Lemon Almond Cake
Inspired by techniques from America's Test Kitchen.
Ground toasted almonds stand in for most of the flour in this cake, and a mix of melted butter and oil instead of creamed butter keeps the crumb moist and dense in a good way. Lemon zest runs through the batter and across the crunchy, sugared almond topping for a bright finish.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Prepare the pan. Set a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 150 °C (140 °C fan). Grease a 23 cm round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- 2
Grind the almond-flour mixture. In a food processor, pulse 149 g of the almonds with the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda until the almonds are finely ground, 5-10 pulses. Transfer to a bowl.
- 3
Whip the eggs and sugar. In the same processor, process the eggs, 248 g sugar, the tablespoon of lemon zest and the almond extract until very pale and noticeably thickened, about 2 minutes. With the machine running, pour in the melted butter and the oil in a steady stream until fully incorporated.
- 4
Combine and pan up. Add the almond-flour mixture and pulse just to combine, 4-5 pulses. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
- 5
Top the cake. Rub the remaining sugar and lemon zest together between your fingers until fragrant, 5-10 seconds. Sprinkle the remaining almonds evenly over the batter, followed by the sugar-zest mixture.
- 6
Bake. Bake until the centre is set and springs back when pressed gently and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean, 55-65 minutes, rotating the pan after 40 minutes.
- 7
Cool and unmould. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a paring knife around the edge, invert the cake onto a greased wire rack and peel off the parchment, then invert it again onto a second rack so the topping faces up. Let cool completely, about 2 hours, before cutting into wedges.
Storage
Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Free sugars
34.1 g per serving
68.2 % of the 50 g daily maximum · 136.4 % of the ideal 25 g
Free sugars under 50 g a day, ideally about 25 g, based on WHO free-sugar guidance (not endorsed by WHO). The share shown is the share of one serving. WHO
Equipment
- food processor
- 23 cm round cake pan
- parchment paper
- fine grater
- wire racks
- paring knife
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 494 kcal |
| Protein | 9.4 g |
| Carbohydrate | 48.9 g |
| of which sugars | 35.3 g |
| of which free sugars | 34.1 g |
| Fat | 30.7 g |
| of which saturates | 6.8 g |
| Fibre | 2.7 g |
| Salt | 0.75 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
1.9 g High Protein needs ≥ 5 g (20% of energy)
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
