When Life Gets Sour, Sweeten It With Meyer Lemon Cake
You know the old saying, “When life gives you lemons…” Well, instead of lemonade, might I suggest a delightfully bright and buttery lemon cake, loaded with walnuts and something a little special with the end-of-season Meyer lemons.
With a bag of these precious lemons sitting in my produce bin, just waiting to be used before they spoiled, I turned to my array of dessert cookbooks and finally to the internet to search for a suitable option. I came across a recipe from Bakes By Brown Sugar for a Meyer Lemon Upside Down Cake—the perfect solution to my abundance of Meyer lemons.
With a little tweaking, this recipe became the perfect dessert for a rich and delicious Easter feast, but would be equally as delicious with afternoon tea, or maybe a sweet breakfast treat.
Why I Love This Meyer Lemon Cake
Not only was this lemon cake beautiful to the eye, but it was also incredibly delicate, tender, and absolutely delicious. The crumb of the loaf reminds me of an almond flour cake. The Meyer lemons provide the perfect balance of sweet and tart. It felt light, bright, and delightful. It is also incredibly easy to put together. While I use a stand mixer to do the mixing for me, this could easily be done by hand.
How To Make This Meyer Lemon Cake
Step 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the pan: While the oven preheats, place 1/4 cup of cubed butter in a 9-inch cake pan. Place the pan in the oven just until the butter melts. Using a pastry brush, spread the melted butter all over the bottom and sides of the pan. Sprinkle 3/4 of a cup of brown sugar over the bottom of the pan. Place the sliced lemons over the bottom of the pan in a concentric circle, or a pattern you choose! This will be the top of your cake.
Step 2. Brown the butter: Place 1/2 cup butter in a small sauté pan over medium heat and slowly melt. The butter will start to foam up and bubble loudly. Gently swirl the butter to keep the middle from burning. Keep cooking until the loud bubbling subsides and the butter starts to smell nutty. You should be able to see light brown bits in the melted butter. Set aside to cool slightly.
Step 3. Prepare the batter: Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, and cardamom in a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the sugar and lemon zest. Using your fingers, massage the zest into the sugar (this opens up the oils and infuses the lemon flavour). Add the browned butter and, starting on low speed, cream the butter and sugar, increase the speed and mix for 3-4 minutes, the mixture will look grainy. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure to completely combine the sugar and eggs before the next addition. Scrape the bowl down between each. Add the vanilla extract and combine.
Step 4. Add dry and wet: Starting with the dry ingredients, add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the bowl with the sugar and egg mixture, mix until just combined on low speed. Add half of the buttermilk, and gently combine. Scrape down the bowl thoroughly. Add in another 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix until just combined on low. Add the final half of buttermilk and just combine. Finally, add the last 1/3 of flour and mix on low just until combined. You should still see streaks of flour and flour on the sides of the bowl. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer.
Step 5. Fold in the walnuts: Add the chopped walnuts and, using a rubber spatula, gently lift the dough from the bottom, bringing it over the top, and cutting through the middle like a “letter fold” (folding into thirds). Rotate the bowl and continue this process just until the walnuts are evenly distributed. Be careful not to overdo this step.
Step 6. Bake the cake: Pour the batter over the top of the sliced lemons in the cake pan. Spread out evenly with an offset spatula. Bake in your preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden brown and a cake tester (or toothpick) comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run your offset spatula or knife around the edges of the cake to release it from the pan and invert it onto a platter. This results in your beautiful lemon slices on the top of the cake coated in a delicious caramel.
Make It Your Own
- Sub any other citrus
- Swap out the walnuts for another nut or none at all
- Use granulated sugar instead of brown sugar
- Use olive oil instead of butter in the cake for an even softer crumb
Things You Need From Your Pantry
- Brown sugar
- AP flour
- Butter
- Eggs
- Baking powder and soda
- Ground ginger
- Ground cardamom
- Vanilla extract
- Eggs
Things You May Need From The Store
- Meyer lemons
- Walnuts
- Buttermilk
More Dessert Recipes
- The Cheesecake You Never Knew You Needed
- Blackberry Mascarpone Pie
- Chamomile Lavender Strawberry Shortcake
- A Really Good Pumpkin Pie
Meyer Lemon Cake
Course: DessertCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Easy8
servings20
minutes40
minutesIngredients
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 Meyer lemons, sliced 1/8″-1/4″ thick
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons Meyer lemon zest, about 2 lemons
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 cup chopped lightly toasted walnuts
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the pan: While the oven preheats, place 1/4 cup of cubed butter in a 9-inch cake pan. Place the pan in the oven just until the butter melts. Using a pastry brush, spread the melted butter all over the bottom and sides of the pan. Sprinkle 3/4 of a cup of brown sugar over the bottom of the pan. Place the sliced lemons over the bottom of the pan in a concentric circle, or a pattern you choose! This will end up being the top of your cake.
- Brown the butter: Place 1/2 cup butter in a small sauté pan over medium heat and slowly melt. The butter will start to foam up and bubble loudly. Gently swirl the butter to keep the middle from burning. Keep cooking until the loud bubbling subsides and the butter starts to smell nutty. You should be able to see light brown bits in the melted butter. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Prepare the batter: Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, and cardamom in a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the sugar and lemon zest. Using your fingers, massage the zest into the sugar (this opens up the oils and infuses the lemon flavour). Add the browned butter and start on low speed, creaming the butter and sugar, increase the speed and mix for 3-4 minutes, the mixture will look grainy. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure to completely combine the sugar and eggs before the next addition. Scrape the bowl down between each. Add the vanilla extract and combine.
- Add dry and wet: Starting with the dry ingredients, add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the bowl with the sugar and egg mixture, mix until just combined on low speed. Add half of the buttermilk, and gently combine. Scrape down the bowl thoroughly. Add in another 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix until just combined on low. Add the final half of buttermilk and just combine. Finally, add the last 1/3 of flour and mix on low just until combined. You should still see streaks of flour and flour on the sides of the bowl. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer.
- Fold in the walnuts: Add the chopped walnuts and, using a rubber spatula, gently lift the dough from the bottom, bringing it over the top, and cutting through the middle like a “letter fold” (folding into thirds). Rotate the bowl and continue this process just until the walnuts are evenly distributed. Be careful not to overdo this step.
- Bake the cake: Pour the batter over the top of the sliced lemons in the cake pan. Spread out evenly with an offset spatula. Bake in your preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden brown and a cake tester (or toothpick) comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run your offset spatula or knife around the edges of the cake to release it from the pan and invert it onto a platter. This results in your beautiful lemon slices on the top of the cake coated in a delicious caramel.
Notes
- To toasted the walnuts, spread them out in a single layer on a baking sheet and place in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.
