Lemon cake on aniseed cake recipe

Total: 20 min Diners: 4

Lemon is another of the star citrus fruits grown in Spain, in the Levante area Who does not love the traditional lemon tart? It may be the fetish dessert of many, but between the fact that it is not easily found in restaurants and that it is usually quite tedious to prepare it, we tend to relegate it to special occasions when we go to the bakery of reference to buy one and take it home directly.

Fortunately, restaurants with exquisite lemon tarts are gradually coming to light, such as La Maruca (Madrid), Solana (Cantabria) or the one we refer to in this case: Taberna Recreo (Madrid).

Nutritional properties of lemon

According to the Spanish Nutrition Foundation “Lemon is a source of vitamin C and has minor amounts of other vitamins and minerals.

The pulp, also contains organic acids, mainly citric acid and to a lesser extent malic (which are considered responsible for the sour taste of this food), acetic and formic. There are also phenolic compounds such as caffeic and ferulic acids, which are potent antioxidants.

It also has soluble fiber such as pectin (found mainly in the white layer under the rind).

However, the most interesting components of lemon are phytonutrients. Specifically, limonoids, compounds that are located in the rind.

In addition, both the white layer under the rind and the pulp, present flavonoids (citroflavonoids) among which hesperidin and other flavonoids (diosmin, naringenin, eriocitrin).”

How to make an express lemon tart

. Ingredients

Oil and anise cakes, 4 u Freshly ground black pepper, a pinch

For the lemon cream

. Freshly squeezed lemon juice, 200 ml Sugar, 200 g Butter, 115 g Egg yolk, 3 u Egg, 2 u Egg, 2 u

For the Italian meringue

Egg white, 1 u Sugar, 60 g Water, 20 ml

For the candied orange

Orange, 1 u Sugar, 150 g Water, 75 g

This updated and express version that we can call 2.0 consists of assembling all the elements of a regular lemon tart on a cake of anise and oil and thus dispense with the shortcrust pastry – for me, a genius – and also give the final point of a little black pepper and homemade candied orange. The result is a crunchy and wonderful base that combines perfectly with the rest of the members although in the small, and great, restaurant on Espartinas street instead of adding meringue they usually use a sour cream.

Step 1

As the “dough” is already made since we are going to use for it a purchased anise cake, the first thing we will have to do is prepare the lemon cream or lemon curd so that once ready it cools well in the refrigerator and acquires the texture it should have. To do this, heat the lemon juice in a ladle and in a bowl mix the eggs, egg yolk and sugar with a whisk. When the juice comes to a boil (I recommend straining it beforehand) pour it little by little over the mixture in the bowl, stirring constantly.

Step 2

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and, over low heat, keep stirring for about 5 minutes, until you see that the mixture takes consistency but without curdling or becoming an omelet, we must be careful not to use very high heat so that this does not happen to us. When it is ready, turn off the heat and add the butter in small pieces, little by little, so that it melts with the residual heat. Transfer to another container – or better, to a piping bag – tightly covered without contact with the air so as not to create a film and cool in the refrigerator completely, at least 2-3 hours.

Step 3

On the other hand confit the oranges: cut the oranges in slices of about 4mm and introduce them in a saucepan where we will have put the sugar with the water and we will have brought it to a boil. Leave on high heat for 10 minutes and then lower the heat and let cook for half an hour more, until you have obtained a semi-dense syrup in the pot. Let also cool completely before use.

Step 4

To assemble the Italian meringue we will have to make a syrup with the water and sugar, in a saucepan over medium heat until the syrup reaches a ball point, that it reaches 118ºC. The easiest way is to do it with the kitchen thermometer.

Step 5

With a whisk – ideally in a food processor to make it easier – beat the egg white and when it is already aerated, add the syrup little by little, in a thin stream, while the meringue becomes very shiny. Leave beating until the meringue has returned to room temperature and cool well in the refrigerator, ideally in a piping bag.

Step 6

When we have all the elements we only need to assemble the lemon tart by putting a few dots of lemon cream on top of the anise cake, covering it well, then a little Italian meringue and also some pieces of candied orange to finish on top with black pepper.