Try this Mamma Agata's Lemon Cake recipe, or contribute your own.
- pinch of sea salt
- 8 tablespoons sugar
- 300 gr or 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 250 gr or 2 sticks butter (1/2 pound) plus an addition
- 4 eggs (i used large)
- grated zest of 2 large lemons or 4 if small
- 300 gr or 1 1/3 cups flour (use either tipo “00†or ca
- 20 gr or 4.25 teaspoons baking powder
- 125 ml or 1/2 cup whole milk
- 50 gr or 1/4 cup finely chopped hazelnuts
- 300 gr or 1 1/3 cups water
- juice of 3 lemons
- Carbohydrate 1.21683 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0 g
- Fiber 0.0564000008404255 g
- Protein 0.05358 g
- Saturated Fat 0 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (21g)
- Sodium 2790.71700566164 mg
- Sugar 1.16042999915957 g
- Trans Fat 0 g
- Calories 4 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius or 320 degrees fahrenheit.
- Whip the butter in a mixing bowl on high speed for at least two minutes.
- Add the sugar and continue to whip until a soft cream forms.
- Add the following to the mixing bowl, one at a time, and blend after each; eggs (one at a time), salt, grated lemon zest.
- Alternate adding and blending the flour, baking powder, hazelnuts and milk into the mixing bowl.
- Continue to mix the ingredients on medium speed until the texture of the batter has a light and airy consistency (similar to mousse).
- (Note: Do not beat the batter for too long after adding the baking powder.)
- Coat the surface of the fluted pan with butter before dusting it with flour, then shake off any excess flour before adding the cake batter to the pan.
- Pour the batter into your greased and floured pan.
- Bake the cake in the pre-heated oven for 45 minutes.
- While the cake is baking prepare your lemonade mixture by first squeezing the lemons into a pitcher or other container from which you can easily pour the mixture later.
- Add the sugar to the lemon juice, and mix until the sugar is fully dissolved in the lemon juice.
- Add the water and mix well.
- Once the cake has finished baking, let it sit for two hours outside the oven to bring it to room temperature.
- Slowly pour a little bit of the lemonade mixture all over the cake in the pan every 10 minutes (three times total) for 39 minutes to allow the cake to absorb the lemonade mixture very slowly.
- After the first 30 minutes, tip the cake onto a serving platter and add the remaining lemonade to the top of the cake, distributing it evenly all over the cake.
A bright citrus aroma meets a dense, tender crumb that drinks up a tart lemon syrup while remaining structurally sound. Baking this style of pastry successfully depends heavily on proper mechanical aeration. Whipping the butter on high speed for at least two full minutes incorporates the necessary air pockets that chemical leaveners alone cannot achieve. Soft peaks in the fat phase create the structural scaffolding for the entire structure.
Standard mixing bowls and electric hand mixers work adequately, though a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment provides superior control during the alternating addition of dry ingredients and whole milk. Over-mixing at this stage develops gluten networks that ruin the desired lightness, turning a delicate crumb into a tough, rubbery sponge. Stop the motor as soon as the flour disappears into the emulsion.
Fluted pans demand thorough physical preparation to prevent tearing during inversion. Coat every crevice of the metal surface with softened butter using a pastry brush, then apply a fine dusting of flour and tap out the excess completely. Without this barrier, the sugar in the batter bonds directly to the pan walls and traps the pastry permanently inside.
Temperature management dictates the final soaking phase. Letting the baked pastry cool for two hours brings the internal crumb temperature down enough to absorb liquids steadily without dissolving into mush. Pouring the lemonade mixture incrementally over forty minutes allows the starches to swell gradually, locking in moisture and delivering an intensely concentrated citrus punch throughout every slice.
