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Dessert

Lemon Almond Cake

A moist lemon almond cake with a syrup of lemon and sugar, garnished with candied lemon slices, raspberries, and mint.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,655 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Lemon Almond Cake

Oven350°F
Time55 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the batter

  1. Heat oven to 350°F. Use a 10‑inch tube pan with removable tube insert.

  2. Process almonds and ¼ cup sugar in a food processor until nuts are finely ground.

  3. Mix the ground almonds with matzo meal and salt.

  4. Beat egg whites until foamy.

  5. Add 1½ tsp lemon juice to the whites and beat until soft peaks form.

  6. Add ¼ cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

  7. Set the beaten whites aside.

  8. Beat yolks, 1 cup sugar, ¼ cup lemon juice, canola oil, and grated lemon peel until blended.

  9. Fold in one‑quarter of the beaten whites, then fold in the almond mixture.

  10. Fold in the remaining beaten whites and pour the batter into an ungreased pan.

Bake and cool

  1. Bake for 55 minutes, or until the top is browned and dry and the cake springs back when touched.

  2. Place the pan upside down on the neck of a bottle to cool.

  3. To unmold, run a knife around the edge and inner tube.

  4. Invert the pan onto a serving plate and shake to release the cake.

Candied lemon and serving

  1. Thinly slice two lemons.

  2. Bring 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water to a boil in a skillet.

  3. Add the sliced lemons, reduce heat, and simmer for 25 minutes, or until the slices are translucent.

  4. Cool the cake in the syrup.

  5. Just before serving, add garnishes of candied lemon slices, whole raspberries, and mint leaves.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

265Calories
7 gProtein
20 gFat
17 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Cakenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Almond + canola oiltop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Lemon + canola oiltop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together376 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  5. Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together53,532 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Whipped whites give the cake its light, airy structure, and the yolks add richness.
Almonds
Ground almonds provide the tender, moist crumb and nutty flavor.
Sugar
Sugar sweetens the cake and helps stabilize the whipped egg whites.
Canola oil
Oil adds moisture and keeps the crumb tender after baking.
Lemon juice
Acidity brightens the flavor and helps the whites whip to soft peaks.
Matzo cake meal
Fine meal adds a little body to the batter while keeping it light.

The step that matters

Folding the whites into the batter. Whites hold the cake's rise only while their air bubbles stay intact. Overmixing or stirring instead of folding deflates them, leaving a dense cake.

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, lemon, canola oil):

  1. Sesamefits about as well
  2. Flaxseedfits about as well
  3. Almondthe original
  4. Walnutfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, lemon, canola oil. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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