Perhaps it helps that these are both quite unusual cakes, and with flavours I adore in other desserts :)

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    1. Thanks Hannah - you and Nicki would agree that chocolate in cakes is not a good thing! I don't usually adore lemon in desserts but I am very interested in chestnut in desserts (even if only chestnut flour rather than puree)

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  6. I was just thinking that the texture looks so wonderful and moist! I wonder if we could alter the taste to make it match the texture like add more lemon or honey (two things I have in abundance).

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    1. Thanks Lorraine - when I first made the cake I worried it didn't taste sweet or lemony enough and thought that it would help to put more syrup on it - I am sure you could try this to up either the honey or the lemon

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  7. I'm usually not a friend of lemon flavor in combination with batter or chocolate, but this cake looks devine. And whee, it's gluten-free! I'll send it to my mom then, because both my parents have turned towards gf since my dad got so sick with his bowel. He's fine now, thanks to the gf diet. :D He also loves cake. (Always has, still does.) I'm sure he'll like this one! :)

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    1. Thanks Kath - I can recommend this as someone else who doesn't usually like sweet lemon food - I hope your dad enjoys it

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  8. Oh this made me laugh - can't believe you liked the texture despite the polenta in the cake. It does sound delicious and I like the idea of using honey with the lemon - must remember that. The chestnut and pinenut cake sounds good too.

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  9. This cake sounds great, and I'm already imagining how I'm going to adapt it for my diet! I really like cornmeal in a lemon cake, too (not sure how I'd feel about it in chocolate cake!).

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