I never paid much attention to Meyer lemons until recently – I mean a lemon is a lemon is a lemon, right?! Well, come to find out, not all lemons are created equally. The Meyer lemon is a soft-skinned citrus fruit that looks a lot like a 10-cent lemon, but actually tastes like sweet million bucks. That’s because the Meyer lemon is actually a lemon crossed with an orange, taking some of the acidic bite. Even though Meyer lemons are more fragrant and sweeter, they’re still a bit tart and better balanced in a recipe.
I got my Meyer Lemons from Friedas.com!
Use the perfect pucker of Meyer lemons in cocktails, with chicken piccata, in salad dressing, to make a sweeter lemon curd, or alongside fish and seafood – or even better, use them to make my delicious Candied Meyer Lemon Honey Cake with Blackberries (it’s also Gluten-Free). I was inspired by a lemon cake recipe I saw in the Food Network Magazine, but of course I tinkered with it to make it my own! I made this cake to take to Easter dinner at my Aunt’s house — it’s just bursting with spring flavor and a beautiful sight to behold.She’s going to love it.
By the way, if you don’t have time for cake-making, you can get a quick fix with my Blackberry Lemon Smoothie.
Notes about the recipe:
- If you are unable to get your eggs to the glossy peak stage, don’t worry the cake will still taste just as delicious (it just won’t be quite as fluffy – it’s a denser cake anyway).
- Do not skip the steps of simmering and draining the lemon slices three times. It seems redundant, but you are boiling off the bitterness from the pith and acid from the lemon flesh. The result is lemon peel that is delightfully tender, edible and yummy.
- Feel free to swap out raspberries for the blackberries in the syrup and garnish.
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1 3/4 cup almond flour (meal)
- 1/3 cup coconut flour
- 1 1/2 cups palm sugar divided
- 2/3 cup honey
- 4 large Meyer lemons or regular lemons will do
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (zest 2 lemons and squeeze juice / slice other 2 lemons very thinly)
- 6 large eggs (divided separately into 4 yolks (discard 2 yolks) and 6 egg whites
- 1 pint blackberries divided
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Pre-heat oven to 325 F degrees. Line bottom of 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper and spray top of paper and sides of pan with coconut oil cooking spray (or just rub with coconut oil).
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In medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, coconut flour and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, add ½ cup sugar, 1/3 cup honey, zest from 2 lemons, 4 egg yolks, vanilla and olive oil. With mixer on medium, beat for 2 – 3 minutes until smooth and creamy.
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With mixer on low, slowly add almond flour mixture to egg mixture bowl, beating until just combined (don’t over beat).
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In a clean bowl, add 6 egg whites that are at room temperature. With mixer on medium, beat for approximately 1 minute or until foamy. Add in ½ cup sugar and beat on medium-high for another 3 minutes or until glossy peaks have formed.
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Scrape ½ of egg white peaks into almond meal and gently incorporate by hand with spatula. Add the remainder of egg whites and stir until mostly combined.
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While cake is baking, make candied lemons by adding 2 thinly sliced and seeded lemons to small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, drain water and refill with fresh water on lemons. Simmer for another 3 minutes. Repeat this process a 3rd time to remove bitterness from pith.
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After lemon slices have been simmered and drained 3 times, add 1 cup of fresh water, remaining ½ cup sugar, remaining 1/3 cup honey and the juice from 2 lemons. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce to medium and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Use a fork to transfer lemons to plate and let cool. Keep lemon syrup in saucepan and add 1/2 of blackberries. Simmer over medium for an additional 10 minutes, mashing up blackberries with fork.
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Remove cake from springform pan, using a knife to loosen sides before unlatching. Transfer cake to serving platter and brush top of cake with blackberry syrup. Top cake with candied lemon slices, fresh blackberries and drizzle with remaining blackberry syrup (or reserve leftover syrup for another use).
- If you are unable to get your eggs to the glossy peak stage, don’t worry the cake will still taste just as delicious (it just won’t be quite as fluffy – it’s a denser cake anyway).
- Do not skip the steps of simmering and draining the lemon slices three times. It seems redundant, but you are boiling off the bitterness from the pith and acid from the lemon flesh. The result is lemon peel that is delightfully tender, edible and yummy.
- Feel free to swap out raspberries for the blackberries in the syrup and garnish.
